Saturday, May 24
Re: Laws and Harmony
Yeah, I think that Augustine is attacking this religion with reason, because the followers are following absurd gods. What are the differences in the way these gods are absurd, and the way the Lord is "absurd?"
One thing that does make sense about God is that he is looking out for our best interest. But we usually say that because Gods will IS Good (itself) so we call things "bad" because of our lack of perspective. So Augustine is attacking these gods on a different level because if we presume that these god's wills are Good itself, Augustine's argument falls flat. (He seems to mention this near the end where he says he will now talk about the things that even pagans agree are bad: Plague, Famine, Natural Disasters... When he said this it threw me off understanding what he was doing before.)
Re: city of God?
Since this is the title of his book, I hope he comes out and definately clears this up by the end, but who knows? I am getting more of a feeling that he is talking about the Church (as existing when? I don't know.)
Re: Dwight's Thoughts
Today we see many people who participate in religion socially. I am not sure this is a new thing, especially with this kind of "party" religion the Romans practiced. Augustine seems to be ignoring these people (so far) by the approach he is taking.
Re: Book 2 Questions
As men's guardians, by definition, it is incumbent upon them to protect men. And punishing them for hidden laws is absurd. So to be men's guardians, operating in their mode it is absurd to hide their laws from men. I think Augustine is pointing out absurdities in the Roman gods. But he seems to leave out the middle premiss (is that how you spell it?) most of the time.
