Shahid 1

2. Platos influence on Augustine St. Augustine was one of the most well-known Christian philosophers. He was however tangled up over flaws or things that didnt make sense in the bible. To grasp a better understanding a relation to God he bounced around certain philosophies. From a stoic he became a skeptic. From a skeptic he became a dualist. Not finding enough out of dualism he finally found his answers in Neo-Platonism. This is where Platos influence comes into play. Platonism had interested Augustine which is why he followed Neo-Platonism. Two beliefs in particular came from it which meant a lot to Augustine. The first was the concept of separated worlds. In one world there is everything that is material and the other world contains immaterial objects. The second was that humans have spirits or souls, and with the soul one is enabled to know God and the immaterial world. These things and other elements of Neo-Platonism made the Christian faith more reasonable to him. Augustine also mentions Plato and his impact on him in book 7 of his confessions. He was very impressed with his cave allegory and the light from Platos allegory could be synonymous to God. The religion of the Manicheans and astrology also intrigued Augustine. When he converted to Christianity he felt as if something was missing, and Platonism was the missing piece that finished his puzzle.