The teaching of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, on the Holy Trinity

The source of our research on the Trinitarian views of Bl. Augustine, bishop Ipponsky, served for us, first of all, his original work “De Trinitate Dei, libri XV” in Latin 1 as well as other numerous and varied in size and character literary works of our chosen great father of the Western Church, mainly in the original language of the latter 2. Our most important aids when writing this essay were in foreign languages: Prof. Th. Gangauf. Des heiligen Augustinus speculative Lehre von Gott dem Dreieinigen. Augsburg. 1865. This special study of the German Catholic author represents the most significant phenomenon in the foreign (German) literature of our subject (on the issue of the dogmatic-speculative teaching of St. Augustine about the Holy Trinity). Its author is one of the most thorough and detailed researchers and commentators of the bl. Augustine in the point of his dogmatic-philosophical teaching we are considering, and his monograph under review, the compilation of which our author devoted 12 whole years, is, moreover, the result of his propaedeutic work on Augustine “Metaphysiche Psychologie des hl. Augustinus. Augsb. 1852”, written in the spirit of Gunther’s dualism and not completed by the author “due to circumstances beyond his control” (see “Vorrede” to the named work). In his present work, the German professor makes an attempt to reveal and present the Trinitarian teaching of the great Western father, as an experience of the rational construction of the dogma of Fr. Holy Trinity on psychological grounds. The immanent life of the Trinitarian Deity is revealed and substantiated in this experience on the basis of so-called representationism, as a result of determining the ideal constitution of the nature of the human spirit, through psychological analysis, its self-awareness and love. The immanent process of objectification underlying his self-awareness and love, as a result of the living internal “relationship” of the rational spirit to itself, makes it possible for Augustine, from the point of view of representationalism, to understand the inner life of the Triune Deity through the designated category of “relationship” with its three analogical moments. Trinitarian analogies bl. Augustine (ontological, anthropological and anthropo-cosmological), i.e., those traces of the Divine Trinity that he found in the external world, in man and in man’s relationship to the world, uniquely classified and systematized by our author, represent a completely completed building, the top of which is crowned by the highest and most perfect analogy on earth of the god-like human spirit, revealing in its inner living relationship to itself the trinity of its nature and life. The Protestant scholar A. Dorner, in his special essay devoted to the presentation of the theological teaching of Augustine 3 as a significant drawback of the considered work of the Catholic professor (from his Protestant point of view), notes the following: “Gangauf,” he says, “although he showed how Augustine conceives the origin of Divine self-consciousness, he did not indicate how the latter can be reconciled with the absolute simplicity of the Divine being (cnfr. R. 157 ffgg., R. 400 ffgg.), and also did not pay attention to the fact that such significant difficulties lie at the basis of such an agreement.” Defending these Trinitarian analogies, Bl. Augustine from the objections against them from negative Augustinian criticism and pointing out the connection between individual analogies, the author of this work, apparently, does not see the significance that these analogies had for Augustine himself. The author of the reviewed study is a “devout” (i.e., faithful to the principles and methods of his confession) Catholic, and in this circumstance, it seems, it is necessary to look for and find an explanation for his indicated attitude to this issue, a detailed and completely impartial and objective consideration of which could, apparently, weaken the foundations of what is found in Bl. Augustine Catholic "Filioque". Augustine's special teaching about God the Trinity, the development of which this dissertation is devoted to, is presented by its author systematically, and not genetically. The Trinitarian teaching of our church teacher is considered in the monograph under review both as an object of philosophical speculation and as a subject of church confession of the blessed. Augustine in their close connection with each other. Moreover, the author, in view of the apologetic purposes of this publication, sometimes correlates certain thoughts of Augustine with certain philosophical theses of the most outstanding European philosophers of later centuries (Kant, Hegel, Schelling, Schopenhauer). Dr. S. Storz. Die Philosophie des hl. Augustinus. Freiburg im Breisgau. 1882. This special work of the German scientist is dedicated, as can be seen from its title, to the development of the religious philosophy of Bl. Augustine. The philosophical material studied by the author is distributed by him. in 4 parts. The first of them establishes the basic principle or principle of the philosophy of blessedness. Augustine. The second sets out his epistemology. The third is devoted to Augustinian psychology, and, finally, the fourth is devoted to his speculative theology. After a brief description of the personality of Bl. Augustine (Ss. 1–4), the author of the German monograph under review, presents the genesis of the intellectual development of our church teacher, and indicates the main questions of his philosophy (Ss. 4–24), which he then puts in parallel with Christianity (Ss. 24–29). Philosophy bl. Augustine, wholly imbued with theological interest, can be called, according to the author, a religious-philosophical worldview or philosophy in the proper sense of Christian. Further, in view of the particularly important significance of Augustine’s epistemology, which determines for him the advantages and disadvantages of his entire religious-philosophical system, our author assigns it a significant place in this philosophical study of his (Ss. 30–100). It is in this section that the German author determines the starting point of the epistemology of the blessed. Augustine (self-reliability of internal experience or consciousness), and then the sources of empirical, rational and intellectual knowledge of man are characterized, in connection with which the metaphysical and psychological prerequisites of Augustine’s theory of knowledge are established. This section also presents (according to Augustine) a psychological analysis of faith and knowledge as organs of our religious knowledge (their foundations and comparative dignity). [Glauben und Wissen, op. cit. Ss. 85–100]. The third section of the German dissertation under review (Ss. 101–154), dedicated to the rational psychology of the Western church writer, treats the immateriality of the soul and the unity of mental life, the body, soul and spirit in their mutual connection, the cognitive and volitional abilities of the soul and its immortality. Man, from the point of view set out on the pages of Augustine’s psychology under review, appears to be the highest focus (center) of earthly existence and life. As an organic synthesis of body and spirit, man, according to Augustine, is a dividing line, or better said, a connecting link (connection), uniting in the unity of his rational personality the kingdom of earthly life with the supersensible world of higher spirits (Ad Oros contr. Prisc. C. 8). The fourth, actually theological, part (Ss. 155–258), which stands in close connection with the previous ones and logically follows from them, reveals to the reader the speculative theology of Augustine, developed by Augustine on a psychological basis, in some of its points. In the struggle, mainly, with the sensationalism of paganism, the dualism of the Manichaeans and the skepticism of the new Academy, through ontological (cosmological and physical-teleological) and psychological analysis of the basic innate ideas of truth, goodness and beauty, through the idea of simplicity and immutability (partly via negationis, partly via eminentiae), Augustine comes, by analogy with Neoplatonic philosophy and under the influence of the latter, to recognition of the Absolute Being, which is the Supreme Truth (an Sich), the Most Perfect Good and Infinite Beauty, the Principle of all ultimate truth, goodness and beauty. This is the general scheme of thoughts that make up the content of almost the entire last (theological) part of the German work under consideration. St. Augustine's private teaching on the knowledge of God (Ss. 156–157), which he reveals on a psychological basis in an ontological way, can be formulated as follows. Based on unchangeable rational truths or ideas of unity, truth, beauty and goodness innate to man, human thought postulates [via eminentiae] towards God as Unity, Truth, Beauty and Goodness in themselves or as the Highest Being (the Most Perfect Spirit). Further, from the variability of all things, including the spirit of man, his consciousness ascends [via negationis] to God as the Unchangeable Principle of things [the Infinite Being or as the Absolute First Cause and Goal of finite existence]. Finally, the analysis of unity, beauty, goodness and harmony in changeable (finite) things turns his mind to God, as the Absolute and Most Perfect Beginning of the latter. – On the following pages of the German book under consideration (Ss. 178–191), its author gives Augustine’s sublime philosophical concept of God, determined to a large extent by his doctrine of the knowledge of God. Here, from the conditions of his life and work, the negative (apophatic) and positive (cataphatic) aspects of his theological speculation are indicated and explained. The philosophical definition of the Divine is established by Augustine in an objective-ontological and subjective-psychological way. Therefore, the basis of his speculative theology is the sublime philosophical concept of God as Absolute Being (Esse), in the primary meaning of this word, i.e., as the decisive opposite of any other non-original (complex and changeable) reality. From this point of view, God, according to Augustine, is the highest reality of existence, the absolute fullness of life, alien to any spatio-temporal definitions and external or internal (logical) complexity. Revealed by the subjective psychological method, his metaphysical idea of ​​God represents Him as the Most Perfect Spirit, as the realized ideal of the human spirit, or as the absolute energy of self-consciousness and personal will (Op. cit. Der Gottesbegriff, Ss. 178–191). Further sections of this book, devoted to Augustine’s speculative theology, examine the most speculative teaching of St. Augustine about divine ideas as eternal and unchanging creative principles or prototypes of finite being. The final section of the philosophical study under review (Ss. 191–258), which treats questions of an ethical nature (the imperfection of the world and the existence of evil in it), is the theodicy of St. Augustine, with the presentation of which the present experience of revealing and presenting the religious philosophy of our church thinker ends. Compiled on the basis of earlier works of this kind, the special study under consideration by the German scientist represents a new and original combination of the philosophical element of Augustinian views. The author's reasoning and his interpretation, from a Catholic point of view, of Augustine's philosophical views are always accompanied and confirmed by the authentic expressions of Augustine himself quoted by him on almost every page. Reading this major work of the German author convinced us that the basic psychological and epistemological principles of the philosophy of Augustine, this founder of the newest “metaphysics of internal experience,” the point of view on the subject, the very objects of his psychology and epistemology, and even their formulation and solution, are almost the same as those of the later and even the newest largest representatives of philosophical thought (Descartes, Kant, Hegel and the Hegelians, Schopenhauer). – The learned author of this philosophical work is a “devout” Catholic. With understandable respect for him, as a Catholic, for the greatest authority of Augustine for the Western Church, he, as one would expect, always tries, as far as possible, to smooth out and reconcile all the “inaccuracies”, “inconsistencies” and those “perplexities” that inevitably occur when studying the theological and philosophical system of Blessed Augustine. G. Loesche. De Augustino plotinizante in doctrina de Deo disserenda. (Disser. inaugur.). Jenae. 1880. This Latin book is a concise, but thoroughly and documented overview of Augustine’s theological and philosophical positions and opinions, either directly and directly borrowed by him from pagan philosophers (mainly of the Neoplatonic school), or formed under their more or less noticeable influence. Our German author explores and solves the question posed in the title of the work under review through a parallel examination of the original thoughts and expressions of both the Neoplatonist philosophers and Augustine himself, citing both in the original language of each of them. Loesche first prefaces the discovery and analysis of Neoplatonic elements in the numerous theological and philosophical works of St. Augustine (the main subject of this work) with a general chapter “on the Platonism of the Church Fathers.” Here (in a relatively moderate spirit) our author resolves the question of the attitude of the fathers and teachers of the church to pagan philosophy in general and Platonic philosophy in particular, with a description of the different views and theological trends existing in Western European literature on the issue under consideration. Here the author gives a rather long series of names of church writers (14 Greek and 2 Latin) with a brief note about the relationship of each of them to Platonism. At the conclusion of this chapter, the author dwells in some detail on Augustine in his relation to the philosophy of Neoplatonism. Finally, the author indicates the objectives of the present essay and the plan for the latter. Of primary interest to us are the following sections of the third chapter: § 1. About God as an absolutely simple and unchangeable Being. § 2. About the beauty of God (i.e. about God as Beautiful). §§ 4–5. About the foresight of God or Providence, theodicy of Bl. Augustine, and, finally, his teaching about the Holy Trinity. In the first chapter of this work, based on many quotations from Augustine’s works, our author reveals and characterizes Augustine’s theologia negativa sive ἀποφατιϰή. Built by Augustine, by analogy with Neoplatonic philosophy, through the ideas of simplicity (simplicitas, simplex) and immutability (immutabilitas, immutabilis), the philosophical concept of the being of God and His properties, in general (from the formal side), largely resembles the abstract and sublime “One” (Έν) of Neoplatonic philosophy, also constructed in a logical way denial and distraction. Next, the author establishes the true meaning of the negative or apophatic moment of Augustine’s speculative theology, which in Augustine is closely connected with positive definitions of the Divine Being. Having further indicated the subjective-psychological and objective-historical (internal and external) reasons that explain this particular philosophical concept of God in Augustine, the author moves on to Plotinus and characterizes his “One,” which is alien to all predicates. From a comparison of the above-mentioned thoughts of our teacher and our philosopher and a brief critical examination of the views existing on this issue in European Augustinian literature (Dorner, Hartmann), the author clarifies the true meaning of the above-characterized philosophical ideas of absolute simplicity and immutability, applied by Augustine, like Plotinus, to the Absolute Divine Being. The similarities (according to the author, not significant) and differences (according to the author, significant) between our church writer and our pagan philosopher in the case considered give our author grounds to assert that this Divine immutability, in connection with simplicity, and this simplicity, as a necessary correlate of immutability, cannot be understood in Augustine only by association of contrast with the idea of complexity, tearing the simple being of God into multiple and qualitatively diverse elements. On the other hand, it is impossible to merge the Divine qualities with His simple being to the point of complete indifference between the first and the last, since such a merger would turn God into some kind of abstract “pure being”, in essence, almost no different from absolute “nothing”. The author carefully notes here some inconsistency of Augustine, who is forced to characterize the simplicity of the Divine Being, which he strongly emphasizes, at the same time, and from the positive side (as the completeness of Divine perfections). In the same spirit (according to the same plan and with similar results), the author conducts a parallel examination of the points he outlined in the speculative theology of St. Augustine on the subsequent pages of his work. Similar to the two above-characterized ideas of Divine simplicity and immutability, our author expounds and comments on other sublime metaphysical definitions of the Divine, through which the great father of the Western Church, more or less dependent on Plotinus and Plotinism, builds his philosophical concept of God the Trinity. The author devotes the last three pages to clarifying the similarities and differences between the three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity in Augustine and the “three initial hypostases” (Unum, Mens, Anima; Ἒν, νοῦς, φυχή) of Plotinus. Loesche's analysis of his own opinions of both (based on Plotinus's Enneades and Augustine's De Trinitate) allows our author to doubt the existence of a similarity between them in essence. Only one real similarity is permissible, according to the author, to assert between the Divine Triad of Plotinus and the Holy Trinity of Augustine, namely, the similarity in relation to the number “3”. The difference between one and the other exists, apparently, exactly the same as between the church’s understanding of the Persons of the Holy Trinity and the ideas (ideae) of Hegel or the powers (potentiae) and persons (personae) of Schelling [op. cit., pag. 68]. L. Grandgeorge. Saint Augustin et le neoplatonisme. Paris. 1896. This French monograph, like the previous Latin book by Loesche, with which it has close kinship in the subject and objectives of its research, clarifies in the same way this one of the propaedeutic questions of our work. Respectable in size and thorough in its content, this work of the French author L. Grandgeorge 4 resolves the question he raised about Augustine’s Neoplatonism in connection with the fundamental solution to the question of the relationship between Christianity (the dogma of the Christian church) on the one hand, and ancient (more specifically, Neoplatonic) philosophy, on the other. (Introduction, pp. 1–21 et seq.). The named book in Western literature on the issue it addresses (Augustine in his relation to pagan philosophy), in our opinion, should occupy approximately a central position. The issue of the topic is addressed by the author in a rather moderate and cautious spirit. This may perhaps explain that the section of religious knowledge "de l'école des hautes études", in whose name it is published, cautions the reader that it places itself in a completely neutral position regarding the views and opinions expressed in the present work by its Catholic author. In relation to bl. To Augustine, our author asks himself the question: is it really possible to recognize the fact “d’une influence profonde, d’une pénétration intime des doctrines néo-platoniciennes?” Or, on the contrary, we can assume that our Ipponian theologian, who was at first completely imbued with Neoplatonism, “s'en est entiérement détaché au moment de sa conversion?” According to the author, in this question “1a vérité se trouve entre les deux extrémes” op. cit., p. 2). According to the author, it cannot be positively asserted that Augustine in his speculative theology is only a follower of Neoplatonic philosophy (neoplatonizes); equally, it cannot be denied that the doctrines of the Neoplatonists in Augustine’s ideas underwent a certain change (they were reworked and thus received their own correction in them). This is because, as we know, Augustine only later abandoned Manichaeism and the dualistic concepts with which he was initially attracted, and therefore it would be quite unusual if a system that at a certain moment had such a significant influence on his thought were “absolutely” forgotten by him, so that no more traces of it could be found in the writings of Augustine that followed his conversion to Christianity (op. cit., pp. 2-3). Next, a number of church fathers are listed, showing the relationship in which each of them stands to Neoplatonism, and a general conclusion is drawn about the significance of the latter for Christianity in the 1st centuries (Introduction, pp. 1–21). The first chapter of this study (Pp. 23–56) shows the reader the extent and nature of Augustine’s acquaintance with Greek philosophy in general and Neoplatonic philosophy in particular (1-er ch. Se., que s. Augustin connaissait de la philosophic grecque et du néoplatonisme, pp. 23–56). The author of the French monograph examines and resolves this preliminary question in this chapter, as in all subsequent ones, through a documentary analysis of literary monuments compared with each other (in their original languages) in connection with the data of Western European literature on this issue. The conclusion that can be drawn from the pages reviewed in this chapter is this: Augustine had acquaintance with all ancient philosophy, since he mentioned the names of almost all ancient philosophers, but the acquaintance was not direct (due to his ignorance of the Greek language) and incomplete (the inability to determine in various schools the place assigned to each philosopher individually. The best example of this is Augustine’s assessment of the significance of Aristotle). The two subsequent chapters of the dissertation under consideration, closest to the goals of our work (Ch. 2-er. Dieu et ses attributes d'aprés le néoplatonisme et d'aprés saint Augustin. Pp. 57–84. Ch. 3-er. La Trinité. Pp. 85–99), proceed in exactly the same completely scientific method to a more specific explanation and substantiation of the position accepted by the author, that, on the one hand, in the philosophical education (culture) of Augustine one feels “une inspiration hellénique” and that this breath or suggestion (cette inspiration) could have its source, first of all, in Neoplatonism, but, on the other hand, “Augustine’s theology is too deeply Christian (trop chrétien) to be diffused or resolved in the mystical pantheism of the Alexandrians” (cf. Vacherot, whose opinion in its somewhat restrictive sense and represents the last statement of our author). Particular: the question considered by the author in Chapter 2 of this monograph allows him to draw (albeit not in final form) such a conclusion. The similarities between Augustine and Plotinus (on the issue of the essence of God and His properties) are not absolutely identical (identiques), however, they are similar not only in the main features, but also in the details. This can be especially said regarding the Neoplatonic concept of the One (Ἒν), as an inexpressible being, absolutely simple and unchangeable. But, while expressing this conviction, our author, nevertheless, is far from considering the influence of Plotinus on Augustine even in this point of their teaching as deep (profonde). The third chapter of this French work begins with an exposition and consideration of the "3 initial hypostases" of the Neoplatonic triad and the three Divine Persons of the Christian Trinity in their essence and mutual relations (pp. 87-91). The lifeless abstractness that characterizes the essence of the Neoplatonic hypostases, and the subordinationism that determines the nature of their mutual relations in their opposition to the personal character and complete equality in their essence and relationships of the Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity, give our author grounds to recognize the “unconditional” and “radical” difference between the designated three hypostases of Neoplatonism and the Persons of the Christian Trinity. What has been said about the difference between the metaphysical triad of Neoplatonism and the Christian Trinity of Persons, as the Living Personal God, the author then applies (pp. 93–97) the Trinitarian theosophy of Plotinus and Augustine’s speculative teaching about the Holy Trinity. As a conclusion from the said comparison of both, our author makes the following statement: in this respect, there is not only no agreement between Augustine and Plotinus, but, on the contrary, a complete difference emerges and is revealed (une divergence compléte); The similarity between them, if it can be seen, is only numeric (i.e. in relation to the numbers “1st” and “Z-x”). Next, the author discerns the true (Orthodox-Christian) meaning of Augustine’s Trinitarian concept (pp. 94–97) and shows its connection with the Trinitarian formula of Athanasius the Great (p. 97). The chapter ends with a remark on the reason for the tendency of Augustine's Trinitarian intuition towards modalism and the possibility of drawing non-ecclesiastical conclusions from his Trinitarian analogies (pp. 97–99). – The two further chapters (IV. La crèation, pp. 101–113 and V. La Providence, le problème du mal et l’optimisme, pp. 113–149) examine the questions posed in their title in exactly the same way as before and come to essentially the same conclusions. A special conclusion is also attached to the essay (Conclusion, pp. 149–158). As a relatively recent work in Western literature on the issue under consideration (1896), it proceeds from data obtained by the author’s predecessors in this area, the conclusions of which he corrects and supplements (Vacherot, Richter, Zeller, Dorner, Loesche, Bestmann, Harnack, Ueberweg etc.). Thus, all three of the works we have characterized above (German Storz, Latin Loesche and French Grandgeorge) attempt to determine the philosophical sources of the speculative theology of St. Augustine. Moreover, the authors of the last two monographs, which represent a wonderful “supplementum” to each other, detail a more special question about Augustine’s attitude to Neoplatonic philosophy and the influence of the latter on him. Dr. Conr. Scipio. Des Aurelius Augustinus Metaphysik im Rahmen seiner Lehre vom Übel. Leipzig. 1886. Actually, in addition to the introduction treating Augustine and his era (Ss. 1–13), only the first theological (analytical, Ss. 13–31) part and only partly the second philosophical (synthetic, Ss. 31–96), except for the question of evil (Ss. 80–96), are closely related to the subject of our topic. The third part is devoted to ethical issues (Ss. 96–109). Here we used a scheme that very fully and in detail classifies the Trinitarian analogies of Blessed Augustine (Ss. 65–69), comments regarding the terminological features of his theological and philosophical language, etc. (S. 22, Anmerk. 23, S. 79), as well as some quotes and tirades from the works of Western European literature about Blessed Augustine (Ss. 7, 41 etc.). N. Bestmann. Qua ratione Augustinus notiones philosophiae Graecae ad dogmata anthropologica describenda adhibuerit. Dissert. Erlangae. 1877. This work of a German author (in Latin) only in a small part corresponds to the tasks and subject of our work. This work, as its very title shows, is an attempt to resolve the question of in what sense and on what basis Augustine could use the concepts of Greek philosophy when revealing anthropological dogmas. This Latin book has a more direct and intimate relationship with the anthropology of St. Augustine than with his speculative theology, which it touches on only in passing and only in the most general terms. The author of this work believes that his task, as he himself says (page 14), is to “disquire, quomodo in dogmata theologica ac praecipue in anthropologica Augustini veterum modus cogitandi irrepserit.” Here, a little lower, the author outlines and resolves this issue when he says that the influence of ancient philosophy in Augustine extends only to the philosophical forms with the help of which Augustine erected the edifice of his theology (Ibid.). Hermann Reuter. Augustinische Studien. Gotha. 1887. This is the work of Reuter, according to the Russian secular researcher Bl. Augustina Prof. E. N. Trubetskoy, “can be characterized in two words - as a collection of Augustine’s contradictions. This, according to the said professor, is the undeniably great merit and outstanding significance of Reiter’s work.” 5 – The presentation of Augustinian views by Protestant theologians, which is necessarily resolved into their criticism (due to the opposition of the basic principles of Augustinianism and Protestantism by their very nature), usually suffers from a certain one-sidedness and therefore incorrectness. Even the independent prof. Trubetskoy recognizes and notes this circumstance, saying: “it’s just a pity that Reuther gets lost in the labyrinth of Augustinian contradictions, looking through the most important thing in Augustine’s teaching - the organic unity of the whole.” 6 Reuter’s “Etudes”, having as their goal the solution of various issues related to Augustine and his teaching by illuminating them in a strictly historical perspective, are of interest and significance for us, mainly, only on some of their pages (esp. IV study: Augustine and the Catholic East; VII study: On the question of the church-historical position and significance of Augustine). According to contemporary authoritative theologians of the West and East (for example, A. Harnack, A. I. Brilliantov), ​​this work by Reiter is one of the most prominent works of Western literature about Augustine in recent times. Henrich Schöler. Augustins Verhältnis zu Plato in genetischer Entwickelung. Jena. 1897. As soon as 1896, a special monograph “L. Grandgeorge. Saint Augustin et le neoplatonisme. Paris. 1896", establishing the connection between the speculative theology of Blessed. Augustine with Neoplatonism (Plotinus), as already in the next 1897, the German author N. Schöler published a book in which he specifically and deliberately puts forward a particular question about Augustine’s relationship not to Plotinus, but specifically to Plato: Augustins Verhältnis zu Plato in genetischer Entwickelung. Noting in the introduction to his work the reason and objectives of the latter, the German author states that although the question of Augustine’s attitude to ancient philosophy has already attracted the attention of many researchers and already has its own rather rich literature, however, in view of the recent appearance of works of this kind, emphasizing and strengthening the influence on Augustine of representatives of precisely the later Greek philosophy (Plotinus, Neoplatonism = works of Loësche, Grandgeorge, etc.), this threatens to weaken too much or obscure Plato's immediate or direct influence on Augustine. In accordance with this, the author of this work sets himself, as a completely expedient task, to find and prove Augustine’s direct or immediate relationship with Plato through the depiction of Augustine’s integral spiritual worldview (Op. cit. Einleitung, S. 5). Dr. Friedr. Worter. Die Geistesentwickelung des hl. Aurelius Augustinus bis zu seiner Taufe. Padeborn. 1892. This work by a German author has a biobibliographical character. The first part of it (Ss. 5–66) is devoted to the biography of St. Augustine. Here the reader will find all the most important events from the external life of this Western father, from his birth to the moment of his conversion to Christianity, inclusive, and at the same time, a definition of their psychological influence on the personality of Blessed Augustine and on the course of his spiritual development. Thus, all the most important circumstances of the external and internal life of Bl. Augustine of the “pre-Christian” period is presented by the author of the work under review genetically, precisely as factors of intellectual (literary-philosophical) development that prepared and then determined his conversion to Christianity. The second part of the German book under consideration (Ss. 67–210) is bibliographic in nature and is devoted to the analysis (both from the content and from the literary-formal side) of the religious and philosophical works of the Western thinker we are studying for the specified period of his life. The German author of this work, as the very title of the latter shows, brings his analysis of the process of Augustine’s spiritual development only to the fact of his conversion to Christianity. The further course of the life of the “Christian Augustine”, all of his rich and varied literary and social activities as Bishop of Hippo and, in general, the entire totality of influences on the literary-philosophical, scientific-theological and ecclesiastical-social personality of Blessed Augustine during this period of his life remain, unfortunately, beyond the scope of the scientific study of our German author. WITH . Bindemann. Der heilige Augustinus. Bd. I–III. Berlin – Leipzig – Greifswald. 1844–1869. This work of the major German researcher of St. Augustine is biographical and at the same time bibliographic in nature. In the third volume of this extensive work, its German author gives a detailed account of the contents of the 15 books of Augustine’s work “De Trinitate” (mainly in the latter’s own words) and further defines the church-historical significance of the Trinitarian teaching he expounds on the father of the Western Church. The named analysis of the German author, representing a interpretation of the Trinitarian Augustinian teaching in later European (German) literature about Augustine, documentarily introduces us to the content of 15 books of his work “De Trinitate”, gives a complete, generally quite accurate idea of ​​this dogmatic-speculative teaching of his. When our author expounds Augustine’s dogmatic teaching on the Holy Spirit, we encounter the inevitable, in this case, Western “Filioque”; assessment of the church-historical significance of Augustinian teaching about St. The Trinity in the mouth of a Western scientist has the usual laudatory and, from an objective point of view, elevated tone. F.u. P. Bohringer. Aurelius Augustinus. I–II. 2 Outl. Stuttgart. 1877–1878. This is a two-volume study by a Protestant theologian dedicated to Bl. Augustine, like the previous work, has a biobibliographical character. Its first volume is devoted to the biography and bibliography of St. Augustine, the 2nd volume is devoted to his formal theological and positive dogmatic system. The teaching of Blessed Augustine about the being of God, about the Holy Trinity and about the properties of the Triune God (Bd. II, Ss. 276–299), clearly, accurately and distinctly presented by our author, for the most part in Augustine’s own words (although, unfortunately, without citing quotes), is unpleasantly interrupted, however, by the author’s harsh and sometimes ironic remarks in a Protestant-rationalistic spirit. Dr. A. Dorner. Augustinus, sein theologisches System und seine religions-philosophische Anschauung. Berlin. 1873. The work in question by the German theologian, referring exclusively to the teachings of St. Augustine (without a biographical or bibliographical element), presents the latter from a Protestant point of view. Our author’s attitude, as a Protestant rationalist, to Augustine’s theological “system,” it goes without saying, should be critical. The duality of the views of the Ipponian thinker, running through his entire “system,” is especially emphasized here by our author in certain points of the teaching of St. Augustine. Having noted and explained the absence of system in the writings of Augustine and indicating the main subjects of his theology ("God" and "sin"), our author proceeds to define the task of his study (Vorrede, S. 2) and indicates the plan of the latter (Vorrede, Ss. 2-4). For us, the first part of the monograph under consideration, which interprets Augustine’s teaching about God and the teachings related to him, was of primary interest (Ss. 5–112). Here we find, first of all, Dorner's teaching, from a Protestant point of view, of our church writer about the Trinity and further about God in His being. This is the last teaching of Bl. Our author then puts Augustine in relation to his previous teaching about the Trinity and indicates the degree of agreement between both and some possibility of their agreement (Ss. 5–28). The presentation of the indicated points of Augustine’s theological system, commented on by quotations from the works of Catholic and Protestant (Gangauf, Schwane, Weisse, Baur etc.) researchers of Augustine, is accompanied by our author with his own criticism of Augustine’s views from a strictly Protestant point of view. Finally, in the next section, the author tries to determine the historical position of the above teaching of St. Augustine about God the Trinity (Ss. 28–34). In making this attempt, the author critically analyzes the Trinitarian construction of St. Augustine, determines the degree of its dependence on similar experiences of previous times and its originality, as well as its advantages and disadvantages. The author’s exaggerated assessment of Augustine’s merits in the doctrine of the Trinity in comparison with this Eastern teaching (such as his final elimination of subordinationism in the mutual relations of Divine Persons, a more precise definition of the position of the Holy Spirit in the Trinitarian process and giving internal completeness to the latter, Ss. 20–30), are quite characteristic and quite understandable from Dorner, as a Western theologian, with his Western point of view on the subject and, if necessary, to deal with literary and historical heritage from Augustine. Prof. A. Harnack. Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte. Bde I–III. Freib. im Breisg. Bd. II. 1888. Bd. III. 1890. This very thorough work of a contemporary German historian and theologian, dedicated to the history of Christian dogmas and Christian philosophy, devotes a lot of space to our Western Christian theologian-philosopher. As a comparatively recent work and as it gives Augustine a special place in the history of Christian dogma, this work of the popular German scientist attracts special attention among similar courses on the history of dogma and the history of Christian philosophy. The relationship of the named author to Bl. Augustine, with enthusiastic admiration for the latter’s very personality, is sharply rationalistic and therefore tendentious. It is determined by our author in general by his Socinian views, and therefore by his fundamentally hostile attitude towards dogmatics in general, and Eastern dogma in particular. The author's adogmatic (pietistic) tendencies were reflected both in his criticism of Augustine's dogmatic-theological views, which denied the latter any significance of the system, and in his assessment of the significance of his reformatory activities in the field of Christian religiosity (Frommigkeit). ABOUT . Kirn. Trinität. Real-Encyclopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche v. Herzog-Hauck. 3-te Aufl. V. XX. An article by a Protestant rationalist theologian published in the Real-Encyclopädie far protestantische Theologie und Kirche, at 116–117 Ss. XXth Bd. devotes space to an exposition of the Trinitarian concepts of Blessed Augustine and their subsequent fate in the history of Western theology, representing on the designated pages dedicated to the famous Ippon theologian, part of his historical and dogmatic essay under the word “Trinität”. According to the author, “Augustine understands the idea of ​​the Divinity in a trinitarian way.” The One God, according to Augustine, implicite is the Trinity (De Trin. V, 9). His sharp idea of ​​the unity of God's being, obscuring personal differences, brings Persons closer to the concept of simple moments, or their mutual relations to each other (nur relative ad invicem - De Trin. VIII, init.). This reflected the Neoplatonic coloring of his trinitarian speculation, which differs from ancient modalism only in that these modes of Divine existence (Person) are understood by Augustine not in the sense of sequential succession (Succession), but from the point of view of their eternal coexistence (Coexistenz) and immanent intercommunication (die gegenseitige Immanenz). Having outlined the teaching of Blessed Augustine about the Trinity and showing the features of its difference from ancient modalism, our Protestant theologian, from the point of view of the above, then somewhat uniquely characterizes Augustine’s Trinitarian analogies, in which, according to the latter’s thought, the creature most clearly reflects its Creator. The characterization of the presented Trinitarian teaching of Blessed Augustine is inevitably resolved by our author, as a Protestant rationalist, into criticism of the latter, noting various inconsistencies and contradictions of his views. Our author's assessment, from a church-historical point of view, of the significance of the Augustinian doctrine of the Holy Trinity (with the inevitable Filioque) is usual for him as a Western theologian. – The Middle Ages, according to the author, did not bring anything new, compared with Augustine, to the disclosure of the content of the Trinitarian dogma, in a ready-made form, using in this case only the rich inheritance bequeathed to them from Augustine. In conclusion, in the most general terms, the author tries to establish the relation to Augustine’s theological speculation of the Trinitarian experiences of Richard v. St. Victor, Thom. Aquin., Duns Scot. and on them to show the deep influence and powerful authority of Augustine in the field of medieval theology. Prof. Dr. Reinhold Seeberg. Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte. Leipzig. 1908. 1910. 1913. Bde I–III. According to the historical and dogmatic concepts carried out in this work, the latter resembles a similar three-volume historical and dogmatic work by Prof. A. Harnack'a Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte. Bde I–III. However, one cannot help but notice that the dogmatic-historical work under consideration by R. Seeberg is somewhat more moderate and objective than the aforementioned “History of Dogmas” by Harnack. Nevertheless, the author of the German work we are reviewing can rightfully be called a student and epigone of Harnack, this contemporary luminary of church-historical and theological science in the Protestant world, and therefore what we said above about the work of the latter (A. Harnack) is applicable (albeit to a lesser extent) to the work of the former (R. Seeberg). Fr. Loofs. Leitfaden zum Studium der Dogmengeschichte. Halle. 1893. What has been said about the previous book and its relationship to the theological and historical views of A. Harnack is even more applicable to this work, the German author of which is one of the many students of Prof. A. Harnack, guided and inspired by the latter on the path of their church and theological-historical research. This book, as is partly clear from its title itself, is a short but rather valuable compendium on the history of ancient Christian church dogma, distinguished by the brevity and accuracy of its presentation, as well as some originality of its historical and dogmatic constructions. Dr. Jos. Schwane. Dogmengeschichte der paristischen Zeit. Munster. 1866–1869. Known under the above title of "History of Dogmas" by the Catholic scholar Schwane bears noticeable traces of its Catholic origin. If the “History of Dogma” of Protestant scholars that we examined above suffers from excessive criticism and rationalism in the presentation of the doctrine of Bl. Augustine, then in the person of Schwane, as an orthodox Roman Catholic theologian, we encounter a completely opposite attitude towards Augustine, characterized by reverent admiration for him as the greatest father and teacher of the Western Church. From the same point of view, the Trinitarian views of Augustine of Hippo are presented and commented on by our German Roman Catholic, with the inevitable assimilation of the “Filioque” to the latter. Dr. Johannes Huber. Die Philosophic der Kirchenväter. Munich. 1859. In addition to the above-mentioned and described scholarly manuals in modern and classical languages, which in one way or another relate to the subject and objectives of our dissertation, we know and had at hand the following foreign books, which contain some data on various particular issues of Augustinian studies that are not uninteresting for our purposes. Theophanis Procopowicz, Archiepiscopi Novogrodensis. Tractatus de processione Spiritus Sancti. Gothae. 1772. Prof. J. Langen. Die trinitarische Lehrdifferenz zwischen der abendländischen und der morgenländischen Kirche. Bonn. 1876. Prof. K. F. Noesgen. Geschichte der Lehre von heil. Geiste. Gütersloh. 1899. Detailed analysis of foreign (and Russian) literature on the issue of trinitarian pneumatology bl. For Augustine, see Part 2 of this work, devoted to the development of Augustine’s teaching about the Holy Spirit and His personal relationship to God the Father and God the Son. W. Thimme. Augustin. Ein Lebens – und Charakterbild auf Grund seiner Briefe. Göttingen. 1910. Dr. R. Ceillier. Histoire génerale des auteurs sacrés et ecclesiastiques. Paris. 1744.tt. 11–12. Herzog. Real-Encyclopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche. 1877. 1 Bd. Ss. 781–795. Art. A. Dorner "Augustinus". Herzog-Hauck. RE 3. Leipzig. 1897. Bd. II-er., Ss. 257–285. Art. Loofs'a "Augustinus". Wetzer und Welte's. Kirchenlexikon oder Encyclopädie der katholischen Theologie und ihrer Hülfswissenschaften. 2-te Aufl. Freib. im Breisg. 1882. Bd. I. Ss. 1669–1678. W. Thimme. Augustins geistigee Entwicklung in den ersten Jahren nach seiner “Bekehrung”, 366–391. Berlin. 1908. H. A. Naville. Saint Augustin. Etude sur le développement de sa pensée jusqu'à l'époque de son ordination. Geneve. 1872. R. Eucken. Die Lebensanschauungen der Grosser Denker. Leipzig. 1890. Dr. R. Eisler. Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe. Berlin. 1910. I–III. Dr. Fr. Kirchner. Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe. Heidelberg. 1890. Th. Gangauf. Metaphysische Psychologie des heiligen Augustinus. Augsburg. 1852. Dr. H.Leder. Untersuchungen über Augustins Erkenntnistheorie. Marburg. 1901. R. Schmid. Marius Victorinus Rhetor und seine Beziehungen zu Augustin. Kiel. 1895. H. Becker. Augustin. Studien zu seiner geistigen Entwicklung. Leipzig. 1908. J. F. Nourisson. La philosophie de st. Augustin. Paris. 1865. G.v. End. Der Gottesbeweis in der paristischen Zeit mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Augustins. Freib. im Br. 1869. H. Weinand. Die Gottesidee der Grundzug der Weltanschauung des hl. Augustinus. Padeborn. 1910. (Vrgl. Forschungen zur christlichen Literatur und Dogmengeschichte. X Bd., 2 Heft. Padeborn. 1910). Dr. C. Braun. Der Begriff "Person" in seiner Anwendung auf die Lehre von der Trinität und Incarnation. Mainz. 1876. F. Ch. Baur. Die christlische Lehre von der Dreieinigkeit in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwickelung. Tubingen. 1841. Dr. J. Kuhn. Die christlische Lehre von der göttlichen Dreieinigkeit. Tubingen. 1857. Emil Feuerlein. Ueber die Stellung Augustins in der Kirchen – und Kulturgeschichte. (Histor. Zeitschr. t. 22-ter. München. 1869. Ss. 270–313). Otto Willmann. Geschichte des Idealismus. Braunschweig. 1894–1896. Bd. I–II. (Bd. II. Augustinus. § 61. Augustins' weltgeschichtliche Stellung. Ss. 231–241 usw. § 75. Thomas und Augustinus. Ss. 457–471). A. Harnack. Augustins Confessionen. 3-te Aufl. Giessen. 1903. Ant. Koch. Der heilige Faustus, Bisch. v. Riez. Stuttg. 1895. Ss. 129–131, 131–191. Walter Schulz. Der Einfluss Augustins in der Theologie und Christologie des VIII. und IX. Jahrhunderts. Halle. 1913. M. F. Protois. Pierre Lombard, Évèque de Paris, dit le Maître des sentences. (Son Époque, sa Vie, ses Écrits, son Influence). Paris. 1880. Otto Baltzer. Die Sentenzen des Petrus Lombardus (ihre Quellen und ihre dogmengeschichtliche Bedeutung). Leipzig. 1902. Dr. Karl Werner. Der heilige Thomas von Aquino. Regensburg. 1858–1859. Bde I–III. Dr. Schneider. Die katholische Vahrheit oder die theologische Summa des heil. Thomas von Aquin. Regensburg. Bde 11–12. 1890. Siebeck. Die Anfänge der neueren Psychologie in der Scholastic. Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik. Bd. 93. Halle-Saalle. 1888. Ss. 161–216. Dr. J. Alzog. Grundriss der Patrologie oder der ältern chrtistlichen Literärgeschichte. Freib. im Br. 1869. Dr. J. Nirschl. Lehrbuch der Patrologie und Patristik. Bde I–III. Mainz. 1881–1883–1885. (Bd. II, §§177–179, Ss. 433–485). J. Fessler – B. Jungmann. lnstitutiones Patrologiae. tt. I–II,1–2. Oeniponte. 1890–1892–1896. (Vol. II, 1. §§ 159–177. Ss. 250–405). Dr. H. Kihn. Patrologie. Bd. I–II. Padeborn. 1904–1908. (Bd. II, § 135, Ss. 320–349). G. Rauschen. Grundriss der Patrologie mit besonderer Berucksichtigung der Dogmengeschichte. Freib. im Br. 1910. § 58. Ss. 168–186. Dr. Otto Bardenhewer. Patrologie. Aufl. 3-te Freib. im Breisg. 1910. § 99. Ss. 410–438. Prof. Herm. Jordan Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur. Leipzig. 1911. (passim). The following domestic publications served us as guides in Russian. Prof. A.I. Brilliantov. The influence of Eastern theology on Western in the works of John Scotus Erigena. St. Petersburg. 1898 The named research of our contemporary academic professor goes to the solution of the question posed in the title through a more precise determination of the significance of the factors that took place during the development of the views of the Western philosopher-theologian Erigena he took. The actual implementation of the task set by the author comes down to understanding the influence that the theological and philosophical speculation of East and West actually had on John Scotus Erigena. Having completed this preliminary task, the author has the opportunity to establish a view of the Erigena system as a result of his assimilation of Eastern views, but from a Western point of view, with his constant transition from Eastern views to their Western interpretation. The disclosure and justification of this view constitutes the actual content of the work under consideration. Its first part, therefore, is devoted to explaining the conditions for the emergence of the Erigena system. Explaining the latter’s attitude to the Eastern and Western sources of his views, the author characterizes and compares the data of Western and Eastern theology (their differences and features) in the person of the most typical representatives of both (Blessed Augustine, Dionysius (Pseudo-) Areopagite, Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor). Having completed this, so to speak, propaedeutic part of his work, the author devotes the second half of it to the exposition of the theological and philosophical system of John Scotus Erigena. The problem of this research, uniquely understood and solved using a unique method, leads the author to new and original conclusions in comparison with those to which his Catholic and Protestant predecessors came to study this issue. The influence of Blessed Augustine on Erigena, who reflected the views of this, in his words, “most holy and divine theologian,” explains and determines the position of Blessed. Augustine with the whole range of his theological and philosophical views in the named study by prof. A.I. Brilliantova about Erigene. Our author establishes a completely special and new point of view on Augustine, his role and significance in the history of Western theology, in connection with which stands the method of his examination of this Western father and his results. Dedicated to the Western church writer we are studying, the third chapter of the named work (Blessed Augustine and his significance in the West, 81–136 pp.) is a concise, but very accurate and thorough presentation of the teachings of Blessed Augustine in the main points of his theology and philosophy. The author returns to it very often and on various occasions on other pages of his work. These few pages of the said dissertation, dedicated to our Western Christian thinker, constitute, in our opinion, the most significant and most valuable that is available in Russian theological literature on the question of the dogmatic-speculative element in the teaching of St. Augustine and the significance of his theological system in the West. The relationship of the dissertation under review to our essay is therefore immediate and immediate. Prof. A. P. Orlov. Trinitarian views of Hilary of Pictavia. (Historical and dogmatic research). Sergiev Posad. 1908 Setting as his task the clarification of the Trinitarian views of Hilary of Pictavia, in connection with the various theological movements of the West and the East, the author of the historical and dogmatic study under consideration, after an extensive introduction (pp. I–LXIV), places all the relevant material in two chapters of unequal size. In the first (pp. 1–276), he gives a historical overview of the church teaching about the Triune God from the 2nd to the 4th centuries and reveals the philosophical background of this teaching in various theological schools and currents of theological and philosophical thought of the same era. In the second (pp. 277–405) he expounds Hilary's doctrine of the Triune God. The significance of this dissertation for our work is determined by the very subject of its research - the Trinitarian theology of St. Hilary of Pictavian, which, as is known, is a precedent in the West for the doctrine of the Trinity we are studying and our Ippon theologian-philosopher. As a precedent in the Latin West for the Trinitarian speculations of our church teacher, undertaken by St. Hilary’s experience of revealing and clarifying the Christian dogma of the Holy Trinity, with all its differences, has many points of contact with the similar experience of Blessed Augustine, whom we are studying: the similarity in the mindset and methods of theological thinking of their authors, common to them as sons of the West, as well as the similarity in the general conditions of their scientific and theological activity, caused by the homogeneous circumstances of the church (the fight against Arianism in all its ramifications), noticeable In this way both of these works should be brought together. This especially needs to be said regarding the teaching of St. Hilary and Blessed Augustine on the Third Hypostasis of the Divine Trinity. The reasoning of Hilary of Pictavia about the Holy Spirit empowers his modern researcher (A.P. Orlov) to recognize the idea that “in Hilary one can find the beginnings of that Trinitarian philosophy, which was later developed in the West by Blessed Augustine” (op. cit., pp. 338–339). So, Hilary, in understanding the question of the ontological and economic principle of life of the Third Divine Hypostasis, turns out to be the closest predecessor of our Ippon theologian. In general, Hilary’s teaching about the Holy Spirit, both in its general concept, and in its terminological features, and in the position that this particular point of the dogma of the Holy Trinity occupies in his general Trinitarian system, to a certain extent approaches Augustine’s teaching on the same subject. Like Augustine, Hilary's teaching about the Third Person of the Holy Trinity is not distinguished by strict certainty and consistent theological character. His teaching about the personal relationship of the Holy Spirit is especially unstable and unclear. The guiding idea in revealing the question of the procession of the Spirit is Hilary’s concept of the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, as the hypostasized affiliation (res) of the Father and the Son (op. cit., p. 344). In Augustine, the Spirit is also presented as a hypostatic connection or mutual communication of love between the Father and the Son. Because of this, Hilary (like Augustine later) had to, in a certain sense, allow the participation of the Son in the act of origin of the Holy Spirit (346 pp. cit.), limiting himself, however, only to the general formula “through the Son” and not giving it a visual (by analogy as in Augustine) deductive disclosure (see Hilar. De Trin. 12, 55, 56 n.). A great similarity between both Western church writers (Hilary and Augustine) is also noticeable in pneumatological terminology or their names of the Holy Spirit: usus, donum, munus unum, etc. (cit. cit., pp. 315, 336, etc.) 7 . Only at St. Hilaria they are even less defined and expressive. Hilary's private teaching about the Holy Spirit is revealed by him (and therefore obscured) only incidentally, in connection with the clarification of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, directed against the Arian division of the essence of the Father and the Son. The revelation of precisely this thought in a positive and negative way constitutes the actual center of gravity of his Trinitarian teaching, while the special question of the metaphysical raison d'être of the Holy Spirit was not his deliberate goal and was not in this case included in the circle of his theological interests (directly). – The situation is almost exactly the same with Augustine. And this circumstance should also not be overlooked when analyzing the text of Augustinian works related here. – In addition to the second half of the dissertation being analyzed, dedicated to Hilary of Pictavia himself, the first part of it was of no small importance for us, where a unique grouping and vivid characteristics of dogmatic parties and factions (both Orthodox and non-Orthodox) were presented, which took an active part in theological disputes, especially in the 4th century. The extremely diverse, often very subtle, sometimes almost imperceptible theological shades of their teachings are put by the author of this monograph in perspective to the philosophical systems and movements of the era, from which, as from their premises, they are sometimes deduced and explained. Moreover, an analysis or characterization is carried out in the main points of the doctrine not only of the first, but also of the latter. Written, therefore, in the spirit of the best examples of theological dissertations of this kind (professors Bolotov, Spassky), the monograph under review satisfies all the requirements that modern times place on such research in the field of patristic writing. Prof. Evg. N. Trubetskoy. The religious and social ideal of Western Christianity in the 5th century. Part 1. Worldview of St. Augustine. Moscow 1892 This brilliant dissertation by Professor Evg. N. Trubetskoy, dedicated to the father of the Western Church we are studying, undoubtedly represents one of the major phenomena in Russian (secular) literature about Augustine. The very popular name of its authoritative and talented author, his broad, always based on primary source material, knowledge of the issue he has chosen, the rich erudition happily combined in him in the sphere of not only church history, but also philosophical and legal, the strictly and consistently pursued unity of the main idea of the work and the well-planned course of its development, and finally, the remarkable power and artistic depiction of his language - force us to give a very honorable place to named monograph by prof. Evg. N. Trubetskoy among Russian studies about the bl. Augustine. Without pursuing any polemical or apologetic goals in this work and not proceeding from any pre-established view of the subject of his research, our author, in his own words, standing outside the religious dispute of the West and therefore alien to its tendencies (see Preface, p. VII), sets as his direct task to give an objectively impartial presentation and disclosure of his intended subject of research, not at all hiding, but only trying to explain [it seems, however, somewhat exaggerated by him] the combination of all kinds of opposites and contradictions in the personality and teaching of the famous Western Christian thinker and teacher of the church he chose. Revealing a single principle or idea at the basis of all Augustine’s views (the theocratic ideal of universal unity), this work of the Russian scientist represents the experience of unifying, from the point of view of this principle, individual elements of Augustine’s views that developed in him under the influence of various historical circumstances (in the fight against Manichaeism, Donatism, Pelagianism, paganism) and not only not always homogeneous and not systematized, but sometimes, apparently organically heterogeneous and even contradictory. In relation to our work, the monograph of Prince Ev. N. Trubetskoy undoubtedly has a certain significance, since the presentation and systematization, from the point of view of the specified principle, of the religious and philosophical worldview of this Western writer is carried out by its author according to the historical-genetic method, which is important for the correct understanding of Augustine’s own theological views. From here we gleaned some guidance on the issue of the notorious “contradictions” of the Augustinian system, so greatly exaggerated by Western (Protestant) researchers of the bl. Augustine. This complex and controversial issue in Western literature about Augustine is resolved by our author from the point of view of the principle he established of the religious and philosophical worldview of our church teacher through a fairly objective illumination of the personality of Augustine and his era from a historical perspective. With all its outstanding scientific merits, the above-mentioned dissertation of Prince Trubetskoy for us can actually only have a general guiding [and even then not always] significance, since it sets out only the general basic principles of the religious and philosophical worldview of the Bishop of Ipponia in connection with the contemporary direction of philosophical and theological thought. Without going into the details of Augustine’s teaching at all, in particular - in relation to the point we are studying of the speculative-dogmatic teaching of Blessed Augustine about the Holy Trinity - the author limits himself to just a few lines, referring the reader to special monographs on this issue by foreign authors (see, for example, pp. 232-233 and notes on p. 233). Professor V.V. Bolotov. Origen's teaching on the Holy Trinity. St. Petersburg. 1879 Written with a philosophical apparatus of high scientific dignity, this book, like everything that came from the pen of this outstanding Russian learned theologian, in the issue it solves, reflects “the spirit of strict scientificism always inherent in the author, introduced everywhere by him.” Origen’s most sublime doctrine of the Trinity, to which the dissertation under review is devoted, is in some respects a fairly close copy of the Trinitarian speculations of Neoplatonic theosophy, translated by Origen into the language of Christian concepts and adapted to the church teaching about the living personal God. The sublime idealistic basis of this teaching, its deeply metaphysical character, especially its philosophical concept of the Second Principle of the Divine Trinity, its methodological and terminological features, which partly affected the material side of Origen’s Trinitarian dogmatics, are a direct imprint of the Trinitarian theosophy of Neoplatonism, with which it is largely imbued. At the same time, the author prefaces the presentation of Origen’s trinitarian views with a historical review of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in previous centuries of Christian history in connection with philosophical teachings about the Second Principle. Then, with the extensive erudition and spirit of strict scientificism characteristic of its author, Origen’s sublime teaching about the Holy Trinity, extremely difficult in itself and complicated by even more recent scientific literature about him, is quite clearly, clearly and accurately expounded. It is recognized that for Western theology the defining philosophical background is Stoicism, while Eastern theological thought reveals church doctrine under the dominant influence of Neoplatonism or Neoplatonic Origenism (in its two later formations) 8 ; the theology of the Cappadocians is explained by the dual influence of Aristotle and Plotinus. The Ipponian theologian we are studying reveals his teaching about God in general and about God the Trinity, in particular, according to a Neoplatonic scheme, which brings his said teaching, both in its general philosophical concept and in some of its details, closer to the Trinitarian speculations of the church writers who preceded him, especially Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria and other “Christian Neoplatonists” of the Alexandrian theological school. – Therefore, patristic monographs devoted to the development of the named point of the theological system of one or another church writer, of course, can also be closely related to the subject of our study (the Trinitarian views of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo). In view of this, we considered it necessary for ourselves to get acquainted with other patristic studies existing in Russian, devoted either to the special teaching about the Holy Trinity of the famous church writer, or to his entire dogmatic system. That is why the “excellent in all respects” dissertation of Prof. V.V. Bolotov about Origen, in view of what has been said, may have the same significance for our study of the Trinitarian teaching of Blessed Augustine. The same can be said about the following pathological studies: Archim. Kirill (Lopatin). The teaching of St. Athanasius of Alexandria on the Holy Trinity. Kazan. 1894. Prof.-Prot. N. P. Vinogradov. The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian. Kazan. 1887. Prof. V. I. Nesmelov. The Dogmatic System of Gregory of Nyssa. Kazan. 1887. The following two theological dissertations are also closely related to what has been said: a) Prof. A. A. Spassky. History of dogmatic movements in the era of ecumenical councils (in connection with the philosophical teachings of that time). Serg. Pos. 1906. b) V. N. Samuilov. History of Arianism in the Latin West (353–430). St. Petersburg 1890. The two historical-dogmatic works just mentioned, together with the other above-characterized scientific works of Russian theologians, have propaedeutic significance in relation to our study of the trinitarian (apologetic, polemical, dogmatic-exegetical, etc.) works of Blessed Augustine, which expound the church dogma of the Holy Trinity not only through its positive disclosure, but also in a polemical-apologetic form, caused by the conditions and needs of the time. It is known that the teaching of the Christian church of the first centuries was revealed and formulated in the writings of church writers, mainly in the fight against and about the errors that arose in the church. Therefore, the polemical and apologetic element in the works of the fathers and teachers of the patristic era is very significant. He also occupies quite a significant place in the writings of the father of the Western Church we are studying. Blessed Augustine reveals his teaching about the Holy Trinity in connection with the refutation of the Trinitarian-Christological errors of his age that worried the church society of his time (the Omian and Anomian currents of Arian thought, Sabellianism, Manichaeism and other Gnostic and Judeo-pagan distortions of the Trinitarian-Christological dogma). In view of this, the positive Church-Orthodox teaching about the Holy Trinity in the works of Blessed Augustine is closely and inextricably linked with the hereseological element, which even largely determines for him, as well as for other church writers, the method of revealing the specified dogma, unique methods of argumentation, some features of presentation, primary attention and interest in one or another particular point of the dogma under consideration and, in general, it noticeably determines many features of its disclosure and presentation, and, moreover, from its not only formal, but partly also material side (its terminology, methodology and concept). Therefore, historical and dogmatic studies devoted to the special development of Trinitarian-Christological issues (dogmatic disputes and movements regarding them in Christian society), moreover, in the works of both individual representatives of the church and its entire era, are of great auxiliary importance for a more holistic, more correct and accurate understanding and presentation of this teaching by any individual church writer. His creation could not, of course, stand completely isolated from contemporary life or outside the conditions of his time and environment, or develop independently of them. As the latest church-historical studies of both foreign and domestic origin show, a certain connection can be established between the theological system of a church writer and even his individual theological thoughts with its historical and literary precedents, on the one hand, and the needs of a given moment in church life, on the other. This circumstance prompted us to introduce into the circle of our research, in addition to the above-mentioned dissertations of Professors A. I. Brilliantov, A. P. Orlov, V. V. Bolotov, E. N. Trubetskoy and others, two more monographs reviewed below by Professor A. A. Spassky and V. N. Samuilov, dealing with the indicated church phenomenon precisely in its entire era. Prof. A. A. Spassky. History of dogmatic movements in the era of ecumenical councils in connection with philosophical teachings. I. Volume one. Trinitarian question. (History of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity). Sergiev Posad. 1906 The real work of our modern scientist historian-theologian is like a desktop encyclopedia or an entire scientific course. “The author surveys the history of an entire century-long era, the most important and most abundant in its consequences for Christianity, moreover, in its most important and most difficult to study aspect (dogmatic disputes about the Holy Trinity and movements regarding these disputes in the Christian East and West).” The author places these disputes and movements “in a genetic connection with the history of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the first three centuries of Christianity and even further extends the historical perspective back to Philo, the Stoics, Aristotle and Plotinus.” – This work of a Russian academic theologian introduces us to the philosophical basis that the Trinitarian-Christological teaching of church writers of the noted era had. Reading this work makes quite transparent the philosophical substratum that underlies the Trinitarian views of the Western father we are studying. True, this work is not about Augustine (he is given only a few lines in the note on p. 646 – 647), but, as has already been shown, the question of the influence of ancient philosophy on the church dogmatics of the patristic era and, more specifically, the relationship between the Trinitarian theosophy of Neoplatonism and the Christian dogma of the Holy Trinity, solved in its pages in detail and in detail, is closely related to the tasks of our work. V. N. Samuilov. History of Arianism in the Latin West. (353 – 430). St. Petersburg. 1890 This book, both in terms of the time of origin and the nature of the development of its subject, does not constitute (like the previous one) news in Russian theological literature, nor does it reveal broad theological, philosophical or church-historical perspectives. Depicting the external position of Arianism in the West and the various vicissitudes of its internal state (theological disputes of various church parties and their dogmatic systems), this work represents an experience in presenting the history of the external and internal development of Arianism in the Latin West, mainly in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Chapter VIII of the work under consideration (pp. 130 – 143) treats the position of Western Arianism (from the side of its doctrine) under St. Augustine and the latter’s scientific and theological struggle with the most famous representatives of Arianism in his time in the Latin West (mainly Omii and Anomii). Chapter IX of the work under review, dedicated to the presentation and characterization of polemical anti-Arian literature in the Latin West, devotes several pages (180 - 192) to Blessed Augustine, characterizing him among other Western defenders of Orthodoxy [Lucifer, Thebadius, Gregory of Illiberia, Victorinus, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, Faustin], as the finalizer of Trinitarian-Christological dogmatics in the Latin West. In relation to our church teacher, the author of this work sets as his task “to highlight his polemic against the Arians and put him in relation to the previous fathers” (op. cit., p. 180, note 80s). But in essence, our author is forced to consider not only the anti-Arian theses and thoughts of Bl. Augustine, but sometimes also touches (albeit briefly and generally) on the positive side of certain points of his Trinitarian-Christological teaching. The conclusion reached by the author of the work under consideration on the question of the significance of the Western writer we are studying in the history of the church revelation of the Trinitarian dogma is not shared, however, by later domestic researchers of Blessed Augustine (for example, Prof. V.V. Bolotov, A.I. Brilliantov). Modern Russian theologians are not inclined in this matter (about the significance and merits of St. Augustine in the history of the theological revelation of Trinitarian dogmatics) to share the prevailing conviction in the West, formulated in the well-known saying: “In Augustino patet, quod in Orientalibus latet.” N. N. Dogma of the Holy Trinity and complete knowledge. Theological Bulletin. 1904 Months July – August (pp. 335 – 403) and September (pp. 1 – 39) and dep. brochure The article subject to our consideration by an unknown author, “The Dogma of the Holy Trinity and Complete Knowledge,” represents a remarkably successful attempt, in a purely rational way, to come as close as possible to the understanding of the greatest mystery of the Christian faith - the dogma of the Holy Trinity, to bring this innermost secret closer to the rational consciousness of man through an epistemological analysis of the nature and functions of human self-consciousness. Thus, before us is the experience of an exclusively rational-philosophical justification and understanding of the indicated central truth of the Christian faith. The sublimely speculative concept of the dogma studied here reveals in the author the strength and sharpness of his dialectical analysis, the subtlety and flexibility of his thought, the depth of his theological intuition, the height and, so to speak, transparency of his religious contemplation, as well as the liveliness and vitality of his confession of this dogma of the church and, finally, the reverent boldness of his spiritual comprehension and insights into this mysterious and incomprehensible sphere timeless and premium absolute Being. The research method of our unknown author is purely dialectical. The very construction of the Trinitarian dogma with which he tries to achieve his goal is of a sublimely idealistic nature, reminiscent of the Plotino-Philonian or Neoplatonic concept of this dogma among the “Christian Neoplatonists” - the Alexandrians, as well as some other ancient Christian writers who revealed the Trinitarian teaching according to the Neoplatonic scheme. The author’s disclosure and understanding of this most mysterious dogma of Christianity is based on a psychological (epistemological) analysis of the process of Divine self-consciousness. The sublime idealistic scheme that underlies the understanding of this dogma by the author of the scientific work under review, the subjective psychological (dialectical) method that he uses for this purpose, are reminiscent of the essentially similar construction of the Trinitarian dogma in St. Augustine. Our author’s construction of this dogma is therefore exactly the same as that of the Bishop of Ippon. But from an author living in the 20th century, one can expect, in this case, something new or original, compared with a writer of the 4th - 5th centuries. There is certainly both here. The author is especially original in his application to the understanding of the Trinitarian dogma of the data and the conclusions from them of our modern theory of knowledge. And, indeed, the abundant epistemological material collected by the author represents his contemporary data and the latest conclusions of our contemporary theory of knowledge, which the author then wittily and thoughtfully uses to clarify the dogma of the Holy Trinity as proof of both the reasonable grounds for this objective truth of our faith, and the reasonable grounds for our subjective faith in this truth. For this purpose, the author subjects the sources of our knowledge to critical analysis and establishes from here the provisions necessary for it. Here is a concise and schematic presentation of his trinitarian concept. An epistemological analysis of the process of Divine self-consciousness states in God: 1. Knowing Himself (subject). 2. Knowledge of Himself (cognizable object). 3. His knowledge of His Knowledge of Himself (knowledge of the 2nd moment or Person). The indicated three moments in the process of absolute self-awareness correspond, when translated into theological language, to the Three Persons or Hypostases of the Divine Trinity. From this construction and through it, the author determines the existence (origin) and mutual relationship (connection) of the Divine Persons, characterized, according to the author, by the “inseparable peculiarity” of each of them. Since everything that happens in God is of an absolute nature, then His (cognition) must also be marked by the same character of absoluteness. Absolute or complete knowledge of a thing is equal to the latter, identical to it. God's knowledge of Himself, as the knowledge of God, is complete, and as complete, it is equal to its object, and as equal to its object, it is God (because the object of this knowledge is God (cit. cit. God. Vestn. 1904, Month. July - August, p. 397). Therefore, the pre-eternal (pre-temporal and pre-mundane) and essentially absolute knowledge of God Himself, as knowledge of a self-conscious being, that is, personal, itself receives the predicate of Personality: in other words, it becomes a Person (the same as the First, Personal God or the Second Divine Person). So, each of the two complete Divine Knowledges (knowledge of Himself and knowledge of His Knowledge) is a Person. The First Person's knowledge of the First (that is, Himself) is the Second Person, and the First Person's knowledge of the Second (that is, His Self-Consciousness) is the Third Person. The First Person is the Father, the Second is the Son, the Third is the Holy Spirit. 2nd = 1st; 3rd = 2nd, ergo, 3rd = 1st. All are equal to each other, and each is God. The author was able to use the results of this construction further for polemical purposes (in defense of the Orthodox teaching about the image of the procession of the Third Divine Hypostasis (cit. cit., God. Vestn. 1904, Month., Sept., p. 23). Like Augustine, the author of the work under review, in order to better understand and substantiate his concepts and provisions, often makes philological excursions, which are not devoid of wit and reveal in the author their subtlety of philological observation and the strength of the acuity of his linguistic sense (cit. cit., Bog. Vestn. 1904, Months July - August pp. 381, 385, etc.). Finally, our author, like Blessed. Augustine ends his most thoughtful study of the Trinity-Unity with an inspired prayerful glorification of Her as the Living True God - a circumstance that testifies to the depth of religious feeling in both and the vividness of his experience. M. I. Vladislavlev. Philosophy of Plotinus, founder of the Neoplatonic school. St. Petersburg. 1868 This work, despite its early origin (1868), has not yet lost its significance, since no new works on its subject have yet appeared in Russian, not counting more or less brief and random incidental comments on certain points of Plotinus’ philosophy, placed in courses on the history of philosophy and separately in theological and philosophical works. Therefore, all theologians who study the works of St. fathers in their attitude to Platonism or Neoplatonism, you must definitely use this work (Bolotov, Spassky, Orlov, Chetverikov, etc.). Due to the very subject of our work and the degree of influence that Neoplatonic philosophy had on various points of Augustine’s teaching about God the Trinity, we had to pay attention to certain sections and chapters of this work. These, more than others, include: “On the First Beginning” (II chapter, 64 – 79 pp.). Ch. IV. “The second principle is the mind.” Birth from the first beginning, attitude towards it and the concept of mind (77 – 85). Ch. V. Mind and being: categories, the mental world (85 – 100). Chapter VI. Universal soul (101 – 108). Chapter XII. The doctrine of beauty (252 – 263). This also includes chapter XVII, which is close to the goals of our work, establishing the meaning of Plotinus’ philosophy (318 – 330). – The Neoplatonic triad of “initial hypostases” (the One, the Mind, the Soul) represents, as it were, a metaphysical parallel to the Three Hypostases of the Christian Holy Trinity. We clarified the nature of these members of the metaphysical triad of Neoplatonism and compared it with the Three Persons of the Christian Trinity, in connection with the Trinitarian views of Augustine himself, with the help of, among other things, the aforementioned monograph by Vladislavlev. Selected treatises of Plotinus. (Translation from Greek edited by Prof. G.V. Malevansky). Faith and Reason. 1899 No. 6 et seq. book and Messrs. We used this translation of the works of the head of Neoplatonic philosophy (unfortunately, only some of his “Enneades” were translated) as an aid in comparing the original expressions of Lycopolitus with those thoughts of Augustine (in the latter’s original language), which stand in one way or another in connection with the views of Plotinus and can be illuminated or explained from the influence of this famous founder of the Neoplatonic school. Professor V. N. Kastorsky. Aristotle's categories in Greek and Russian. St. Petersburg. 1859 The author prefaces the parallel presentation of the Greek-Russian text of Aristotle’s categories with an introduction (I – XVI), which is a brief historical outline of the consistent movement of Hellenic philosophical thought. Its author sees the final moment in Aristotle, who crowned the building of ancient philosophy and left the stamp of maturity and completeness on the entire philosophical work of Greece. We used this work when comparing some of Aristotle’s categories with those passages from the works of Augustine, where the latter concerns the question of substance, attributes, accidents, relationships in application to the Divinity, etc. (for example, in his “Confessions”, “De Trinitate”, etc.). – However, we must not lose sight of the fact that, from the point of view of Western theology, of which Bl. Augustine, Aristotle’s categories in the proper sense cannot be applied to God (Confess. IV, XVI, 28. Migne, t. 32, col. 704; p. trans. I, 92 - 93), Who, according to Augustine (De Trin. V, I, 2; M. t. 42, col. 912), is above all quality, above all quantity, etc. (apophatic moment of theological speculation of our Western Christian thinker). In addition to the dissertations we mentioned above, Prof. V.V. Bolotov, A.A. Spassky and A.P. Orlov, who clarified for us the significance of the ideas and forms of contemporary philosophy to the holy fathers and teachers of the Church in the disclosure, justification and formulation of church teaching, on the same side, the following scientific works, written mainly by contemporary (academic) theologians, were of interest to us. Prof. N.I. Sagarda, Ancient church theological science in the Greek east in its heyday (IV - V centuries), - its main directions and characteristic features. (Speech at the annual act of the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy. Christ. Reading. 1910, Month. April. pp. 443 – 507 and seq.) We are interested in the (admittedly brief) comments of the author of the article in question about the basic principles and essential elements of the theology of the three great Cappadocians, the assessment of the merits of each of them in the field of Orthodox Christian triadology and other church-historical and theological concepts of our learned author. Prof. I. V. Popov. Elements of Greco-Roman culture in the history of ancient Christianity. (Report read at a meeting of the Moscow Psychological Society). Question Philosopher and psycho. 1909 Jan. – Feb. Book 96 (I) et seq. The article under review by another scholarly specialist author sets as its task to show what forms the interaction of Greco-Roman culture and Christianity took in the history of the church or particular: “to indicate, firstly, the main reason that caused the cases of the merger of the original gospel sermon with elements of ancient culture, and, secondly, to trace the ways in which this merger took place using individual examples.” Summarizing the facts illustrating the various ways of rapprochement between Christianity and philosophy and the nature of the influence of the latter on the doctrine of the former, the author divides them into three groups. The author illustrates his observations in the field of the history of the genesis of Christian consciousness, rich in psychological and historical-literary data, with brilliant examples and comparisons from the field of the physical, cultural-historical world, etc., and, based on these facts, makes generalizations by analogy with the laws of physical, chemical, psychological, etc. Of particular interest for the purposes of our work, the author traced in the history of church theology the fate of the (philosophical) idea of ​​the Logos, borrowed from the philosophy of Philo, as a mediator between God and the world. The way this philosophical concept of the Logos, as a metaphysical mediator between God and the world, influenced and produced gradual changes in the theological consciousness of church writers who expounded the church dogma of the Holy Trinity, what theological parties arose on the basis of this and what dogmatic disputes were caused by them is also revealed in detail and picturesquely. What has been said here may have an application to the scientific and theological activities of our church teacher, who, as is known, had to fight against Arianism in its various ramifications and other non-church forms of Christian consciousness, while defending the church idea of ​​the Logos, the Co-eternal and Consubstantial Word and Reason with God the Father. From the above-mentioned essay, written in the plastic literary and philosophical language of filigree coinage, the psychological basis of the philosophical and ontological concept of God, for example, in Bl. Augustine, this first brilliant pagan rhetorician and philosopher-thinker, brought up on classical examples of ancient literature and philosophy, and then an authoritative teacher of the Christian Church and Catholic bishop. His own. The idea of ​​deification in the ancient Eastern Church. Moscow. 1909 This remarkably thorough, despite its comparative brevity, and artistic presentation of the scientific work of our contemporary domestic patrolologist contains a number of very valuable thoughts that clarify the construction of the philosophical concept of God by church writers, the philosophical source and philosophical justification of the biblical-patristic idea of ​​the image of God in man, the doctrine of God of Neoplatonic philosophy and Christian literature, the process of mystical knowledge of God among various church writers patristic era, etc. His own. The religious ideal of St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Theologian West. 1903 Month. December and 1904 Months. March and May (and others). Of particular interest to us are those pages of this scientific work of a specialist professor that note and characterize the elements of Platonism, which in one way or another determined the philosophical substratum of the teachings of the “Father of Orthodoxy” about God (in His essence and properties, about the knowledge of God, etc.). Some observations and facts and judgments and statements based on them by the author of the article in question, “outstanding for the completeness of the view and comprehensiveness in the discussion of the subject,” especially as it relates to the dogmatic-philosophical teaching of St. Athanasius of Alexandria about God is equally applicable to Blessed. Augustine and his speculative doctrine of the Triune God 9. M. Krasin. Creation of bl. Augustine's "De Civitate Dei", as an apology for Christianity in its struggle against Roman paganism. Kazan. 1873. This solid work by an academic theologian is devoted to a detailed documentary presentation of the contents and a comprehensive analysis of the monumental work named in its title by the greatest of the fathers of the Western Church. It introduces us to the environment in which this classic work of the main “autoris et acloris” of Western medieval theocracy arose, further introduces us to the historical conditions under the influence of which this grandiose work of his was created and determines its theological and church-historical significance. For us and our purposes, those pages of the analyzed work of Prof. are especially important and interesting. Krasin, which, one way or another, relate to the speculative theology of Bl. Augustine in his relation to ancient philosophy and philosophers (see, for example, a critical analysis of the philosophical theology of the pagans or the particular Neoplatonic teaching about the relationship of deity to man (p. 240 et al.), about the Neoplatonic process of purification or liberation of the soul, i.e., about theurgy, demonology and triadology, and some reflection of this latter teaching on trinitarian philosophical concepts (trinitarian pnematology) by Bl. Augustine (pp. 259, 269–270) and on his ontological epistemology (p. 264 and many others)). Also interesting for our purposes are those pages of the monograph under consideration that treat the speculative theology of Blessed Virgin Mary. Augustine: the simplicity and immutability of the Divine Being, His properties and activities in the world, etc. (272, 236–238 pp., etc.). Our attention was also drawn to those pages of this dissertation by Prof. M. Krasin, which provides extensive introductory or bibliographic information about the work of Bl. Augustine “De Civitate Dei”, this primary source and special subject of scientific research by prof. Krasina. F. S. Vladimirsky. Anthropology and cosmology Nemesia, ep. Emessky, in their relation to ancient philosophy and patristic literature. Zhytomyr. 1912. This monograph, like a number of similar ones, some of the scientific works we have already discussed above, treats the relationship of individual points of church dogma (their disclosure and formulation by the best bearers of church consciousness - the fathers and teachers of the Church) to the data and means of ancient philosophy. This is its interest and significance for the purposes of our work. Arianism (in the form, mainly, of Homiism) was one of the main ideological opponents of the bl. Augustine, and in literary polemics with him were formulated more accurately and clearly for the theological consciousness of Bl. Augustine separate sides and particular points of the Trinitarian dogma. We were helped to understand the essence of the Arian doctrine and its patristic criticism (cf. Blessed Augustine), along with the above-mentioned major monographs of Prof. A. A. Spassky (op. cit. pp. 173–178, 357–365, etc.), prof. A. P. Orlova (op. cit., Introduction VI–VII, §II, pp. 153–158; 218–243; 243–254), prof. V.V. Bolotova (cit. cit., passim), V.N. Samuilov (cit. cit., passim), the following scientific articles by our academic professors: the just mentioned prof. V.V. Bolotov (Lectures on the history of the ancient Church, edited by Prof. A.I. Brilliantov, T. IV, pp. 1–16 and his Thesen über das Filioque. lnternat. theol. Zeitschr. 1898. 24 Heft. Ss. 681–712; esp. 689. cf. Russian translation. Christ. Thu. 1913 May - June, etc. 588); prof. I. V. Popova (The Religious Ideal of St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Theological. Vestn. 1904, 91–97 pp. cf. his Idea of ​​Deification in the Ancient Eastern Church, pp. 16–17); prof. P. P. Ponomareva (The idea of ​​salvation as the basic principle of Christian doctrine. Kazan. 1911. esp. 16–20 pp.) and prof. L. I. Pisarev (St. John Chrysostom and his time. Kazan. 1907), where the ideology of Arianism as a purely pagan religious and philosophical system is briefly explained (see pp. 10–14). In addition to the above, we also had at hand the following Russian studies and articles, containing some data necessary for our purposes regarding the biography of the blessing we were studying. Augustine of Hippo, his bibliography, his trinitarian analogies, his relationship to ancient philosophy and Eastern Greek theology (Greek Fathers of the Church), his influence on further theological thought of the West, etc.; Finally, below are some works in Russian that have one or another relation to Augustine in general. Library of the works of St. Fathers and Teachers of the Western Church, published by the Kyiv Spirit. Academy. Creations of Bl. Augustine, Bp. Ipponsky. Part 1. Kyiv. 1880. Preface: Life and works of Bl. Augustine, Bp. Ipponian. Page 1–29 and 30–46. Archbishop Filaret Chernigovsky. Historical teaching about the fathers and teachers of the Church. St. Petersburg. 1859. I–III. T. III, § 196, pp. 18–25 and 25–44. Wed 2nd ed. St. Petersburg 1882. I–III. T. III, § 196, pp. 17–22 and 22–35. F. W. Farrar. The life and works of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church. (Translated from English by A.P. Lopukhin). Ed. 2nd. I–II. Petrograd. 1902–1903. T. II. Ch. XVII, pp. 284–434. Blessed Augustine. Prof. A. P. Lopukhin - P. P. Glubokovsky. Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia. T. I-th. Petrograd. 1900. "Augustine, Aurelius, bl." pp. 102–112. F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron. New encyclopedic Dictionary. St. Petersburg. (year not specified). T. I, pp. 128–149. Article by Iv. Grevsa: "Augustine". Encyclopedic Dictionary, compiled by Russian scientists and writers. St. Petersburg. 1861 T. I, pp. 160–179. Article by P. L. “Augustine, Aurelius.” Prot. A. Kovalnitsky. Conversion from unbelief to Christianity by the philosopher Augustine (a reminder to unbelievers of our time). Ed. 2nd. St. Petersburg. 1893. X. X. Blessed Monica. Ed. 4th. St. Petersburg. 1904. N.P. Kibardin. The system of pedagogy according to the views of Bl. Augustine. Orthodox Social security 1910. Nos. 5, 7–8 and dept. His own. New School of St. Augustine. St. Petersburg. 1912 (Extracted from the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education for 1912). X. X. Victory that conquered the world. Moscow. 1895. (Ed. by K. P. Pobedonostsev. Borrowed from the English writer Lilly. “The Christian Revolution”). Gogotsky. Philosophical lexicon. St. Petersburg. 1859. Ed. 2nd. Art. "Augustine, blessed." Vol. I, pp. 17–25. Zeller. Essay on the history of Greek philosophy. St. Petersburg. 1886. Transl. with him. M. Nekrasova. P. P. Sokolov. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity in modern idealistic philosophy. Faith and Raz. 1893 Dept. Phil., pp. 351–382, 406–428, 490–520. 1894 pp. 375–407 et al. (the work is not finished). Book S. N. Trubetskoy. The doctrine of Logos in its history. (Philosophical and historical research). Moscow. 1900. T. I. Ave. Iv. Platonov. About the Platonic trinity of the Divine in the light of Christian and revealed teaching about the Holy Trinity. I–III. N. I. Ostroumov. Analogies and their significance in clarifying the doctrine of the Holy Trinity according to the judgment of Bl. Augustine. Kazan. 1904. (Reprints from the journal Orthodox Sobes. for 1904). His own. Blessed Augustine, as an exposer of the negative rationalistic view of the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Mission. Collection Ryazan. 1907 No. 2. Prof.-Priest N. V. Petrov. About the Holy Trinity. (Experience in interpreting dogma with the help of analogies from the material world and from the nature of humanity and man). Right Social security 1913 Month. January and sec. Prof. A.I. Brilliantov. The origin of Monophysitism. St. Petersburg. 1906. (Extracted from the journal Christ. Reading for 1906), pp. 3–6. Ep. Sylvester. Experience Orthodox. Dogmatic Theology. Kyiv. 1885. T. 2nd, pp. 600–618. On the relation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to reason. F. Pogorelovsky. Philosophical inquiries, quests and views of Bl. Augustine according to his Confessions. Wanderer. 1907 T. I, Part I. Page 177–195. Prof.-Prot. P. Ya. Svetlov. Christian doctrine in an apologetic presentation. Kyiv. 1910. T. I. His own. The idea of ​​the kingdom of God in its meaning for the Christian worldview. (Theological-Apologetic Study). Holy Trinity Serg. Lavra. 1905. Archim. (+ Ep.) Mikhail Gribanovsky. Lectures on introduction to theological sciences. Kazan. 1899. Prof. V. D. Kudryavtsev. Complete collection of his works. T. 2nd. (Research and Articles on Natural Theology). Serg. Posad. 1892. His own. Introduction to philosophy and the initial foundations of philosophy. Moscow. 1889. I. I. Adamov. The doctrine of the Trinity of St. Ambrose of Milan. (Sergiev Posad. 1910. (Extracted from “Theological Bulletin” for 1910). His same. St. Ambrose of Milan. Sergiev Posad. 1915. Anthony, Archbishop. Kharkovsky. The moral idea of the dogma of the Holy Trinity. Ed. 2nd. Kazan. 1898. A. Belyaev. Love Divine. (The experience of revealing the most important Christian dogmas from the beginning of Divine love). Moscow. 1884. Ed. 2nd. B. Guerrier. Architects and devotees of the “Kingdom of God.” Part I. Blessed Augustine. Moscow. 1910. A collection of articles dedicated to I.M. Grevs on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his scientific and pedagogical activity. St. Petersburg. 1911. (G. P. Fedotov. Letters of St. Augustine (Classis prima), pp. 107–138. A. A. Tentel. On the issue of the “conversion” of St. Augustine. pp. 411–429). P. Nikolsky. Letters on Russian theology. Vol. I. St. Petersburg. 1904. A. Ostroumov. Synesius, bishop Ptolemaidan. Moscow. 1879. Prof. L. I. Pisarev. The teaching of the blessed Augustine, Bp. Ipponsky, about man in his relationship to God. Kazan. 1894. Prof. P. P. Ponomarev. His Grace Bishop Sylvester, as a learned theologian. Kazan. 1909. Prof. N.P. Rodnikov. The teaching of St. Augustine on the mutual relations between the state and the church. Kazan. 1898. Prot. D. Sadovsky. St. Augustine as a preacher. (Historical and homiletical research). Serg. Posad. 1913. K. Skvortsov. Bl. Augustine as a psychologist. Kyiv. 1870. I. Chetverikov. About God as a personal Being. (Theological and philosophical study). Kyiv. 1903. Prof. A. P. Lebedev. History of ecumenical councils. Ecumenical councils of the 4th and 5th centuries. Sergiev Posad. 1896. Prof. V. V. Bolotov. Lectures on the history of the ancient Church. (Posthumous edition edited by Prof. A.I. Brilliantov). St. Petersburg. 1907–1913. Hh. I–III and parts IV, now continuing to be published in the journal “Christ. Read." (beginning in 1913. Month May). History of the church during the period of ecumenical councils. Dept. 3rd. History of theological thought. Russian literature, which has some relation to the special teachings of Bl. Augustine on the Holy Spirit 10. Prof. A.I. Brilliantov (in addition to his dissertation on John Scotus Erigene): On the issue of Benedictine editions of the works of St. fathers. Christ. Read 1908, pp. 1365–1378. His own. Works of Prof. V.V. Bolotov on the issue of Filioque and the controversy about his “Theses on Filioque” in Russian literature. (Preface to the publication of the works of Prof. V.V. Bolotov on the issue of Filioque). Christ. Thurs. 1913 Month. April, pp. 431–457 et seq. Prof. V.V. Bolotov. On the issue of Filioque. Christ. Read 1913, May, June, July–August, September, November and December, pp. 573–596; 726–746; 921–927; 1046–1059; 1289–1309; 1391–1414) and dep. brochure S. Kokhomsky. The teaching of the ancient Church on the procession of the Holy Spirit (historical and dogmatic essay). St. Petersburg. 1875 Adam Zernikaw. Orthodox theological studies on the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father alone. Transl. from lat. edited by B. Davidovich T. I. Pochaev. 1902. His same. – T. 2nd, Zhitomir. 1906. Prof.-Prot. P. Ya. Svetlov. Where is the universal Church? (On the question of the union of churches and the doctrine of the church). Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. 1905 A. Kireev. The current situation of the Old Catholic Question (God. Vestn. 1908, November, pp. 423–454). Prof. Vl. A. Kerensky. Old Catholicism, its history and internal development, mainly in religious terms. Kazan. 1894. His own. Who's to blame? (To the Old Catholic Question). Christ. Read 1903. December. Page 726–727, etc. His same. What divided and divides the Eastern Orthodox and Western Old Catholic churches. Kharkov. 1910. N. D. Terentyev. Lutheran confessional system according to the symbolic books of Lutheranism. Kazan. 1910. Protopr. I. L. Yanyshev. New official and other data for judging the faith of Old Catholics. St. Petersburg. 1902. (and some of his other articles on the Old Catholic Question). Prof. A. F. Gusev. Reply to the Old Catholic Professor Michaud on the question of the “Filioque” and transubstantiation (department brochure). Kharkov. 1889. His same. Theses on the issue of “Filioque” and the transubstantiation of Kazan. 1900. (and some of his other articles on this issue). N. Bogorodsky. The teaching of St. John of Damascus about the procession of the Holy Spirit. St. Petersburg. 1879. His own. Holy Spirit. (Historical and dogmatic essay). Grodno. 1904. Prof. A. A. Nekrasov. The teaching of St. John of Damascus about the personal relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Son of God (Right. Sobes. 1883. No. 4 and separate brochures). His same. About the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Son of God. “Protopresbyter Yanyshev and the new doctrinal crisis in the Russian Church. Reply to Mr. Bogorodsky Vasily Livansky. Freiburg in Brizgav. 1888". Kazan. 1889 (and in Orthodox Sobes. 1889). F. Tikhomirov. Treatises by Feofan Prokopovich on God, one in essence and trinity in Persons. St. Petersburg. 1884. Ep. Sylvester. The Orthodox's response to the scheme proposed by the Old Catholics about the Holy Spirit. Kyiv. 1875. (Cf. his experience.... vol. II. § 139. pp. 545–565. The doctrine of the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son in the West at the end of the 4th and 5th centuries). Metropolitan. Macarius. Right Dogmatic Theology. T. I–V. St. Petersburg. 1849–1853. T. I-th. Page 345–453. Prot. N. Malinovsky. Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. Kharkov. 1895. Part. I. Iv. Nikolin. Essays on Dogma. Theologian Moscow. 1912. Archim. Anthony. Langen's view on the difference in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity between Eastern. and Western Churches. Arr. to creation St. fathers (47 vols.) 1891, pp. 396–460. Prof. A. I. Sagarda. How does a Catholic now defend the doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit and from the Son? Magazine “Church Gazette” for 1915 Nos. 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47 (about Blessed Augustine, see No. 45, pp. 2294–2296). Domestic scientific works containing some data on the issue of the meaning of bl. Augustine in the history of Christian thought 11. Prof. H N. Glubokovsky. Bl. Augustine as portrayed by a Russian secular historian. Proceedings Kievsk. Spirit. Academician 1911. January, pp. 125–162 et seq. This scholarly article is an extensive and very thorough critical review of the book by Prof. Vl. Iv. Guerrier under the title: “Bl. Augustine. Architects and devotees of the “Kingdom of God.” Part I. Moscow. 1910“, which at the same time contains one of the best in its comprehensiveness and completeness of domestic indexes of the latest Augustinian literature, foreign and Russian. Although one of the most sublime Christian concepts analyzed here is Bl. Augustine, it is his philosophical and historical idea of ​​the “Kingdom of God” (with the whole range of related issues, for example, about the Providence of God, about predestination, millenarianism, etc.) and is not directly related to the subject and tasks of our dissertation, however, due to the connection between the theocratic ideal of the Western father we are studying with the range of his dogmatic ideas, it can also help to clarify some concepts and his religious-speculative philosophy. – Mostly interesting for us are the bl.s based on the authority of Western researchers. Augustine, the thoughts of the author of the article under consideration on the significance of Augustine’s personality in history and on the correct formulation of this question for a proper assessment of Augustine’s influence on later generations of the entire Western world (on the theological thought and spiritual life of Western European humanity). Prof. L. I. Pisarev. Authority of Augustine, Bp. Ipponsky, in the field of Christian theology according to the judgment of ancient Christian writers. Orthodox Social security 1903 Part 2, pp. 545–560 and sec. brochure Windelband. History of ancient philosophy (with the application of Windelband - Augustine and the Middle Ages, Fullier - History of scholasticism. Translated under the editorship of Prof. A. I. Vvedensky). St. Petersburg. 1893. G. Boissier. The Fall of Paganism (Study of the last religious struggle in the West in the 4th century. Translated from French, edited by M. S. Korelin). Moscow. 1892. A. Vertelovsky. Western medieval mysticism and its relationship to Catholicism. (Historical research). Kharkov. 1888. A. Stöckl. History of medieval philosophy. Per. N. Strelkova and I. E. edited by prof. I. V. Popova. Moscow. 1912. In addition to the above foreign and domestic publications, when compiling our essay, we also used other foreign and Russian books, which, as necessary, will be noted on further pages of this study. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus. Series latina, vol. 42, col. 819–1098 (August. oper. vol. VIII). Migne, s. 1., tomi 32–47 (moreover, the 46th volume contains several indexes to the works of St. Augustine, and the 47th contains various kinds of supplements to them, such as, for example, notitia litteraria in vita, scriptis et editionibus operum s. Augustini, variorum exercitationes in s. Augustini opera, vindiciae Angustinianae etc.). – Russian translation of some of the works of the blessed one. Augustine is quoted by us from the publication of the Kyiv Theological Academy. Hh. I–XI. Dr. A. Dorner. Augustinus, sein theologisches System und seine religionsphilosophische Anschauung. Berlin. 1873. S. 28. The work under review is part of a series of monographs published under the editorship of M. F. Picavet with the aim of more accurately defining the ideas that penetrated into medieval theology and philosophy beyond the school of Aristotle (cf. Picavet. L'Histoire des rapports de la philosophie et de la théologie; La scolastique......etc.). Book Evg. N. Trubetskoy. Religiously - the social ideal of Western Christianity in the 5th century. Part 1. Worldview bl. Augustine. Moscow. 1892. Pp. 264. Note. 4. This is the view of St. Hilary on the Holy Spirit, as a gift, is stated by the German historian R. when presenting the Augustinian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Seeberg (Lehrbuch der Dogmcngeschichte. Leipzig. 1910. Bd. 2. S. 147. Anmerk. 1 Vrgl. S. 109 Anmerk. 2), noting its importance for the further development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the West. The theory of the “left and right flank of origenic Neoplatonism”, expressed and developed by the German scientist Loufs (See his Leitfaden zum Studium der Dogmen-Geschichte. Halle. 1893). Already during the process of printing our work, the above-mentioned professor I.V. Popov published on the pages of several, mainly theological, journals a number of his scientific essays devoted to the characteristics of the personality of Blessed. Augustine and his teaching on knowledge (The Personality of Blessed Augustine - Theological Herald. 1915, Month April, pp. 693–738. The life and development of St. Augustine before his baptism - Theological Herald. 1915, Month July - August, pp. 474–511 and Month September, pp. 68–97. Teaching бл. Августина о познании души – Богосл. Вестн. 1916 г. Мес. Март – Апрель, стр. 452–493 и Май, стр. 37–56. Учение бл. Августина о познании – Вопр. филос. и психол. 1915 г. Сентябрь – Октябрь. Кн. 129, стр. 388–460 и Ноябрь - December. Book 130, pp. 499-580. March - April. Book. 132-133, pp. 195-279. The question of the existence of God - Christian Thought. All these articles of our contemporary authoritative professor-theologian, in some points related to our work, were also taken into account by us and - where the opportunity presented itself - we used them accordingly, as will be seen from the further pages of our present study. A detailed review of this Russian (as well as foreign) literature, where you can find some data regarding the teaching of 6l. Augustine about the Holy Spirit and His hypostatic property, see in the second part of this work, which specifically examines the question of the procession of the Holy Spirit according to the teachings of Blessed. Augustine. Part II, pp. ... In addition to the above-mentioned works of Prof. A. I. Brilliantova about I. S. Erigene (pp. 81–86, 130–136) and prof. I. V. Popova about the epistemology of bl. Augustine (“Questions of Philosophy and Psychology,” 1916, Books 132–133. March – June, pp. 260–279. Wed. “Christian Thought,” 1916, Books VII–VIII, pp. 103, 121).