T.

Caliph

A civil and religious head of the Muslim state; the term Caliph was coined following the death of Prophet Muhammed. Abu Bakr was the first, as there was an immediate need for a successor to Muhammed, followed by three others, and the four of them together are called the "Rightly guided caliphs" or "Khulafaa-e-Rashidun

The Talmud

A collection of writings with the skeleton known as the Mishnah. Two different types of Talmuds kind of like a dictionary or encyclopedia. These collections of doctrines and laws were written by Jewish teachers.

Conviction

A firmly held belief or opinion

Creed

A formal statement of faith. For example the Nicene Creed, a statement of the Orthodox faith of the early Christian church

Donatism

A member of a rigoristic, schismatic Christian sect, strongly opposed by Saint Augustine, that arose in North Africa in the fourth century AD and believed in sanctity as requisite for church membership and administration of all sacraments

What happens when Augustine reads Cicero? and when he reads the Bible?

After reading Cicero, Augustine's "values and priorities" changed. He no longer wanted to pursue earthly things and longed to pursue God instead. Augustine then read the Bible and felt as though Cicero's writing surpassed that of the Bible.

What analogy can you make between Alypius' futile attempt to resist the temptation of the gladiatorial games (VI.vii-viii) and St. Augustine's life? What does this tell us about Augustine's view of temptation and the will?

Alypius attempt to resist the gladiatorial games is much like Augustine's attempt to resist the sins he in his life. Both would have been better off if they never participated in the events. However what has been seen cannot be unseen and what has been done can not be undone.

Why was allegory so important for Augustine and his interpretation of the scriptures?

Ambrose of Milan explained scripture through allegories which Augustine hears for the first time. Having scriptures interpreted through allegories helped Augustine to understand that not everything in the Bible was to be taken literally as he had been taught by other Manicheans. This made it easier for him to reconcile some of his previous questions and problems he had with the scriptures.

Arius

Arius and Alexander/Athanasius (Alexander's successor) were in a disput in about how to articulate the relationship between the persons of the Trinity. Mostly, the debate circulated around the Father and Son (the holy spirit became the focus of a later debate). Arius thought...but Athanasius argued He lost and was excommunicated.

What leads Augustine to characterize himself as "so tiny a child, so great a sinner"?

As a child in school, Augustine took no interest in learning. Augustine refers to himself as "so tiny a child, so great a sinner" because, although the motives behind his schooling were unjust, God had intended for Augustine to use his education to his advantage.

Why was Augustine attracted to astrology?

Astrology played a prominent part in Manichaean doctrine, and Augustine himself was attracted by their books in his youth, being particularly fascinate

What was Augustine's life like in his sixteenth year?

At sixteen, Augustine began "showing signs of virility." His father celebrated this while his mother warned Augustine to guard his thoughts and actions. Augustine also began participating in sinful behaviors to impress his peers. He claimed to be "equally guilty" of actions that he had not committed in order to fit in with his peers.

Assess his mother's role in Augustine's life. Of what significance for him is her death

Augustine believes one of his mother's most important roles in his life was to lead him to the church. Upon her death Augustine does not want to grieve, believing that she is with god now, but is still upset and believes god will forgive him for weeping over her.

Under what circumstances did Augustine want to be baptized a Christian? Why did his mother defer?

Augustine had prepared to be baptized after he had fallen ill. When Augustine recovered, his mother decided to defer the baptism because, if he were to live after his baptism, Augustine would be sure to defile himself with sins.

What happens in the garden in Milan?

Augustine hears a voice telling him to read and takes it as a sign from god to go read the scriptures. The passage he flips open to finally convinces him to fully convert to Christianity.

Why does Augustine ask where the beauty was in his theft of the pears?

Augustine says that the fruit was beautiful because God created it. While the fruit was beautiful, he recognizes that his actions were not beautiful because they were motivated by sinful desires.

What is Augustine's idea of two loves and where does it come from?

Augustine writes about love and lust. Love is of God while lust is the distortion of love due to sin.

When he was 26 or 27, Augustine wrote his first book. What was it? Why is this detail important?

Augustine's first book, "On the Beautiful and the Fitting," was written when he was still at a stage in his religious beliefs that centered around much of the physical and materialistic aspect of the world and God. It was a book written for, or inspired by, another orator that focuses on fame and the surface level aspects of society. Within the book, he describes the want for a more important or substantial fame, not a "low" or materialistic fame. This book of his holds importance not only because it is was his first, that has since been lost and not found, but because it is a documentary of where he was in his beliefs at that time, confused and contradictory; he writes of fame with condescension and haste, putting his personal desire for fame above the rest as a more justified or less shallow type of desire while describing common desire for fame as shallow and materialistic. All the while, the entire time Augustine is making these judgments, his main purpose in writing the book is to get the orator's attention-an act that, at the same time, he condemns and condescends within the book.

What are Augustine's feelings about the death of his friend?

Augustine's friend, whom Augustine had converted from a catholic to Manichee, falls ill and is baptized by his family. Because Manichees do not think baptism is necessary, Augustine jokes about his friend's baptism but his friend does not reciprocate. Shortly after his friend dies and Augustine is deeply saddened and confused by his friend's sudden conversion.

Platonist books

Book that refer to the existence of obstract objections. In Augustine search, he counter many platonist books that reference the existence of a greater being

Ambrose

Catholic Bishop in Milan, responsible for Augustines' conversion

Nebridius

Close friend of Augustine in Milan, accompanies in philosophical struggles and converts with Augustine

Contemplation

Deep reflective thought

Donatist controversy

Donatists believed that baptism performed by lapsed bishops, those who went into hiding and then returned, were illegitimate. Donatists were deemed heretics at the ecumenical council

Why does Augustine call the love of his friend an "error" and "a vas myth and a long lie?"

Everything thing around him appeared like death and he felt lost. But in hindsight, St. Augustine reflects on this event and calls the love of his friend an error. The theme represented by this story is the danger of becoming attached to mortal and transient things in life, "To love a man as more than a man-what craziness!"

Who is Faustus, and what is Augustine's estimate of him?

Faustus was the most learned bishop of the manichaens. Augustine calls him " a great snare of the devil" Augustine estimate that his knowledge is better than Faustus, he also is aware that his education is very in a high position and had more critical mind than those that surrounded him.

What is important about the figurative interpretation of Scripture passages?

Having scriptures interpreted figuratively helped Augustine to understand that not everything in the Bible was to be taken literally as he had been taught by other Manicheans. This made it easier for him to reconcile some of his previous questions and problems he had with the scriptures.

What is Augustine's evaluation of a baby's "innocence"?

He does not think babies are innocent he sees them as selfish beings due to the original sin they have inherited from the first man, Adam.

What does Augustine learn from his re-discovery of the Letters of St. Paul?

He found the truth with the aid of platonic philosophy. Paul's words reveal God's grace and humility (i.e. salvation from the sin by the Grace of Jesus Christ), which he says the Platonic books lacked.

What is the Parable of the Prodigal Son? How does Augustine use the image of the Prodigal Son?

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the youngest son demands his inheritance from his father and leaves his home to indulge in sinful pleasures. The son eventually returns to his father after spending his inheritance and the father welcomes him back with open arms. Augustine uses this story to describe God's love for him. Even if Augustine strays from God, God will always welcome him back just as the father in the story did.

Mecca

Is the city where Prohet Mohammed (Peace.Be.Upon.Him) was born. All muslim from all over the world face towards KA'BA' which is in Mecca and pray 5 times a day. Mecca is also the city where muslims offer their annual HAJJ. Which is one of the pillars of Islam

Rhtoeric

Langugue designed to have persuaasive effect of its audenice often regarding as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content

From chapter x what can you deduce about the Manichean doctrine of human nature?

Manicheans believed that evil was a "material substance" that was constantly at war with good. Humans were inevitably caught between these two forces and were not believed to have free will over their actions. Therefore, even though humans may sin, they were not to be held responsible for those actions.

Meddina

Medina is mainly known for the barial city of Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H). When the idolaters of Mecca initially did not accept the prophets message people of Madina were the first to accept his message and provided the first base for muslims.

What was Monica's dream? What did it mean?

Monica dreamt that she was standing on a wooden platform when a man approached her. The stranger saw that she was sad and asked her why. Monica replied to the stranger saying that she was worried about her son's "perdition," meaning his punishment for his sins. The stranger told her that wherever she was her son would be also. Monica turned and saw that Augustine was standing next to her. The vision meant that Augustine would be spared punishment despite his past sins.

Where did Augustine get the idea that what remains constant is better than that which is changeable?

Neoplatonic principle: that which is unchanging is unable to be corrupted. God is eternal and therefore without corruption.

Alpius

Philosophical companion in Milan, joins Augustine in conversion and baptism

Who is St. Antony of Egypt? What is his story, and why is it so affecting? What is Augustine's response to it?

St. Antony was the first well-known desert ascetic. He gave up his worldly life in favor of a solitary life in the desert. Augustine hears the story of Antony's conversion and the conversion of two imperial service men, which leads to him to struggles against himself. Augustine is then inspired by these stories and wants to do the same thing.

Ecclesiology

Study of the Church

Mitzvah

The 600 commandments of the Torah as taught by God

Hadith

The Hadith, literally meaning "narrative", is made up of the collective sayings of Muhammad and is the second most important Islamic holy text, with the first being the Qur'an.

Where did Augustine get the idea that matter might be the source of evil? Does he accept this idea?

The Manicheans taught that matter was the source of evil. Augustine did not readily accept this answer because, if all matter was created by God, this would mean that God created evil.

Hajj

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Friendship

The friendship which draws human beings together in a tender bond is sweet to us because out of many minds it forges a unity. Saint Augustine Confessions

-Rabbinic movement

The legal teachers and leaders, initially Pharisees, who became the dominant voices in Judaism after the destruction of the Temple and eventually became the rabbis as we know them

Synagogue

The local place of assembly for congregational worship which became central to the tradition after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.

Who are the Manichees, and why did Augustine fall in with them?

The manichess are part of a religious group. The founder Mani summed up the teachings of Jesus, Zoroaster, and Buddha. Augustine falls in with them because of their objections to taking the Bible literally in part.

The episode of theft of the pears is a very famous one. What is its point?

The point is that each pear was stolen not to be eaten, but just because of the act. He attributed doing that by saying that each pear stolen was an example of trying to be like God.

Homoousios

The word made up to reprasent father, son, and holy spirit(one substance)

How were Karaites different from Rabbis

They keratitis rejected the authority of the Talmud and accepted the bible; they also had more in common with Islam than the Rabbi's, who are the teachers of the Jewish heritage.

Who are Verecundus, Nebridius, Alypius, and Adeodatus, and what do they mean to Augustine?

Verecundus, Nebidius, and Alypius are all friends of Augustine, while Adeodatus is Augustine's son. Adeodatus, his son, dies at the age of 17-two years after his baptism, which took place alongside Augustine and Alypius.

Nicea

Was an ancient city in northwestern Anatolia. This is where the first and second Council of Nicea took place. These councils are important because they helped attain a consensus in the early church. The first council established the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and declared Arian belief as heretical. The second council decided that icons were allowed and could be venerated, but that Christians should not actually worship them

As Augustine looks back on his schooling, what does he find most beneficial? What does he criticize?

While Augustine hated learning Greek literature, being able to read and write whatever he chose to as an adult was beneficial. He criticizes the fact that he was forced to read and weep over fictitious stories while his "alienation" from God grew.

Where there women Rabbis

Women played an important role in Judaism but were not able to by Rabbis in till recently. 1972 is the year where the first noted female Rabbi exists. Now in conservative, reformed, and reconstructionist branches of Judaism there are female Rabbis but most Rabbis are still men.

On the Beautiful and the Fittest

Written early in Augustines career about beauty. This text focuses on his interest of theological aesthetics, the context of this is written of neo-platonic ideas

Baptism

a ceremonial immersion in water, or application of water, as an initiatory rite or sacrament of the Christian church AND If someone is baptized right before they die, they will go right to Heaven, because it washes away original sin, personal sin, and temporal punishment due for those sins.

Hanifs 'Pious ones';

a group of pre-Islamic Arabs who share the ethical monotheism of Jews and Christians.

Concubine

a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married, especially one regarded as socially or sexually subservient; mistress.

Mani the prophet

iranian was the prophet and the founder of manicheism, a gnostic religion which was once widespread but is now extinct

Rabbi Hillel

scholar, lived a few decades BEFORE Jesus, "golden rule"

Yeshiva

sitting" or "session," a traditional school for the study of scriptures and Jewish law

Hearers

someone who listens attentively but does not act or follow through on what they have been directed to do; incurred the sin of preparing food and were released from sin by the prayers of the Elect who ate it

Sermons

talk on a religious or moral subject, especially one given during a church service and based on a passage from the Bible.

Christology

the branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature, and role of Christ.

Beauty

the combination of qualities like shape, color, smell, physical attributes, etc. that please the aesthetic senses, mostly the sight of something.

Manicheism

the doctrines and practices of the dualistic religious system of Manes, a blending of Gnostic Christianity, Buddhism,Zoroastrianism, and other elements, especially doctrines of a cosmic conflict between forces of light and darkness, the darkness and evilness of matter, and the necessity for a sexual, vegetarian asceticism