Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?
For since in the wisdom of God
the world did not come to know God through wisdom,
it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation
to save those who have faith.
No one can ignore the impact of Saint Augustine on western Christianity, especially since his Autobiography is still widely read. Many people admit that the book brought them back to Church!
A prolific writer, he was both theologian and philosopher, integrating the popular Neoplatonism of his day with his reading of the Scriptures and Patristics of the western and oriental Church. He had spent much of his youth exploring the nonsense of other philosophies which supported a foolish, irresponsible way of life. But, influenced by the prayerful virtue of his mother, and by admiration for Catholic leaders like Saint Ambrose, he converted, was baptized, then ordained as priest, and finally as bishop of Hippo in North Africa. (Today's Annaba in Algeria)
Augustine, like his predecessors, recognized God's influence in the world, especially in philosophical wisdom. Greek philosophers recognized there could be only one supreme being, the creator of all things. Greek philosophy supposed an eternal deity had molded eternal matter into forms; but Jewish wisdom insisted that God called creation out of nothing -- creatio ex nihilo. Jewish theology also identified the Name by which God may be known and invoked; (although, by the time Christ was born they never spoke the name out loud). The Greeks supposed there ought to be a Supreme God; but their religion with its temples and shrines could invoke only imaginary, lesser deities. They had no name for the One.
We know God by His gracious revelation to us, and then we see how His revealed truth makes perfect sense in our human philosophy. Without faith in God and His Word, human philosophies wander into nonsense -- as we see and hear in the cacophony of notions, ideas, and feelings that are shouted at us from every direction. I met a young man a few months ago who had Internet-explored Velentinianism before returning to the Church.
Today, more than ever, we must return to Saint Augustine's faith to find guidance in a disoriented and dangerous world. The Church seems more isolated by its doctrines even as it is recognized for its generosity and admired for its integrity.
"...it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith."
