Diana Duarte

Augustine the Teacher

Dr. Lehman

First Draft - New science teacher in the classroom: Saint Augustine of Hippo

In education, the study of natural sciences has different approaches. For example, in

modern education, some curriculums show natural sciences study merely as a way to

produce goods and services. Instead, in Classical Education, natural sciences study the

world we live in to understand the harmonic relation between humans and nature. However,

the approach of Catholic Classical Education to natural science is related to the

contemplation and understanding of nature as a gift from God. Because of the above, to

understand natural sciences profoundly, it is necessary to return to classic works and

authors, great thinkers, and unto him who joined the classical thinking to Christian

teaching: Augustine of Hippo. 

What would Augustine do if he entered my science classroom today? He might be

impressed by the technological advances and changes in the modern world that facilitate

teaching and learning. Also, he will find that the contemplation of nature as a way to get

closer to God is a perspective that we have been working on during the lessons, and who is

better than him to help us follow that path.? 

To understand how to relate the study of the natural world to our knowledge and

relation to God, we will analyze some of his works and others from different authors to

"invite" Augustine into the classroom. 

In the first scenario in a classroom, Augustine could start with his masterpiece

"Confessions." In this book, besides talking about his early years and conversion, that is
something that students found interesting because it shows a closer and earthly Augustine;

in book XII there is an engaging opening: "... for you made heaven and earth. This heaven

which I see, and this earth on which I walk." Augustine started with something that we

have taken for granted, the existence of the sky and the soil. We know that the sky is above

us when we look at it in the morning to follow some of the first steps in the scientific

method, asking questions and making a hypothesis: Is it going to rain? In a class using the

texts of Augustine, we could start praising God for the things that we can observe (sky) and

feel (soil) in nature. Although the heaven that he refers to in the book is not the physical

heaven we can look at every day, it could be a meaningful example to challenge the

children's imagination. If the sky that we can see is immense, when we imagine the

magnitude of the "heaven of heavens" we can wonder about the greatness of God. 

Then in that book, Augustine makes different references to the creation of light

(Genesis, 1-3) and relates it to wisdom, so I attempt to make the following connection: We

know in science that light is electromagnetic radiation detected by the human eye that

transmits the spatial and temporal information, and it is a necessary element for multiple

biological and physical processes. ("Light | Definition, Properties, Physics,

Characteristics, Types, & Facts.") Therefore the light provided as wisdom by God will

work in the same way and we can use that wisdom to search for the truth taking better

choices based on the information collected by our sharpened senses and generating changes

in our life in the "enlightenment" or "wisely" following God's path, oppositely, we will be

in darkness, far from God. So explaining the importance or nature of light, we can link to

God's work by an Augustine text.   

 Following the connections between Confessions for science class, in Book XIII,

there are references to the creation of the Firmament, sea, and dry land but in a spiritual

sense. In science, the idea of firmament's existence is incorrect. 

Although in the Bible the Earth is surrounded by a solid layer that contains stars and

has water above (Enns), we know thanks to scientific knowledge that is not the correct

notion; instead of this idea, we can evidence that the Earth is surrounded by a layer of gas

called the atmosphere that contains gases like oxygen, which is essential for human, plants,

and animals survival, as well as water vapor that is responsible for rains and clouds

formation; on this perspective, the idea of Firmament won't match to our science class, but

if we contextualized the word to the historical time or the Bible, it would be easier to use

firmament as Augustine did in his correlation to scripture to explain the importance of

God's message for us. I consider that to link the lesson specifically to the book Confessions,

we can use the following: 

"Now who but you, our God, did make for us that firmament of the authority of your

divine Scripture to be over us?.../ ...Your divine Scripture is of more sublime authority now

that those mortal men through whom you did dispense it to us have departed this life."

In this case, the Firmament is the Scripture written by mortal men with God's

inspiration to guide us and help us with the authority that comes from the Lord. As the

Scripture guides and approaches the knowledge of the truth, if we relate the stars in the

Biblical firmament to what we know of their characteristics and historical uses for men, we

can show to our science class that there is a similar function between scriptures and stars.

The Scriptures guide our steps in Christian life as stars have guided men and helped us to

understand some astronomy concepts. 

 Using Augustine's Confessions in this specific way provides a context to introduce

a patristic writer and a classical book into natural sciences class, not by forcing the

connection of science to humanities, but to introduce scientific terms and concepts in the

light of a remarkable text as Confessions, a kind of book that they could retake in their

philosophy classes. 

But, What would happen if our new teacher Augustine presented us with another

work to analyze natural science phenomena.? There is a work called "De Genesi Ad

litteram imperfectus liber" written later to Confessions, in which Augustine attempts to

explain the creation described in Genesis in a literal way. This book has a particular

characteristic that is to be an unfinished book, and that its production was an answer to the

necessity to write it as a response to the Manichean's attacks on the Catholic faithful. This

book possesses an idea worked throughout the Confessions, and it is the humility to

approach the knowledge. I consider in this last point that some of us scientists or science

teachers have lost the ability to humble contemplate natural science as God's creation. 

At the beginning of the text, the introduction indicates: 

"Our methodology should be to ask questions rather than to make claims. This is

particularly true when we study these mysteries using Scripture, which is divinely

authoritative. If we arrogantly make claims based on our questionable, debatable opinions,

then it is hard to avoid committing blasphemy; but if we ask questions, our investigation

necessarily remains within the bounds of the catholic faith."

There is something similar to what we do when we use the scientific method. So

Augustine can guide us to ask questions based on the observation of the natural world but

avoiding the arrogancy and approaching with humility to ask about phenomena observed in

nature as evidence of God's ultimate workmanship. 

 Then, Augustine analyzes time, creation, and motion of luminaries, I consider that

going deep into this idea to debate if the notion of time was first than Earth and angels

cannot be specifically practical in a modern classroom that uses the information collected

by contemporary science related to the movement of celestial bodies and the role of Earth's

movement in the transition from day to night, but there is a sentence at the end of this

section that recalls one of the most relevant issues that we need to work in modern science

classrooms: "Every creature had a beginning, and time itself is created and had a

beginning, and time is not co-eternal with the Creator."  

Consequently, our existence is mediated by God, "I knew you before I formed you

in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my

prophet to the nations." (Jer 1,5) and when he mediates and propitiates the biological

process of life, he does because of his time, that is not like the one that we have physically

understanding, is pointed to do so. At this point, our class mediated by Augustine can

observe clarity that intimate relationship that we have to God even without notice, we come

from him and return to him at the end of our time on the Earth. 

Continuing with the text, Augustine analyzes the role of water in Genesis. I found

this suitable to start a lesson related to the water cycle. Augustine indicates: "Water is more

pliable than the earth, so when worked by Craftsman the matter was called ‘water’ rather

than ‘earth’ to suggest it was easy to work and mould." 

 Understanding the Craftsman as God, the lesson points toward the versatility of

water during its pass through the atmosphere, bodies of water, and soil. Thanks to the

equilibriums between the different "molds" of water, it is possible to ensure the wellness of

living things and humans. 

 However, when we altered that mold by the destruction of water reservoirs or by the

contamination of our environment, we are breaking down the masterpiece of the Craftsman

and modifying the equilibrium of his work that is a gift to all of us.

Another reference to water lies in the following section:

“…In addition, anything that grows on earth needs water to sprout and thrive; it

almost seems as if water is transformed into sprouting plants…/… In summary, ‘water’ is a

better name for the primordial matter than ‘air’ because it suggests something that the

Craftsman could work on, which is pliable and transforms into sprouting bodies.”

In those days, the importance of the photosynthesis process for plants and the

essential role of water for it was not known or understood, but according to observation, the

empirical natural science in those days relates the necessity of water for the plants growing

and Augustine showed the water potential to become into something else by the changing

of its shape. So again, water as a malleable tool used by the Great Craftsman shows the

importance of the gift that he has given us in an element essential for our life as water is. 

According to the purpose set at the beginning of the text, we can conclude how the

analysis of some aspects related to the natural world can approach us to God. Maybe we

cannot use every single text related to Augustine to adapt it to the class, but there is a

common factor in his writings, the contemplation and praise to God's work in nature and

the humility to approach the knowledge of the natural world. By the simple observation of

the sky, we can be amazed by the greatness of God. The allegory of light and darkness

allows us to use their physical characteristics to relate them to wisdom and the lack of it as

a way to get closer to God. Then, Augustine explains how the Scriptures are a way to

understand God's message, like the stars and the astronomical phenomena do helping to
know and guide not just modern astronomers but those who in history had used the starts to

locate geographically and determine physical phenomena, taking into account this, I

consider the stars at night could be an every night reminder that God gives us his message,

so we need to going back to Scriptures to understand it. In the case of the scientific method

that we follow as scientists, Augustine reminds us of the importance of questions as a sign

of humility to address God. In addition, the analysis of time and the luminaries remind us

that we are creatures created by God that owe to him and his times. Then the description of

water from its properties in which it can change by taking different forms to aid in the

creation of God calls back the importance of taking care of nature to respect and maintain

the harmony created by God. 

Taking into account the previous, I consider that our guest "Augustine" in the

science classroom aid to contemplate nature praising God for his gifts to us and gives a

profound spiritual sense to a discipline known to have a bad called "difference" with the

aspects related to the heart and spirit. 

Works cited

  Augustine, and Albert C Outler. The Confessions Of St. Augustine. Dover

Publications, 2002.

 Enns, Pete. "The Firmament Of Genesis 1 Is Solid But That’S Not The Point -

Articles". Biologos, 2010, https://biologos.org/articles/the-firmament-of-genesis-1-is-

solid-but-thats-not-the-point.

 "Light | Definition, Properties, Physics, Characteristics, Types, & Facts". Encyclopedia

Britannica, 2021, https://www.britannica.com/science/light.

 Pearse, Roger. "Augustine, De Genesi Ad Litteram Imperfectus Liber (The Literal

Interpretation Of Genesis: Unfinished Book) – Online In English". Roger Pearse,

2020, https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2020/08/22/augustine-de-genesi-ad-

litteram-imperfectus-liber-the-literal-interpretation-of-genesis-unfinished-book-online-

in-english/.