Recently, Dr. Zhang Xuefu, who specializes in Greek philosophy and the history of early Christian thoughts, gave a lecture titled “Christ as the Inner Light” online to share the theological ideas of Augustine, the famous classical theologian.
Devoting himself to the studies of Greek philosophy and the history of early Christian thoughts, Dr. Zhang has published works of Platonism of Christianity, Stoicism, and Introduction to the Thoughts of Philo Judaeus. He lectures on ancient western philosophy, philosophical issues, philosophical consciousness, Greek and Roman philosophy, and Augustine’s philosophical thought.
Dr. Zhang first briefly summarized Augustine’s concept of time. There is a very important understanding that is the understanding of “the present”.
He pointed out, “Augustine thought that ‘now’ was the essence of time. We usually call time the past, present and future. However, Augustine said that it was not an accurate term of time. The accurate term of time was the past present, present present, and future present. So the essence of time is now.”
Professor Zhang explained, “The past cannot be realized until it becomes the present. Past events must be recalled through memories, only then can they be in my presence so that I can understand them. The past must be remembered as the present before it can be noticed. The future has not happened unless it is expected by me. Or put the future into my present attention and it will become my goal. So whether it is in the past or in the future, its essence is still the present.”
“Moreover, Christ is the eternal now. When Christ’s present essence is projected into the present world, then we have our present essence. The presentity we experience in time results from the essence that is projected by God through Christ. Because of this, we must go through Christ to enter eternity and enter the kingdom of God.”
Dr. Zhang continued, “Christ as the inner light must be shown in the inner self.” Professor Zhang mentioned classical dualism and Augustine’s trinity. He further mentioned the semiotics of Augustine’s theological theory - symbols, the knowledge of symbols, and the knowledge to which symbols refer. “We cannot learn about Christ through symbols. Instead, we should learn about Him through our inner selves. The inner person has two meanings. One is our soul, but there is an inner person living in the soul. Augustine said that we should listen to the truth which is the voice coming from within us. Our thoughts should make voices and there is something in my thoughts that can master my thoughts. We know that God’s unchanging omnipotence and his eternal wisdom are our true instructors, and this is Christ.”
“Christ teaches us by teaching our inner selves. If a person’s soul does not listen, he still will not believe Him even if he sees Him. Therefore, Christ’s redemption is to change a person’s inner life, after which he can get to understand the external world. Therefore, Augustine emphasized that we could not understand Christ from an external way, and through symbols and things to which symbols refer. Understanding Christ in this way is very limited. As a result, the Christ understood as such is a limited Christ, and that kind of life has not been truly reversed. This is his own belief experience.”
“Augustine believed that faith was the sight of reasoning.” Professor Zhang said: “This statement is wonderful. Christ’s teaching is to teach people from the inner nature. It is this inner teaching that has changed our relationship with the world.”
“Christ of the inner light is a very important concept, which can help us expand the horizon that we have never seen in education alone,” he concluded.
In the Q&A session, Dr. Zhang clarified again, “First of all, we should pay attention to the fact that the inner light is not the light of nature. What we should pay attention to is that the inner light is always the light of Christ. According to natural theology, the inner light is the light of nature since creation. Augustine did not understand it from this angle. The inner light he talked about only referred to the light of Christ.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
章雪富博士分享：奥古斯丁神学理念——“作为内在之光的基督”
日前，常年研究希腊哲学和早期基督教思想史的章雪富博士在网络上以“作为基督内在之光”分享了著名古典神学家奥古斯丁在这方面的神学理念。
章老师长年研究希腊哲学和早期基督教思想史，出版作品有《基督教的柏拉图主义》、《斯多亚主义》、《斐洛思想导论》等，并讲授古代西方哲学、哲学问题、哲学意识、希腊罗马哲学、奥古斯丁的哲学思想。
首先，章博士简单总结介绍了奥古斯丁的时间观念。奥古斯丁的时间观念中有一个很重要的理解，就是对“现在”这个时间观念的理解。章教授说：“奥古斯丁认为现在是时间的本质。因为我们通常称直接为过去，现在和将来。但是奥古斯丁说，这样的称呼方法是不准确的。准确的称呼是过去的现在，现在的现在和将来的现在。所以时间的本质是现在。”
接着，章教授对这一说法进行了解释：“过去除非成为现在才能被人意识到。过去的事情必须通过回忆被召回到我的眼前，我才能够了解。过去必须要通过回忆成为现在，才能够被注意到。将来的事情还没有发生，除非它被我期望；或者说把未来的事情放到我现在的注意里面，它才成为我的目标。所以无论是过去还是将来，它的本质仍然是现在。”
“而基督是永远的现在。基督的现在性投影到这个世界的时候，才有我们的现在性。我们在时间里面经历的现在性，我们在时间里面经历的本质是上帝透过基督投影下来的结果。正因为如此，我们必须要透过基督才能进入到永恒之中，进入到上帝的国度里面。”
随后，章博士分享“作为内在之光的基督”的内容。“作为内在之光的基督一定是显示在内在性的自我里面的。”章教授提到了古典文化的二元论以及奥古斯丁的论三位一体；也提到了奥古斯丁神学理论的符号学——符号、符号的知识以及符号指所向的知识。“我们不能通过符号来学习基督，我们要通过内在之人来学习基督。内在之人有两个意思，一个是我们的灵魂，但是灵魂里面有居住着一个内在之人。 奥古斯丁说我们要听从真理，真理是从我们里面发出来的声音，我的思想要发出声音，我的思想位格要发出一个声音，我的思想里面还有一个掌握我思想的东西。我们就知道上帝永不变化的全能和祂永恒的智慧，才是我们真正的教导者，这就是基督。”
“基督是通过教导内在之人来教导我们的。如果一个人的灵魂不听从，他眼睛看见了也不会相信。所以基督的救赎是让一个人的内在得到改变，在这个改变之后才能去理解外部的世界。所以奥古斯丁强调我们不能从外部的方式去理解基督，不能透过符号和符号所指向的事物去理解基督，这样的理解是很局限的。这样理解基督是被限制的基督，这样的生命也是没有被真正的扭转的。这是他自己的信仰经验。”
“奥古斯丁认为信仰是理性的视线。”章教授说：“这句话讲的很精彩。基督的教导是从内在性教导人，正是这一种内在性的教导，改变了我们和世界的关系。”
最后，章教授总结说：“内在之光的基督是一个非常重要的观念，它可以帮助我们拓展单纯在教育学里面未曾看见的那些东西。”
在问答环节，章博士再次澄清说：“首先要注意，内在之光不是自然之光，我们要注意的是，内在之光始终是基督之光。自然神学会认为，内在之光就是人的受造以来所具有的自然本性之光。奥古斯丁不是从这个角度来理解的，他所说的内在之光仅限于指向基督之光。”
章雪富博士分享：奥古斯丁神学理念——“作为内在之光的基督”
Recently, Dr. Zhang Xuefu, who specializes in Greek philosophy and the history of early Christian thoughts, gave a lecture titled “Christ as the Inner Light” online to share the theological ideas of Augustine, the famous classical theologian.
Devoting himself to the studies of Greek philosophy and the history of early Christian thoughts, Dr. Zhang has published works of Platonism of Christianity, Stoicism, and Introduction to the Thoughts of Philo Judaeus. He lectures on ancient western philosophy, philosophical issues, philosophical consciousness, Greek and Roman philosophy, and Augustine’s philosophical thought.
Dr. Zhang first briefly summarized Augustine’s concept of time. There is a very important understanding that is the understanding of “the present”.
He pointed out, “Augustine thought that ‘now’ was the essence of time. We usually call time the past, present and future. However, Augustine said that it was not an accurate term of time. The accurate term of time was the past present, present present, and future present. So the essence of time is now.”
Professor Zhang explained, “The past cannot be realized until it becomes the present. Past events must be recalled through memories, only then can they be in my presence so that I can understand them. The past must be remembered as the present before it can be noticed. The future has not happened unless it is expected by me. Or put the future into my present attention and it will become my goal. So whether it is in the past or in the future, its essence is still the present.”
“Moreover, Christ is the eternal now. When Christ’s present essence is projected into the present world, then we have our present essence. The presentity we experience in time results from the essence that is projected by God through Christ. Because of this, we must go through Christ to enter eternity and enter the kingdom of God.”
Dr. Zhang continued, “Christ as the inner light must be shown in the inner self.” Professor Zhang mentioned classical dualism and Augustine’s trinity. He further mentioned the semiotics of Augustine’s theological theory - symbols, the knowledge of symbols, and the knowledge to which symbols refer. “We cannot learn about Christ through symbols. Instead, we should learn about Him through our inner selves. The inner person has two meanings. One is our soul, but there is an inner person living in the soul. Augustine said that we should listen to the truth which is the voice coming from within us. Our thoughts should make voices and there is something in my thoughts that can master my thoughts. We know that God’s unchanging omnipotence and his eternal wisdom are our true instructors, and this is Christ.”
“Christ teaches us by teaching our inner selves. If a person’s soul does not listen, he still will not believe Him even if he sees Him. Therefore, Christ’s redemption is to change a person’s inner life, after which he can get to understand the external world. Therefore, Augustine emphasized that we could not understand Christ from an external way, and through symbols and things to which symbols refer. Understanding Christ in this way is very limited. As a result, the Christ understood as such is a limited Christ, and that kind of life has not been truly reversed. This is his own belief experience.”
“Augustine believed that faith was the sight of reasoning.” Professor Zhang said: “This statement is wonderful. Christ’s teaching is to teach people from the inner nature. It is this inner teaching that has changed our relationship with the world.”
“Christ of the inner light is a very important concept, which can help us expand the horizon that we have never seen in education alone,” he concluded.
In the Q&A session, Dr. Zhang clarified again, “First of all, we should pay attention to the fact that the inner light is not the light of nature. What we should pay attention to is that the inner light is always the light of Christ. According to natural theology, the inner light is the light of nature since creation. Augustine did not understand it from this angle. The inner light he talked about only referred to the light of Christ.”
- Translated by Charlie Li
Scholar Shares Augustine’s Theological Philosophy: 'Christ as the Inner Light'
