Abstract
“I looked upon the things below Thee, and I saw that they neither wholly are nor wholly are not: they are indeed, since they exist from Thee; they are not, because that which Thou art, they are not. For that truly is which abides immutably.”1
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
“… inspexi caetera infra te, et vidi nee omnino esse, nee omnino non esse: esse quidem, quoniam abs te sunt; non esse autem, quoniam id quod es non sunt. Id enim vere est, quod incommutabiliter manet” (Confessions, VII, 11.17 [PL 32, 742]).
Cf. E. Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St. Augustine, tr. L. Lynch (New York: Random House, 1960), pp. 22-23; God and Philosophy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1941), p. 60; Philosophie et Incarnation selon saint Augustin (Montreal: Institut d’études médiévales, 1947), pp. 12-13; “Notes sur l’être et le temps chez saint Augustin,” Recherches Augustiniennes, II (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1962), pp. 206-209.
The City of God, VII, 6.1 (PL 41 231); cf. The Trinity, VII, 5.10 (PL 42, 912); On the Nature of the Good, XIX, 5.6 (PL 42, 557); On St. John’s Gospel, XCIX, 5 (PL 35, 1888); Sermon VI, 3.4 (PL 38, 61); Epistle CXVIII, 15 (PL 33, 439).
Sermon VI, 3.4 (PL 38, 61).
The City of God, XII, 2 (PL 41, 350).
Ibid.
Confessions, VII, 11.17 (PL 32, 742); cf. Sermon VI, 3.4 (PL 38, 61); On Christian Doctrine, I, 32.35 (PL 34, 32); Commentary on Psalm CXXI, 5 (PL 37, 1622); Commentary on St. John’s Gospel, XXXVIII, 10 (PL 35, 1680).
Sermon VII, 7 (PL 38, 66); cf. The Trinity, V, 2.3 (PL 42, 912); Commentary on St. John’s Gospel, XXXXVIII, 10 (PL 35, 1680).
Commentary on Psalm CXXI, 5 (PL 37, 1622); cf. Commentary on Psalm CXLVI, 11 (PL 37, 1906); The Trinity, III, 2.8 (PL 42, 842).
Commentary on Psalm CI, sermon II, 10 (PL 37, 1311).
The Trinity, XV, 5-7 (PL 42, 1062); cf. The City of God, XI, 6 (PL 41, 321); On Music, VI, II.29 (PL 32, 1179); with C. Boyer, Léidee de vérité dans la Philosophie de saint Augustin (Paris: Beauchesne, 1941), p. 117.
The Book of Eighty-Three Questions, q.46, 2 (PL 40, 30).
Ibid.; cf. Retractions, I, 3.2 (PL 32, 589); The City of God, XI, 10.3 (PL 41, 327).
Incomplete Work Against Julian, V, 44 (PL 45, 1481); V, 60 (PL 45, 1494-95); VI, 5 (PL 45, 1508-09).
Suffice it here to refer to Confessions, XIII, 3.4 (PL 32, 846); The City of God, VIII, 6 (PL 41, 251); XII, 2 (PL 41, 350; Commentary on Psalm CXXXIV, 4 (PL 37, 1741); On Christian Doctrine, I, 32.35 (PL 34, 32); On the Christian Way of Life, I, 14.24 (PL 32, 1321); II, 4.6 (PL 32, 1347).
Cf. Summa Contra Gentiles, I, ch. 22, par. 9.
Cf. A. Trapè, La nozione del mutabile e dell’ immutabile secondo Sant’ Agostino (Tolentino: Edizioni Agostiniani, 1959), esp. pp. 22-23; 67-77; 96-98.
On Christian Doctrine, I, 32.35 (PL 34, 32).
Ibid.
“Quare mutabilia sunt? Quia non summe sunt. Quare non summe sunt? Quia inferiora sunt eo a quo facta sunt. Quis ea fecit? Qui summe est. Quis hic est? Deus, incommutabilis Trinitas … Cur ea fecit? Ut essent … Unde fecit? Ex nihilo.” On the True Religion, I, 18.35 (PL 34, 137).
“Summum bonum … Deus est; ac per hoc incommutabile bonum est; ideo vere aeternum, et vere immortale. Caetera omnia bona non nisi ab illo sunt, sed non de illo. De illo enim quod est, hoc quod ipse est: ab illo autem quae facta sunt, non sunt quod ipse. Ac per hoc si solus ipse incommutabilis, omnia quae fecit, quia ex nihilo fecit, mutabilia sunt.” On the Nature of the Good, I (PL 42, 55); italics added.
“Sublatis de medio omnibus quibus appelari posset et dici Deus, ‘ipsum esse’ se vocari respondit [sc, Deus ad Moysem] et tamquam hoc esset ei nomen; ‘Hoc dices eis, inquit, Qui est, misit me.’ Ita enim ille est, ut in ejus comparatione ea quae facta sunt, non sunt. Illo non comparato, sunt; quoniam ab illo sunt; illi autem comparata, non sunt, quia verum esse, incommutabile esse est, quod ille solus est. Est enim est, sicut honorum bonum, bonum est.” Commentary on Psalm CXXXIV, 4 (PL 37, 174).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1965 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Anderson, J.F. (1965). Mutability and Immutability. In: St. Augustine and being. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9447-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9447-1_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-011-8655-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-9447-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive