The Augustinian Influence John Calvin studied the voluminous writings of Saint Augustine, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hippo (354-430 AD), much more so than those of Martin Luther, his contemporary. Calvin continually praised Augustines work in his writings citing numerous references and quotations from Augustine. Therefore it is helpful to understand a little more about Augustine and his beliefs. Augustine, in his early life, was a member of the Gnostic Manichean cult. The Manicheans, a Persian dualistic philosophy proclaimed by Mani (216-276? AD) in southern Babylonia (Iraq), was a blend of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Christianity. The Manicheans were divided into two groups; the elect and the hearers. They taught the doctrine of total depravity, election, and a type of perseverance of the elect. Being part of the elect required living an ascetic lifestyle of celibacy that Augustine was unable to observe. He left the cult when Manichaeism was persecuted by the Roman government. Augustine turned to skepticism but was later attracted to the philosophy of Neo-Platonism. He found a form of Platonism in the relatively newly formed Roman Catholic Church. It has been said that Augustine baptized Plato. Augustine was persuaded by a Roman Catholic Bishop named Ambrose (387 A. D.) to join the Roman Church that was created by Constantine in 325 A. D. This Roman Catholic Church was a blend of Christianity and Roman paganism. Greatly influencing the pagan element in this Roman Catholic Church was Neo-Platonic thinking, in which Ambrose was well steeped. Neo-Platonism is similar to Gnosticism. Gnostics believed that mankind was wholly evil and the gods were wholly good, which sounds like Total Depravity. Gnosticism also included the ideas of election, predestination where the gods predetermined all events of life (fate), rituals to change the will of the gods, ingesting the gods through communion (see ancient Osiris worship), and spiritualizing the events and meaning of life as a reflection of the heavenly beings. Augustine, upon introduction to the Bible, objected to the God of the Old Testament. Ambrose convinced him that any difficult passage could be made palatable by spiritualizing or allegorizing the text. Consequently, Augustine who had separated from one strain of Gnosticism, found himself initiated into another form of worldly thinking. Augustine’s theology blends Gnosticism and neo-Platonism with Christian teachings. Augustine is largely responsible for shaping the early theology of this relatively young Roman Catholic Church. He is attributed with introducing the doctrines of predestination, total depravity, election, reprobation, views of [irresistible] grace, allegorical interpretation, replacement theology, amillennialism, spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist, infant baptism as sign and seal of the covenant, baptism washes away original sin, baptismal regeneration, the union of Church and State, and the just war concept of using force (death) to compel correct doctrine in order to save people from hell, salvation through the church, the New Covenant was the continuation of the Old Covenant. Augustines prolific writings were more strongly biased by his previously obtained theology than on his detailed study of the Christian Scriptures. More than one source reports he had trouble reading Greek. With his allegorical approach to scripture, the words and phrases of the Bible could be adapted to match his theology. He used scripture out of context. Augustines teachings were, in turn, passed on to the Reformers; Luther was an Augustinian Monk and John Calvin thoroughly identified with Augustines writings saying, Augustine is so wholly with me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fullness and satisfaction to myself out of his writings. The Reformers wanted to reform the Catholic Church. What better way to do so than to return to the writings of one of the Catholic fathers….Augustine! The Reformation was essentially a revival of Augustinianism. It is very easy to follow the trail of John Calvins theology back to Augustine and from there back to Gnostic paganism to neo-Platonism and to the Manichean influences of his early years. This helps explain the distortion of the Gods Word that we see in Calvinism and Reformed theology. Calvins beliefs came primarily from Augustine. Beliefs Predestination Election Reprobation Total Depravity Irresistible Grace Just War to compel correct doctrine Spiritual Presence of Christ in the Eucharist Infant Baptism - sign and seal of covenant, washes away original sin, baptismal regeneration Allegorical Interpretation New Covenant continuation of Old Covenant Replacement Theology Amillennialism Union of Church and State Salvation through the Church
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 21:11:31 +0000
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