AUGUSTINE - KNOWLEDGE

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>AUGUSTINE</FONT><BR> THE CONVERTED CONVERTER</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>What Can we Know?</B></FONT><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>ILLUMINATION</B></FONT><P> <TABLE ALIGN=Left BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="0909a.jpg" WIDTH="150" HEIGHT="243" ALT="ILLUMINATION"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> For Augustine, all true knowledge proceeds from God. Influenced by the <A HREF="../t03/g034.html" TARGET="_top">Neo-platonists</A>, he regarded the soul as having an inherent power of self-knowledge. Moreover, he accepted that this was best realized when the senses were abandoned and the mind underwent purification through the process of dialectic. For <A HREF="../04/04f01.html" TARGET="_top">Plato</A>, the Form of the Good, or the One, was superior to all others. For Augustine, the One is God, and all the other Forms are ideas in God's mind. Understanding comes, only when God illuminates the soul, which has been suitably prepared and purified, making the Forms visible to the inner eye of intelligence. To know, is to know God.<BR clear=left> <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>