ST. AUGUSTINE, THE PLATONISTS AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Abstract

This article treats the rapport between St. Augustine and the Platonic philosophers in relation to knowledge of the Holy Trinity. The Platonic school of thought was considered both by ancient Christianity and St. Augustine alike to have been the closest to the Christian teaching, such that elements of its thought system have been used by some Church Fathers to systematize or articulate some biblical and doctrinal teachings. However, could the Platonic First Principles be considered the philosophical ontological articulation of the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity? St. Augustine was categorical to say that, while the Platonic philosophers may have been able to come to know God [the Father] and His Word [the Son] through human reasoning, they couldn't have known God as Trinity. This latter knowledge can only come to man through divine revelation, which is given to us only through Jesus Christ. Therefore, since these philosophers do not accept Christ and plainly rejected Christianity, they could not have known the essence of God as Trinity.