محاورة الذات

سلسلة التراث الروحي

by Augustine of Hippo, يوحنا الحلو (مترجم)

Genres: Philosophy

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Early church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical Confessions in 397 and the voluminous City of God from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.

An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.

People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."

The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."

Santo Agostinho

Reviews

[Kirolos Elkes Bishoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3.5 read… the main issue for me was the dense translation, and the last 30 pages were repetitive.

In brief, Augustine wrote this book as a conversation between his mind and himself; the mind asks and Augustine tries to answer, to eventually reach the absolute truth. The mind helps from time to time, when Augustine reaches his current limits.

I really enjoyed the first 50-60 pages. The book is so metaphorically dense; topics range from how to search for the Truth, to searching for It, to Its source, to what really is the Truth. The last 30 pages had a lot of examples that are not needed to reach the concluded points, which were not that many.

Its mainly a philosophical book with very minor Christian based prayers and ideologies; it’s a good read for whoever’s trying to reach a good bases on how to have a solid argument with one’s self. Its a kind of “intro into critical thinking 101” book…

My favourite quote:
"إذًا، أنت لا تحب الحياة من أجل الحياة بل لأجل المعرفة تحبها"

Another one:
"وإنه لفرق كبير بين شهوة نبذتها النفس، لأنها لا ترجو منها شيئًا، و بين أخري قضت عليها النفس السليمة".

[Ashraf Bashir · Rating 1 out of 5]

كتاب سيئ يحوي فلسفة بدائية تم ضحدها من قرون. لا ينصح بقراءته ككتاب فلسفي، ولا يمكن تصنيفه ككتاب لاهوتي بأي صورة من الصور، ينصح بقراءته فقط كتاريخ للفكر الفلسفي في القرون الميلادية الأولى فيما يخص النقاط المطروحة فيه

[Mohammad Alfailkawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب صغير الحجم سهل وبسيط لمن قرأ بعض مداخل الفلسفة وتاريخها ، وبساطة هذه المحاورة تكمن في اتباع اغسطينوس لاسلوب الجدل السقراطي عن طريق سؤال وجواب الذي خطّه تلميذه أفلاطون.