A.D. 381 heretics, pagans, and the dawn of the monotheistic state ( PDFDrive )

Theological Orations had been translated into Latin by this time. Instead
Augustine appears to have relied heavily on Latin authors such as Tertullian,
who had coined the Latin word trinitas, Hilary of Poitiers, and the
‘incomprehensible’ Marius Victorinus. Some commentators have argued that his
lack of knowledge of the more sophisticated Greek thinkers was fatal to the
whole enterprise. In his The Promise of Trinitarian Theology, Colin Gunton
asserts that although Augustine claimed to rely on scripture and tradition for his
understanding of the Trinity, in fact ‘he either did not understand the trinitarian
theology of his predecessors, both East and West, or looked at their work with
spectacles so strongly tinted with neo-platonic assumptions that they have
distorted his work. The tragedy is that Augustine’s work is so brilliant that it
blinded generations of theologians to its damaging weaknesses.’ 15
Nevertheless, De Trinitate is a profound and complex work. In his biography
of Augustine, Serge Lancel describes it as ‘a mighty river which sweeps
powerful ideas along on a course that is rich in meanders and swelled by
unexpected tributaries’. 16 Whatever concerns one has about the underlying
pessimism of Augustine and his readiness to accept the authority of the Church
without question, there is no doubting the brilliance with which he penetrated
every nook and cranny of the problem. As with much of his theology, he was
able to develop orthodox thought in new and original ways.
Augustine took as his initial premise the belief that the mystery of the Trinity
is a revelation of God and that it must be accepted in faith. His Trinity is one of
Father, Son and Holy Spirit who are inseparable, equal, and operate as a divine
unity. Despite the passages in scriptures where God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit
appear to act on their own, Augustine believed that all three act together
whenever the divine interacts with the material world. Even in the Old Testament
Jesus was present as part of the Godhead. Having established the orthodox,
Augustine set out to defend it. In Books I to IV of De Trinitate, he examined the
scriptural basis for the Nicene Trinity. As earlier commentators were suffused
with subordinationism, Augustine has to carry out a painstaking re-examination
of every scriptural text to show that a Nicene gloss can be placed on it. Gregory
of Nazianzus had undertaken much the same task in his Theological Orations,
and like Gregory, Augustine had to indulge in a great deal of special pleading
and even casuistry to reinterpret each text to suit his ends. A major problem he
encountered was that many texts talked of Jesus having been sent by the Father.
Most earlier commentators had suggested that one who is sent must be a lesser,