ti

I •

I
'
I

'
• I

·-
11
'sr." AVG·U,STINE
I I

(3S3-430 A.D.~

'· :
-
. i;I; ,\ug~;t~~'s philosop~ Was expounded ill'~ ~ime wh~? _it deseived
. ' thorough coniideration and . tboug'1t .The tune .anti·.e~po_sitton of the .
philosophy was most appropri)I~ He belie.ved•that ~h_rtsttamty could save
I ,
tile- world ·from destruction ,an~ tbOt couise ·of .humal history waS' pi
destined and laid in the,Will of Go.d:-Accofdiu~ t6··h iin the.~ Wl:lS ceaseless
• . ~trug!lle goihg:on between tii~ ~•i~ ,wg..f!.gh,.!,. The c_ity ofGo<! is' only •
. , , pennllJlent regune and as Sabme has sa1d, All earthly kmg_~oms must pass
. . away, for eartl,Jy power is naturally mutuable and uns/able;...it is·built on
. those_aspects t1f human.nature which necessarily is~z.!e in war and the greed
. _qfdomination."'. - · • ',

'. ·Q. 65~ Expound the political t_hought of St. Augustine and trace its
bearing on m_ediaeval political thought ?.nd insti~utions.
Qr ' ...- ,) '

_. . . . !he_.Poljtical ideas of St. A;ugustine a,re b~sically relij:ious and not

pohhcal, 1? nature and purpose. Dis_cuss; ·
Or
· b.· . ~•The legislators and magistr;t~ are blit tw~ sons of the Church,
. oun )~ '.tarry out ch ur<;ti •s aim"· (St. Augustine). Comment. . . ' ,
:, :,_-, · . . ,. Or
. DJscuss St: 'August~~e's ·explar(~tio~ ~f.Divirie superiority.
. ~, \ ·,
,, - , -Or •. - : . ,
, , . I • \ '' .

, · Discuss _the. views of St. l\ · - . . · , · d

na mirie. his inil uence of !he ug_u~m~ m the,nature of the sta_t•• anth ,
Middle Ages. ·, · pohbcal thought in Europe during e
 tJGvsrINE
1- A .

'City of God. was written . 'to defend Ch ns. t'mm't y. agams . t th e

'fhe
. barge that 1t was responsible.for the d r fR . ,,
sgs.n c) Examine the political ideas of St . Aec met? • _omtahn P,~wher. f
~bane · · .· - . · ugus me m e 1g t o
. statement. .
~o"e,.\nS, His Early Life : S~. Augustine was born in 854 A D 'th p
tlter an _
t Christian mother.f His -early ·
education was : .dwit ha agalnt
arrange a . ome.
as, h.owever, at the age o 12 that he • .entered.. a school. where hestud'1ed-1~r c
ad~1tted m the University f c th. - - ·It
ve Years. He was . flsub~equently
f h' . . o :a ens.
p~ars. th at the -m uence o. 1s mother
· . on
. h1'm 'was
·
. • nei··
t he· · -· · · ··nor
r immense -· ·
mediate. ~s he_ advanced ~n age he became M.:!1,L~ltaei.lll-t as expoun~ed by ·
austus which faith he_ co~tmued to e~brace t~tfull 9 years._Subsequently
e however, left that m d1s_gust and m utter disappointment. It was in this
'te of ~ind that he r_e~ched !?_1~; .,.a.9_~~9.t~tp~~tm_ent ~s teacherJt :Milan.
ubsequently_he became Ne9-Platomst and tlieifiif 387~:'D~a stauncfi
lit:istian. His conversion to Christianity was solely ·due to infl.uen~e of his
acher St Ambr_o~e in whose cop.tact he came·only as a-teacher in Milan and
hoalso-made him ·ac\We·~Gh~1mi"aii:·1t ~as after tew years that he was
.'
ppointed as Bisho~ of Hi~PR, Where he retnairied till his death. _ _t .' l \ ,, '

' His Environ.ii'ents or Times : He lived .in a transitory period which -.. -
as parting .of .ancient and stjlrtfog ~f m7diaeval ag.e. Christianity had ·
merged as a unifying force and -paganism hart··bee'ft desftoyed. ·With the ·
dap~tion. of Christiani~ :as -~taie ~~)igfon~byaR.o~~ ~ pe{~r~hostility ,
etween the ch_urch and the state ·hc1id practically·ceased. lt :was in one way a
critical time fortlie Christianity as:well..
. ' .
The new faith was in danger by the
- \.- ' '

'.oarbarians of South and ·W~sf El;lrope. In 410 A.D. Alanics and\ Goaths
sacked Rome /
and. it ias believed that. it was because o6disregard for the old
gods. It' was also preached that tpe Christians-could not save Rome from
. . . ' '

des~ction. According to Hearnshaw, "Difference ofdoctrines p~rticularly

that' which 'divided A°lrius from Aihanasius :caused irreconcible -breaches,
doubtful problems .of discipline, particularly that' associated with the
Donatists,· led to Schimatical dis~ent, conflicts for office, emol,anent;
.P~operty, p~wer distrpcted ·the epi~copaie, sc/mdalised the faithful and
amazed the world." · . _: - · . . .. · · . ·
on
'Influences St~ Aug~stine : As . inthe case of ev~~ political 't h~er
,,pfthe.se days. St. Augustine was de~ply influenced by his P:e?ecessors like ·
, -~lato, Cict!ro, Christianity ·_and the Stoic p·olitical ·philosophy e.'g. : . -
. : Plato' : Augusii~-~- is ~d~~~io.Plato~forJi~!§.__~O ~:P~ s~ice. He
· ~an~formed his.s~cular ~~~p_!j!!!Q.!~ ious 'one. Acc~ IUl -n~w
! Justice governed relation between qian and God. He also borrowea,from bun .
Fi '
---~----- '. " -~
.
-
'
 262 A SIMPLE HISTORY OF POLITICAL TI-IOlJGJfr
th~ idea of ideal s~te of .E.!ty of God. He, however, did not follow hilt)
.blindly ~ut_ m a cle_ar war gave-a twist to bis ideas and that~~ brou&ht
''I novelty 1? i_deas. His _concept of justice·was appl!cable to _the -c1ty_~tGod.
A?out this mflue~~e 1t has been ·said ,that Augustme ,combmed .Christianity~
with Platonism. . · ·. • 1 , .

Cicero : From Cicer~, Augustine borr?wed the idea of ~~nwealth

of the .world in which all were untted by a -~om~~n. b~j. O't"'Cieer0 :
commonwealth was love for God but for'Augustme ,_t ~~~~-~ ~as1ons.
Christianity : He b:rrowed from Christiani~. the idea of ~lpartit~
. -nature
. of human b.emgs. wh'1ch meant that man had .spmtual
, ----as .well--:
as~
"""'urctr
~ature. He f<;,llowed the theory of two swords. . · _ _,... .
:; •· · :The Stoic Philosophy : 'He got ir~~ this philosophy tbe idea that every ·
th
! one is a citizen'· of two states. He is requrred of.obey e la"":~-of the state to
!_ which he belongs and also the universal laws b_ecau~e .he is a memb~r of

-l}umanity at large. He l:llso borrowed ~om !his- philosophy the idea of

universai brotherhood. · .
· · Gr~eco-Rbman .Thought : He borrow~d .from this philosophy_the idea -.
that wise.man must be social and that.state is the besthum~n God. Acc.ording
to Foster' "The Graeco-Roman bpckground ofSt. Augustme comes out in his
assumpti;n that the life ofwise man m~J! ~ .s~:!!!•:• · · · · ·.
. His Writings: St. Augustine;s·most important works are_"Dfi-~ e
I
'I
Det which he completed between 4JJ-4t 6 -~•D: The treatise has <been_
divided into 22 books out of ~hich first ten have ~een devoted to defend
Christianity and the remaining 12 in the development of concept of city of
God He has trie·d to establish that old gods cou!d not save Roine from being
.sacked and ft is Chris~anity which has so much r~duced the magnitude of the
destruction of Rome. In first ten books he has bitterly criticise~ Pagans and
He
has said that each evil has some good a~ched with if.. has also bleaded
that the destruction of Rome had·a ray oflight of goodness because it'resulted
in the_spread of Christianity and it; being subse9uently embr~ced by the
Emperors. · . . · .
· . Tne Idea of City o( God : In the~e books he has attempted t9 portray
the idea of City of God which is not liable to destruction and church is actual
1manifestatio~ of that Great C~ty.of God. He has a!so enhanced its prestige as ·,,

-.compared with wor.ldly state, He mixes ~ogether the concept of city state of
, Plato and that of Cicero and presents both these in Christian theology. It is
;, .fQu nded on love of God and is for the promotion of good It a:ms atJ·ustice as
, \, pare.d to_wor
i 'Com . ld ly state whjch is based on selflove and. power.
uu
The. church
'

~i
.,. I'l..s-timbodunent
_ of C"ty
1 0 f God because 1t . promotes virtue 9.nd goo~ness. The
.'1' '

J
 . A vsrINE -. 263
00
51, .
urch and the .stat_e are _mter-dependent but ultimate power is vested in the
ch ds of ecclesiastical hierarchy. It is not something alone in the heaven but
nan on earth and based on Christian ideology. It is based on Cicero's
dowcept O
of .universal brotherhood ., · Membersh1p
· • to city state can only be
11
clorough ?
Grace of 0d butsince-1 all do not deserve that: ull ca~not become
tl mbers ·of the City of God · Neit · her race nor class · but only ' oracc is the
Jllealification for.opp~sed ~ember~hip of the sta$e'.' Thus memb·i ship i$ not
~~nfmed t~ ~ny partictllar stat_e it is universal. The .concept is closeJy
. ecte~ with Roman ~athohc chur~h aijd js ·not to it. The_City-of God is
0011
~ot the city of He_a~en but that ~of the good ·in which there is dominance of
. ciple of selflove. _ · 1
prUl . . . ,. . . · _ _

· In the City of God th~re will be justi~e and peace. Justice, to him,
meant conformity, o~~~r_an~ re.,~p~ct-fof duties: V~rious units!of so~ie'ty can ,
as a whole make ·~oc1ety"he~lthy if they work in·accordance with a set and
·established order. Whether an ind~:Vidualis_just or notdepends on how he
1
perfortn5 his ~uties .. The st~~,~:.~s ri~t th~ final_ soc_i.e,ty 8e£_aus~ ·th~r.~.. is ,also ·
.' universal society with a umversal.,order. Justice IS hot b,ound by. tim!;! and
.' space but it i_s someth1ng which is n.?t ~~s~.!~-~e:~,~;,[~~~1i~<. Th~ s.~Ie~a~ of
. city of.God ;1s to ~romot~ pe~ce,wfuch 1s not negation of conflicts only but
relationship 1n concord in ordered relationship with "each other. There can be.
universal peace w~th universal. brotherhood, love .and order.
' ) '
. \
·
, As ·regards the City .of Go~~ he ha~ tried to distinguish it from the
Catholic
, church by saying thaqhfformer . has wider
,,,,.;11!.l . field·than"the
· ,.. _ .
,-.1 ·1
latter but
- , ..........,.

both are closely related to each -other. As Foste~·Ms said, ·"Man can attain
'membership of the city oniy by /igift o/g;~;:;;nd thtmirmafm~"ns\of the . '
qoflferment ofthe grace are the' sacrament~ ~o/ the .·thurch"'He believe~ that •
punishment is remedy for all the sins and henc~·essential andin·'fa~t-Dtyine
remedy for sins. City of God/ is C~!~~l~ ,~cJ{~r,~~:~~jLi~~!![}!~,/ls.its .
empi!e. He also-believes that seculai aniJr,spir.itual em'pires lrequeOtI:l\i:1er-
mingle with each other and in case of conflict be~ween the two·it.is the C;ty of
God which must coine out yictorious. Secular laws'sµould not intek"e-re with ·
. rel!gious and;mora~ l~'Y$· C~~c~J.is._repre~entativ~ of:.Ci~ _,of,~Qd .._If ts ,a
umversaLsociety of Cicero.'s concq,tton with the·difference that !RCicero s .
society membership 'is open tQ ctn whereas in City of God m,eqibemQip is
open only to those who have·grace of God anct'-thus to•a•few 'q~ly B\'JIY·One
. in tne City of God will be bound by the bonds of comµ,oit lo~e. M~m9C1!ihip .
cari be had only with the grace o(GM. ·
• • • I
·· ·
In this book he has attempted to expla'jn.the causes for the full oi the
, . Roman Empire, com}?ating Paganism and st~engthening.church: Discussing
the significance of his writings Murray has said, "It laid _thefaunda~ions of
 A SIMPLE HISTORY OF POLITICAL TI-IOUG
™ .
- · _ E tpire and paved the way for the COff!plete subjection of h"
Holy Romahn -", ·ch" Similarly Prof. C.H. ~aclwain ha$ said tSe
state to t e c w, . I had t . ,11 , t
st . , ,''City of the God probab y . a grea er 111.J,zienoe ·
Augu m~ s -d. vnl political thought.Jhan any other book wruten,·;n , tOhhe
SIi bseq1tent ·me , we
,, -, , - .
earlv middle age. -_ . . - _ · ·
. POLITICAL IDEAS OF ST; AUGUSTINE
' . -. .
. J.Augustine ~-" State : Accotding ·to S~. August~e-state 1s ~he result of
_,.J\t'f-! . us nature of man
CT 'gre::,ano .
and re~ult_of s1ri and churcl} ~r~vtde~ -Divine
d' ' h' . f Divine ..
remeayfor _all these ~ins. f,\ccor 1ng to 1m ,it was _o . . _?ng~n _and
inferior only to t~e City-'of God. !:J,r does not agree with t~~- Gree~-that it is
based on justice bec~use justice ca·ri not prevail in'non.:Chnstta~ .sfat~s and as
such that is attribu,e of church and not that of th~ st~te. }'he ~hurch ~.erives
powers from God himsel~: State_·is the ~i?gdom_ o(P,~ - l_t Is_.»eces~a\-y ~or_
. the existence·of church !?~cause 1t sanctton_s for it m_?~,~y artd material,
1
, If the laws of the state are not in,violation ofmorahty t~e~:,
because tlie state has divine -sanction. It is} et11,~dyf or the _sms orthf peopie,
· According to Sa_bine, ''The'·s(ate had a divine s~n~ion llJust
_be ordinarily obey~a, -b~6 f tbe·decre~-s-of the .state violate (pws ofreYtgion or
mora/ity they m.us( not be 'obeyed:" , ' ·• _
1

Augustine o·n Sla~e'ry _:Lik~ Plato: he also·sup~~rte~ ~he instttutio~ of

sl~very _but cUd n9.t feel -that it was ·es~e~tiaJ ~o ~?~b}ij t~~.c1tiz~ns,to p~rfonn
their du tie~ properly·. He also.did not contribute to the ) d~~ that. the slaves
; hould b~ retained for th'e pleasure· of.the ot:h_ers or that. it was ,a -~atu'ral
- institutr~n. In,his philosophy slavery was regarded as a divine retributiQn f~r..
· the sin. A man would not havtf b_eer{slav~ h&dhe not co~~itt~d.sins and the '
. slav~s would havti equally enjoyed·fJill freedom ~ad they1acted in accdrdance
· wi!h the st!ndaids ~f re)i&ion aud rriorality. He, therefot'e~suggesied that_jn
~- order. to ·get _ptJrification aH ·slaves .should·remain neat .their masters, who -"\
werej,ure. He also t:elt lhat such a_s:lep_was 1n their own -interest.- According to
Gettell. ~t. Augu~tine believed that,-"Slavery W(lS bpth a rep1edy.and a divine -
pw;zishm.eiifforsin." Everything :W,as Pr~~destined ~nd a·s such sack Roman of
' empire wasalstrpr.e-deternined. He said such'~ fall was leadii\g toWllfdScity
of the
.:
God. · ' • .
·, • •.
· ', \
·. · .· , .
.
.- - .

of- Augustine
st ~n Peace : Acco~ding _to_him peiice was one of the (jualities
g~o~ ate
somethmg positive d · t be 9tt~in~d
which could · only
· in the Kingdom of God.· It was-
e b . , . .~!1 ~o nega~1v.e. It did not m~an end of war'but love for
m racmg ail human bemgs In O d t· ,.,, · -. -· · · · Iht
all' · , -,h · r e.~.o-mamtam_peace 1t was essent1a t a
othme~ s J)U]d obey UQiVe)'.S;i] 1aw.s and all 'sho\t]d be ·nrught to love each
of =~nt:ou]~ be !~Pii'.al as wen as sPirituai Peace. The fonner was co~cord
· _or ere relatt~ns wilh eliCh Other\ vhile the latter was concordant
·' · '
 • AUGUSTINE 265
:p in the fruitation ·of God Th
ersh1 · e fonner was limited while the latter
universa 1. · }1 lq,-\ .
Ifs Views About Salvation . A .
• I 'th the hel ofcfi urch a . ccordmg to him everyone can get
.,ivati 0~ w~ ,f GOd a:d a . , h hnd th ~ state ..Obedience to state also ll ads
to the Ctty_91d rt-h :s su_c t e st~te should -always .be .obeyed. ·chmrch
ents Go on ea . •
repres • . .
Augustine on 'T~e ~tate and the Church' : According to him a state
"1h1C had adopted
• . h . . Chnst1an rules . was that, ..of. G. od an d ot hers were th at of
15t st
~atan, In C~ !a9 ~t~s,- behmd ·every action of the state authorities there
~ perfect Justice,
as h - .D1v1~e 1
...... ---an_
.h plan q 15'..urpose.
_·-· . The p·eop 1.e shou Id~·o-0-ey... sue h a '
te bec,itu.se t at way . ey are s~ .p~rpose of god. Unlike Plato and
M~totle_he has··s~bordmatecfstat~to t~e highe~authority of God. Only th~se
1aws which are moral fr~m ~hurch ~ omfsffou1o-c,Vbe~obeyed 'and thus .
th th0 st
obedi_ence to e au nty _?f _ ate . laws is ho,t absolute but relative. A
Cbristian ob:ys a s~cular aut~onty becau~~pehind statf la_wsufriinate higher
·n of God 1s attamed and hidden. In this way pe has'subordinated state to
1
; church. But he has tried to establirh a t~_ ocrac.Y- He ·has fr'iect'io"'m;l~tain ·
:o s~~arate authorities t~mp~r~I as 'Yell a~fl~~u!~AU
to spmtual laws ~~er_te~ poral laws. Chr~~t1ans-~lioula stek gmdance from
fhas give~ prior place
echurch and th~.both sh~~·ld·mutually nelp eacl) other. It is only in case of
conflict b~tween the state and the church that he pref~rred
• ' ._.....,.,..___..r••• -~ . ~• f •
fatter. .
His Ideas A.bout Conquests : St."Augustine di.d not very much favour
eidea of conquests. He was of the view that in states based on conquests
er~ could be no justice. He was sure that states · without justice . w~re
bberies He also said that territories t~~s ·coqqueredh5u'ld, not be the basis or
urce of happiness either for the kin•g or forth~.~9,.JJ.9.-Yer~d suJ,jec'ts. He also
!early said that conquests'brough~with them' fear; hatr~sf1md, w~!!!,9.t1-I
das such could not plea,te ~~g,f He also said that ~ven othefu~se iio ~an
ad a right to rule over any other man or even to don:imate ~ un.
' ' t l'

.· His Views About Peace : According to .Augustine peace does not

e~n negation of,conflict_but it is rela~ionship .t~. .£2.!!~?,rd:._ I-I_~., stood. for ·
iversal pea~e-basecforitT!fiversal order'ifoaer a universal law. The peace is
all'
e,end of struggle,of societies . . . ~:/ __..;__,. ,.~- .. ----h·
His Views About the People.: He had dear and definite ~oncept about .
.People.' In very cl~ar W-O~ds he' said!'"A people i~ an assemlblag~ ·01
asonab/e beings bo~ndtogether b;:_3,£iJmmon agreement as to the ob1ects
their love." .,.~ ··•-.J... - ·-- ~. · .. - 0
.. • • •

His Views About Reason an·d Faith : St. Augustine believed that ·
ere was no .contradiction between reason .and ,faith and that both )Vere
utually complementary to ·each other~ Ac_cording to him it was wrong to
 A SIMPLE HISTORY OF POLITICAL ii-lo
I I

266 • ,. , . ; . • • tJalil
. ·b' 1. that both could not go hand in hand. By bnngmg the ~o togeth
e ,eve . d .. the one h·anct·and. tr· erh e
waged a war or irrationahsm an superst1t1ons on . . · . . led·t
.bring reason and knowledge on the other. . . . o,
· Augustine on Justice : Justice, to him, was conformity to order ilnd
such could prevail 1n the City of God. U. .me~nt r~s~:ct ·for duties
. · but was not something
obl 1gat1ons . which· was . absolute ,.bu
fl
.. · '.111d
According to him a man can be Just only t?. so~e e~tent ~-~.degree 'or to .,
particular extent. He can not be just ~otfi•to t~e fam1l~ as Wei,! as the Statea
Absolute justice was possible on_!):'. m a umversal_~1ty_..~~,_Go_d .in Which
· ersal laws were obeyed. These l_aws also confoi:m to universal orde
umv . I . d I . ·r r. A
state will nclf be unjust_if i~ viol~tes un~versa . or er: n cas_es o. COJlflitt the
· d' 'duals are always Justified mobeymg universal o~~er 1f secular ora· :
m !VI
· in conflict with it. Ju.sti~e thu_
' • . c· f G. d a . , ' er IS
s sy)ll~ohse,~ the 1~ o --~~ s 1t can not be in
the pagan state. Accotdmg to D_unnmgs, Augustme thus no~ only deprecat
.the earih!/rsrate as compa,:ed wjth_ t}ie !tale of the future .'.Ve, ~ut (ienfes ;;
non-Christian earthly sta(es all socwl VJrtues. For he early m his work;s, z
down that witho~t justice there i~ nqt~ing to dislln~uisli a:state frJ»m q h:;.
of brigands." Justi~e.means .~01,1form1o/ to _~~q7~ and pe~f~ ce of duties '
whi~h arise out -of that ?rder;. A9sol_~,~:..JU~~1ce ~~,~•:be ~oss_1ole <miy' in
absplute order. A state wh1ch-confoi:ms to umv~rs_al orcler.can g1ve.complet~
justice..His justice is notboµnd by
• ~•"'- , • -~·(.. •.~, .~, • .,,, I?,'"'
·. -~
,·
1,...- . I ,

. Augustine ·on Human Nature : According to.him e_very human being ...
-has dµal_nature. His earthly nature i_srepresen_ted by_,tempo!~l slat~ ~cJ he can
justly achieve his temporal reqmrements m that state wh~rea's spiritual'
demands can only br cherishe_d in the City of God. H,is body belongs to·the
·state and m~I to.the church. But these natures can be kept quite.sep;ir~te from
each other. '----·---•- ---- ·:•·, ' '. '' ' ' ,I I ' ' '

Augustipe on Property . : He supported the institution -private of

property' and felt that its holding was legitimate. It was a conventional and
.not natural institution this convention s~ould·be:preserved. He; howevei:, ·•
felt t~at should not ha, ·more_property than w~at was requ~ed hr him
for his leg1t/lllate·and reasonable needs. He felt that 1t was essential for each ,
. _individual for ~r~per p~rfo~a_nce his .duties. 1 ccording. to .Dr. ~.J. or
· Carlyle all C?l'1stia~ 19mkers, mcludmg St. Augustine· believed that, All
' pr.op~rty is·the gift of God and it was his that the earth which he had ' will I

; :reated sho_uld be_coin~on possession ofall m~n and satisfy the needs ofall;
..... it was avance which .created r'ights ofprivate property." . . . .
. ~·is .Ideas About Commo~wealth : ·According to him comrilonwealt~
th
is no mg else but' assemblage of reasonable beings who are bound together
_by a COllllpon agreement. A.true commonwealth must be Christian common·
sr. AvausnNE 267

,eatI h·
He, does not agree with
h 1· · ·
c·tcero that it is the busin;ss of
'\
00
wealt to rea ise Justice.
coJlltll
l{is Philosophy
. ·ofh History
. ·• Au gustme
• aimed
. . Christianity
at saving
ano •"anted, to wipe
E .out H t e impression
· - that new go ds-were responsible
• . for the
fall of Roman m~;e,£ e wanted to establish that not Pagan Gods b·ut divine
will was. responsi e or such a ~a~l. He also wanted to ·establish that all
human history wa_s unfoldment of-Divine Will. ·It was the Wili of God that
there ~hould be kmgd~~ of God on earth. There is a pre-planned goal for
· estabhshment 0f C?n st ian ~ommonwealth. According to him there is a
constant struggle gomg onbetween good and evil in which former is destined
to prevail ·o_ver t?e latter, and ·there would be spiritual salvation. In other
word~ h~s philosophy he paved t~e . way for the concept of constant
stniggle ..which was subsequently . picked up by Karl Marx. · . · ·
St
Influen~~ or ~?ntribution of Augµstine : Augustine was the most
. iJnportant political thmker of the Mediaeval ·Europe. His 'Civitate Dei' has
been character~sed _as the mine of id~r.Ht \V:~rs~·-responsible
- formouldmg·tbe
ideas of the rulers hk;__C~:;,~~ne,~nd ~ ~ ~at. It is said.that Thomas
Acquinas and '·Qa~te are'Y ia:rgefy from· his _writings. He also influenced
Gregory and Mart.inLuther. His concept of Christian commonw;_~lll,..became
the b~sis of Holy Ro~an Empire to a greaheifent- H-i~ oo'ftlinatfon ,of .
secular. authdrity to ,spiritual aqthority becam:e the basis .of er,clesi~stical
oneness. He gave the idea that political ct"9thority was not absolute and that
' there was also· a higher authority over· the state. Thus he shook absolute
. nature _and:ch¥acter ofthe~ta(e'fr<;>m its very basis. He also:challenged the
._ · established idea that ~tate laws should be· obey~d under all circumstances:
Both these ideas_remained alive thrpughout the Middle Ages. Tpe concept of..
universal society, as e~pounded by him again remained alive in the Middle '
ages. His_concept of City .o,f~G-~ b! ~a~e the basis ofal,l Papalists bot_h ·
the Protestants and· the' "Roman CalholicS"'"'_equaHy;..,b'6'ffffwecF'from his
· philosophy.·Sabine has c~af.acte~ the ..Qf
his age. Gettelf ts·oftlleviewthat his philosophy gave acty"stall1sed body of
-thougbt at a vefy critical perio_d of history. Christopher Morris say~ that,
"He was the father w.h?se au!_!io:.~1>', counted /!!§,~:! with almost eve') ·
Mediaeval
.
thinker."· · ~-~~-- · "" ..... -.. . ,,_.,_· -. ·'
· Augustine was the most influ~ntial t~inker of m'.iddle ages a~d his
philosophy practically remained .the foundaJipn ,of the philosophy of his age.
According to Ebenstein ''St. Augustine, tlie greatest_~(the Ohurc~,- F~th~rs;,
t
stood at the turning point of two worlds, .that of anllq~ity ,and,Chr1S 1amty_.
According to Sabine "His.philosophy was only in a ~llght degr~e sy~temahc,
but his mind had encompassed almost all the learnmg of anc1ent.· trmes and
r 1
2
h 10
•
'
A SIMPLE HISTORY OF PouncAL 11ic}u(lltt .
I g ' 1 it was transmitted to the Middle 1'too.
e exten. , which, the l ater Writers,
· • C)--.,_·If·I.!
hrough ,m . a very 0.r ideas in
ar . Catha,-•c •••
. wntmgs
. . t were min(!S,, Dr , J. E. Green says, "Soh inclusr,,e h Were A~°'·-,·
a'C,)" ''1e.-
·"4

Protes ant have dug. • his· .I'rormulations t Sat pe was

·,,:. ,· g were h . the,..
1r1 equally 1._s
JQt,ier
. :- and so sat,s,J' m h 1. •sm and (after t. au/ t e l11Spirat;
gemus Cat o ,c1 -~ . -,,.,. d b dl·~. OIJ Of
of rnedioeval Roman n'""llis\<tt'i tiitgs, thOrefore, un ou. le y Utfluen"«l 11,
P
rotesta'nt Reformal1o · . . , thinkers
_diaeval poht1~at _ _,_ who
... followed
= •- . him. . e
thinkers of me ) · St Ambrose.
Q W ·te short note on
~ - n f~
. · S· Ambrose
. • was living in second . half o
h 10Urtbth century
. ,<llld Was.
1 t.
Ans. .. 1 . outlook and approac to . e proble:rns Wh· ·
.
essential pohtica m h d 1.: gh . tcb
himy non- . f th . fact that the church a , L'.rou t m revolution
In spite " e h . d , . ary
faced · 1. . 1outlook of.his days, yet e remaine nolli-politicai ll
· the po 1t1ca - gh th • h h .
did . •rie
changes
d Ill
.d t favour po l't"
I ica
I sp·eculations. Thou.d e C. urc. 1 . not.. Pose a.
1 · no threat to the au thority ofthe ·state an ·was not its . nva institution · , Yet
senous h 'd
he favoured _t e \ ea , . of separation
· of
,. . church from the
d . state. He
l·. , . .stressed that
h Id
the church s ou be free . from. state mfluence · . an . ~contro
. ff:m. spintua1
. aft'~;.
. ""1S ·.
and both had nuA thing to. qo with each other.m .re.11g1ou,, / s a atrs. According to
. . "Thus he clearly .a:;serted tha( in spmtua . matters the church h~
1
Sabme, CJ · · · h · · · ·
Jurisdiction over al/religious "!allers; . ir,st1ans, t e emperor mcludid,fo,
theempe , , .
ror like every · other Chnstlan, _ls a son ofthe church, he 1s.Within the
church, and not above it." . . .
NO 'doubt he represented the , ideas of his times and deserves full
consideration but hiSgreatness lies in the_method in Which he represented fue
·· facts with courage an<j boldness. He did not preach that iecular aufuoriiJ
should be dis-obeyed but that it was the duty ,of .Priest tO reprieve secul•·
_rulers in mo1al. matters. He very clearly adhered to the doctrine that "Th,
palaces. belong to !he Emperor <ind the churches. to -the Bishop." The
.· emperor had.full authority over all prOperty in-ihe•state but chQrch was nofin
any way under his jurisdiction :ind a wise emperor should not touch it. He
however did not allow the people to repudiate the authority of the churcl
with for~e. He,did not incite i~e masses to r~bel against the' a'utholity offue
st
church any case. The rights of church should be estabhshid by
. e abhslung high spiritual traditions.by spiritual meaiis and not by resistan~
1 ft
e 11. vague,
He however· did not elabcirat,i philosophy• about private property anO