Series: Mystical Theology
Episode 28: Augustine’s Essentialism and the Essence–Energies Distinction of Basil the Great, Part 9 of Augustine of Hippo: An Orthodox Perspective, Dr. C. Veniamin

In Part 9 of our presentations on Augustine of Hippo a comparison is made between the theological approach of Augustine and Basil the Great vis-a-vis the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, based on our reading of Augustine’s De Trinitate Book IX, and of Basil’s Epistles 2 and 234. A brief explanation of what is meant by the “substance and attributes” distinction is also given. Other themes touched upon are included in the Timestamps.

Q&As available in The Professor’s Blog: [ Ссылка ]

Recommended background reading: Christopher Veniamin, ed., Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies (Dalton PA: 2022): [ Ссылка ] ; The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation: "Theosis" in Scripture and Tradition (2016): [ Ссылка ] ; The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature: [ Ссылка ] (2022) ; and Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Empirical Dogmatics of the Orthodox Catholic Church: According to the Spoken Teaching of Father John Romanides, Vol. 1 (2012), Vol. 2 (repr. ed. 2020).

Further bibliography may be found in our "Scholar's Corner" webpage: [ Ссылка ].

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro: “Love" and “Knowledge” exist in a substance of their own
1:32 “Substance” and “Attribute” (“Accidents”)
5:18 St. Augustine an “essentialist”: thinks in terms of “substance”
5:40 Reading §6 of Bk 9, De Trinitate: “Lover” & “Knower”, “Knowledge” & “Love" = relative terms
6:05 “Mind” & “Spirit” are not relative terms
7:04 “Head” & “Headed" = relative terms but also substances
9:01 Comparison of drink comprised of wine, water and honey
10:38 Image of 3 similar rings made of one piece of gold
11:21 Triad in which the mind knows and loves itself
14:55 A better solution?
15:52 “Beatific Vision” = vision of divine Substance
16:59 Gregory the Theologian: God at once one flash of lightning and three
17:41 Image of God in human beings
18:12 Sprit–Matter distinction supersedes the Created–Uncreated distinction
19:06 The heart in Augustine and Plato
19:49 Analogies of Mind not from Scripture
20:26 Christological revelation also Trinitarian
21:14 Augustine’s audience initially limited
21:59 Created effects and symbols
22:43 Comparison with Basil the Great (Eps 7 and 234)
32:44 Some thoughts by way of conclusion
34:20 Appeal

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I wish to express my indebtedness to the spoken and written traditions of Sts Silouan and Sophrony the Athonites, Fr. Zacharias Zacharou, Fr. Kyrill Akon, Fr. Raphael Noica, Fr. Symeon Brüschweiler; Fr. Pavlos Englezakis, Fr. Georges Florovsky, Prof. Constantine Scouteris, Prof. George Mantzarides, Prof. John Fountoulis, and particularly to Mtp Kallistos Ware, Prof. Panayiotes Chrestou, Fr. John Romanides, and Mtp Hierotheos Vlachos: certain sentences and phrases utilized in these presentations are taken directly from my notes of some of their lectures. My presentations have been enriched by all of the above sources, owing to the adoption of certain structures, lists, schemata, and the paraphrasing of themes taken from them. Responsibility for the content of my presentations is of course mine alone. ©Christopher Veniamin 2024

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