Allegorizations of the Active and Contemplative Lives in Philo, Origen, Augustine, and Gregory
This paper examines the allegorical interpretations given to several Scriptural pairs as they relate to the idea of the active and contemplative lives in Philo, Origen, Augustine, and Gregory. As will be shown, Augustine combines elements found in the two previous writers to form his allegory of the two wives of Jacob as representative of the active and contemplative lives.
In Philo, most of the essential elements of later Christian thought on the active and contemplative lives are already present. The superiority of the contemplative life is given at the beginning of his treatise on it: "I have discussed the Essenes, who persistently pursued the active life and excelled in all or, to put it more moderately, in most of its departments. I will now proceed at once in accordance with the sequence required by the subject to say what is needed about those who embraced the life of contemplation" (De Vita Cont. 1 [471]). The idea that the contemplative life follows upon the active is also present here, and is elaborated elsewhere: "... infants have one place and full grown men another. The one is named ascetic training and the other is called wisdom... For what life is better than a contemplative life, or more appropriate to a rational being?" (De Migr. Abr. 9 [443]). Both the active and contemplative lives are virtuous, but the contemplative is the more mature and fuller expression of the life of wisdom; it should, however, only be practiced once the former has been used as a training ground.
Philo allegorizes Leah and Rachel in several related ways in his works (cf. Sly, 163-74). At one point he identifies Rachel with bodily beauty, ...
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... moves away.
She loves to contemplate her lovely eyes;
I love to use my hands to adorn myself:
her joy is in reflection, mine in act."
(Purgatorio xxvii, 101-08, [Musa trans.])
What has been called "the breadth of [Augustine's] vision and the lyrical exaltation of his language" (Mason, 45) has cast a long shadow indeed.
Works Cited
* Butler, D. C. Western Mysticism: The Teaching of Augustine, Gregory and Bernard on Contemplation and the Contemplative Life. 2nd ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
* Mason, M. E. Active Life and Contemplative Life: A Study of the Concepts from Plato to the Present. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1961.
* Runia, D. T. Philo in Early Christian Literature: A Survey. Assen: Van Gorcum/Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
* Sly, D. Philo's Perception of Women. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.
Baptizing a baby at birth was this was a common practice during the time when Augustine was born. And Monica had decided to keep Augustine from being baptized. Monica’s reasoning is really just an unnecessary precaution. Whether or not your sins are wiped away now or later as long as you go to confession you are forgiven of your sins regardless. More importantly this precaution keeps Augustine from strengthening his relationship with God early on because it had kept him from truly being responsible for his actions and had stunted his involvement in the Church. In the first chapter alone he states “I was already a believer, as were my mother and all the household, with the exception of my father.”1 He was already a steady believer in God and was ready to be baptized however he was kept from it and was influenced by the other people as they said “Let him be, let him do as he likes, he is not baptized yet.” Without the proper reinforcement and teaching he progressively strayed away from his beliefs and eventually lost himself in sin. This leads to one the most important incidents in Augustine’s childhood. Augustine spends more time lamenting on the time he had stolen the pears than he does ...
Descartes, René. "Meditation Three." Descartes, René. Meditations on First Philosophy. Trans. Donald A. Cress. Third Edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1993. 24-35. Paperback.
Unlike other texts of the time, Augustine’s confessions are less of an epic tale or instructive texts, both of which soug...
From Augustine’s experience we can see that knowledge is critical, and sometimes even more important than correct opinion. Although both of them could lead people to success, knowledge is more reliable and long-standing. God prompted Augustine to transform from a Manichee to a Christian. Such transformation requires Augustine to have deeper understanding from the soul, is not what merely correct opinion could bring about. Augustine once feared that he would not manage to find the truth, but his faith in God enables him to acquire knowledge and approach the truth. Augustine’s reflection made him a person closer to God.
First, the meditator begins by noting that as a youth he held numerous false opinions, and that all the beliefs that he had held subsequently developed into other opinions whose validity are doubtful. In order to develop firm and lasting beliefs that could have a momentous impact, he realizes that he must start anew. In order to accomplish this endeavor, he utilizes Descartes’ philosophical methodology, known hyperbolic do...
Moore, Dinty W. The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Enlightenment, and Sitting Still. 1st ed. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 1997. Print.
The relationship between Peter Abelard and Heloise failed to be established with strong bonds between the young couple, allowing lust to be the sole, capricious foundation of the relationship. Peter Abelard was a 12th century philosopher who after beginning to lecture on the Scriptures began to gain more notoriety throughout France and much of Europe. This newfound fame soon developed into conceit, Abelard thinking himself “the only philosopher in the world” (Historia Calamitatum 9). This attitude gave way to a lifestyle of flesh, prostitutes, and inability to focus on philosophy. Peter Abelard met Heloise, a young woman with great promise of being a student, while traveling through Paris (9). Rather than establishing a relationship based on a strong foundation, Abelard bases his interest on Heloise through more extraneous factors; Abelard bases ...
Because of their Puritanical beliefs, it is no surprise that the major theme that runs throughout Mary Rowlandson and Jonathan Edwards’s writings is religion. This aspect of religion is apparent in not only the constant mentions about God himself, but also in the heavy use of biblical scriptures. In their respective writings, Rowlandson and Edwards utilize scripture, but for different purposes; one uses it to convey that good and bad events happen solely because of God’s will, and the other uses it, in one instance, to illustrate how it brought him closer to God, and, in another instance, to justify his harsh claims about God’s powerful wrath.
This paper will outline specific points in Saint Augustine’s Confessions that highlight religious views following the fall of Rome. Though Augustines views on religion may not reflect that of most people in his time period, it still gives valuable insight into how many, namely Neoplatonists,, viewed God and his teachings.
Augustine. “Confessions”. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1113-41. Print.
Rev. D.J. Leary. St. Augustine on Eternal Life. Burns, Oates and Washbourne, Ltd., London : 1939.
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It therefore appears evident that God must be the root of all evil, as He created all things. However, Augustine delves deeper in search for a true answer. This paper will follow ...
The Late Middle Ages saw great theological discrepancies through the progression of Christian mysticism. The exploration into spiritual practices and the unification of the soul during this period led to great philosophical works. The Cloud of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ are two noteworthy texts that discuss one’s aspiration to attain union with God. The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymously authored spiritual exercise that accentuates movement toward the contemplative life by acknowledging what is unknown by man. In contrast, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is a spiritual guide which emphasizes that the way to be fully Christian is to live in the imitation of Jesus Christ. While many of the thoughts concerning human reason and withdrawal from the corporal world are similar in the texts, the two are inherently different as the account in The Imitation of Christ is more compelling due to its focus on a humanistic objective while acquiring union and salvation with God.
Augustine, Saint. “Of the Foreknowledge of God and the Free Will of Man, Against the