Omnipotence In St. Augustine's Neo-Platonism

We all sin at least once in our lifetimes. After committing the sin, we look for forgiveness from God and a way to correct it. Then we move on from that sin and usually forget that it ever even happened. However, Saint Augustine did not accept this. He spent his entire life trying to understand where sin came from and how God played a role in it. He examined multiple philosophical and theological schools of thought to find the true source of sin. Saint Augustine was a very spiritual man whose views differed from other popular beliefs such as the Greeks and Romans. What he learned from Neo-Platonism, Christian belief, and all his experiences in his early life allowed him to truly grasp what grace meant and how God’s omnipotence affected human
The way humans perceive this mystical power is known as “the light”. This light is very different from regular light because regular light is seen by the eyes and is simply just imagery. On the other hand, the spiritual light is emanated by God, but interpreted by the mind. It guides us to the way of living that is spiritual and free of sin. When we do not let that light into our minds, we ultimately close off God from our lives and become more materialistic. Thus, we begin to sin. The reason this resonated so well with Augustine is because this is what he devoted his life to. His objective was to find a source of sin and figure out a way to prevent it. Furthermore, when he achieved his objectives, he integrated them with his lifestyle in order to stay connected with God and all the good he stands for. However, the light’s purpose was not only used by Augustine to secure his future with God, but also to reflect on all he experienced as an
His distinction differed completely from what the Greeks and Romans had previously believed in. Augustine had a much more morbid view on the nature of the human body. Augustine believed that the body was the gateway to sin. It is made up of evil, while the soul is made up of the light. This stemmed from the idea of Manichean Dualism that Augustine practiced, which is that a person has both good and bad as a part of them. On the other hand, there are the views of the Greeks and Romans. The Greeks believed the body acted as the cage for the soul. After death, that cage would be opened and the soul would change form into something we humans do not know of. Also, the Romans believed that both the body and the soul transformed into heavenly glory. Augustine’s view and the Greeks and Roman’s views ultimately clashed in how they viewed the good and the bad within the body and