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Augustine and East Asian Thoughts
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Augustine and East Asian Thoughts

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 6384

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Wei Hua

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Yuelu Academy, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Interests: Augustine’s thoughts; medieval philosophy; ancient Greco-Roman philosophy; political philosophy; moral philosophy; Holy Bible; Christianity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are very pleased to submit a Special Issue for your consideration.

Augustine was considered to be “the second founder of the Christian faith” (Jerome) and “the first modern man” (Henry Chadwick) who initiated modernity. As Eugene TeSelle contends, even the theology of the West “is largely a series of annotations to his work”. Clearly, Augustine’s philosophy and theology deeply influenced the Western world from the Middle Ages to our contemporary times.

Although the influence in the West is clear, Augustine’s influence in the East is much less considered. nonetheless, Augustine has been highly influential in East Asia. With the footsteps of the Jesuits and the Protestant missionaries, Augustine’s works and thoughts were introduced in East Asian countries and began interacting with Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. This recognition increased interest in Augustine’s work in East Asia, especially in China. Thus, since the 20th century, the translation and research of Augustine’s works in East Asia are becoming thriving.

The main reason is that many topics of Augustine’s philosophy and theology are relevant to the modernization of East Asian countries. Some of these topics include the problem of free will in moral philosophy, the problem of church unity in the doctrine of the Church, the relation between state and church, the relation between the earthly city and heavenly city in political philosophy, etc.  

In this Special Issue, we will focus on the following topics.

  1. The communication history of Augustine’s thoughts in the East Asian countries, including the translation and research of his works. This will encompass the first introductions back to the 16th century and until today.
  2. Comparative studies between Augustine’s thoughts and East Asian thoughts. Notably, we are looking at comparisons between Augustine’s theory of God, the cosmos, epistemology, moral philosophy, political philosophy, and philosophy of history with similar ideas of the main philosophical and religious branches of East Asian thought, such as Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Islam and Shintoism, and so forth.
  3. Augustine and the state-church relation in East Asian countries. Augustine’s division between the city of God and the city of the earth laid the foundation for the separation between state and church in modern society. We would like to know whether and how his theory influenced the state-church relation in East Asian countries.
  4. Augustine’s influence on East Asian Catholic churches and Protestant churches.
  5. Augustine and the church unity problem in East Asian countries.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Dr. Wei Hua
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Augustine
  • East Asia
  • comparison with Confucianism, Daosim, Buddhism, and Shintoism
  • East Asian politics
  • translation of Augustine’s works in East Asia
  • introspective conscience
  • relationship between state and church

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 352 KiB  
Article
The Dilemma of Conscience: From Paul and Augustine to Mencius
by Wei Hua
Religions 2024, 15(3), 265; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15030265 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 759
Abstract
Krister Stendahl’s article, “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West”, argues that Paul has a “robust conscience” both before and after his conversion. Martin Luther misinterprets this as a “plagued conscience” in accordance with his own religious experience, and this [...] Read more.
Krister Stendahl’s article, “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West”, argues that Paul has a “robust conscience” both before and after his conversion. Martin Luther misinterprets this as a “plagued conscience” in accordance with his own religious experience, and this misinterpretation can be traced back even to Augustine. This paper examines the context for the ancient Greek and Hellenistic theory of conscience, in order to understand Augustine’s transformation of Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith and the consequent discovery of the concept of introspective conscience in Western intellectual history. This paper also clarifies aspects of Augustine’s “plagued conscience”, which it analyses across two stages: the first after the descent of grace but before the conversion of a believer, and the second after conversion. In the first stage, Augustine implies a continuous spiritual conflict between good will and evil will within the inner self; however, in the second stage, the inner self experiences a deeper spiritual struggle, owing to its certainty of God’s predestined plan alongside its uncertainty over personal salvation. The concept of introspective conscience has shaped the deep consciousness of sin for many Western Christians. This paper compares Pauline and Augustinian conscience with the same concept in the Confucian author Mencius. For Mencius, conscience is self-sufficient even in the earliest stages of its development and does not require the support of God’s grace or the power of Heaven. The constant expansion of Mencius’s operative conscience is sufficient for self-cultivation and the correction of the distorted world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Augustine and East Asian Thoughts)
12 pages, 214 KiB  
Article
The Transformation of Hamartiology in Early Christianity: On Augustine’s Interpretation of Romans 5:12
by Zi Wang
Religions 2024, 15(1), 100; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010100 - 12 Jan 2024
Viewed by 790
Abstract
Starting with Augustine’s controversial translation and interpretation of Romans 5:12, this paper compares Augustine’s and the apostle Paul’s different understandings of “sin”: Paul understands “sin” from the apocalyptic eschatological perspective, and regards “sin” as a cosmic power; Augustine, on the contrary, gradually understood [...] Read more.
Starting with Augustine’s controversial translation and interpretation of Romans 5:12, this paper compares Augustine’s and the apostle Paul’s different understandings of “sin”: Paul understands “sin” from the apocalyptic eschatological perspective, and regards “sin” as a cosmic power; Augustine, on the contrary, gradually understood sin as an ontological sin in the discussion of the concept of “original sin”. Through the development and transformation from Paul’s theory of sin to Augustine’s theory of sin, this paper further discusses the interactive relationship between the development of early Christian thought and its social and cultural contexts and tries to outline the path of interweaving biblical text and theological thought in history, particularly to teach how Chinese readers should interact with scriptures in the Chinese context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Augustine and East Asian Thoughts)
11 pages, 223 KiB  
Article
Nature and the Value of Learning in Classical Chinese Philosophy and in Augustine—A Comparative Study
by Johannes Brachtendorf
Religions 2023, 14(12), 1496; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121496 - 2 Dec 2023
Viewed by 932
Abstract
This paper compares Augustine’s view on the value of learning to classical Chinese philosophy (Laozi, Confucius, Mengzi, Xunzi, Zhu Xi). While Laozi has a quite negative notion of learning as leading humans away from true nature, most Confucians esteem learning highly as the [...] Read more.
This paper compares Augustine’s view on the value of learning to classical Chinese philosophy (Laozi, Confucius, Mengzi, Xunzi, Zhu Xi). While Laozi has a quite negative notion of learning as leading humans away from true nature, most Confucians esteem learning highly as the only way to human perfection. Similar to the Confucians, the early Augustine sees knowledge and learning as a way for humans to ascend to divine truth. In his mature works, however, Augustine points out more clearly the dangers of learning: it can make humans proud instead of humble, causing them to rely on their own power instead of confessing their weakness and their need for divine grace. His hesitations on the value of learning bear some similarity to Laozi’s view. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Augustine and East Asian Thoughts)
13 pages, 780 KiB  
Article
On Augustinian Studies in China: A Chinese and Western Discourse on a Family-State Relationship
by Yinli Wang
Religions 2023, 14(11), 1438; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111438 - 20 Nov 2023
Viewed by 814
Abstract
There is a growing interest in Augustine’s social and political philosophy as a result of the popularity of Augustinian studies in modern-day China. The Augustinian idea that the fall of Western classical civilization occurred when the natural order of “family-state” was replaced by [...] Read more.
There is a growing interest in Augustine’s social and political philosophy as a result of the popularity of Augustinian studies in modern-day China. The Augustinian idea that the fall of Western classical civilization occurred when the natural order of “family-state” was replaced by a “denaturalized, de-politicized fellowship” is one discernible trend. This trend involves using the ancient natural order of “the unity of family and state” as a “righteous” standard to explain Augustinian thought. This interpretation calls into question our understanding of “the natural order” in the contemporary world as well as how people interact with one another in society. This paper compares and contrasts the fundamental debate between “family” and “society” in both Chinese and Western contexts. It begins by outlining three different natural orders in relation to “family-state unity” in pre-modern China and the West. It then uses Augustine’s context, especially The City of God, to illustrate the notion of the natural order. The essay contends that Augustine reformulates the Roman “natural order” using a “family-state unity” model derived from Caritas. This essay also makes the case that Augustine is used in the Chinese context in a way that shows how deeply concerned Chinese intellectuals are with family issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Augustine and East Asian Thoughts)
14 pages, 824 KiB  
Article
Augustine and Confucian Virtues: Mencius and Augustine on the Proper Motivations for Moral Conduct
by Teng He and Paul K. Hosle
Religions 2023, 14(9), 1158; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091158 - 11 Sep 2023
Viewed by 858
Abstract
In this essay, we analyze Mencius’s ethics through the lenses of Augustine’s critique of pagan virtue and its tendency to self-love. In the first part of this essay, we outline the basic conceptual framework of Augustine’s theory of virtue and the brunt of [...] Read more.
In this essay, we analyze Mencius’s ethics through the lenses of Augustine’s critique of pagan virtue and its tendency to self-love. In the first part of this essay, we outline the basic conceptual framework of Augustine’s theory of virtue and the brunt of his criticism of the pagan virtue tradition. In the latter part, we explore how Mencius manages to avoid the Augustinian charge against the pagans that they render virtue subservient to honor, and how he largely agrees with Augustine on what place public performance of virtuous deeds should have. At the same time, Mencius’s emphasis on loving virtue for its own sake at times slides into expressions of taking delight in one’s own virtue, a subtler form of self-love that Augustine identifies especially in the Stoic philosophy. While Mencius gives space to the role of Heaven in his ethic, he lacks the theocentric pathos of Augustine, which includes, inter alia, an acknowledgment of our human frailty and deep dependence on God’s grace. Although Mencius’s ethical ideas ultimately correspond rather to those that Augustine associates with pagan virtue, Mencius represents at least a “higher” form that finds meaningful common ground with Augustine on several important issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Augustine and East Asian Thoughts)
14 pages, 783 KiB  
Article
A Confucian Reappraisal of Christian Love: Ahn Changho Contra Augustinian Studies Conducted in South Korea
by Jun-Hyeok Kwak
Religions 2023, 14(6), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060777 - 12 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1187
Abstract
This paper tackles the dominant views of Augustine’s notion of ‘love’ in South Korea which have been described as the puritan pathos of distance from civic commonality. A complete guide to the reception and transmission of Augustine’s philosophy in South Korea would be [...] Read more.
This paper tackles the dominant views of Augustine’s notion of ‘love’ in South Korea which have been described as the puritan pathos of distance from civic commonality. A complete guide to the reception and transmission of Augustine’s philosophy in South Korea would be almost unmanageable. However, the essential key to understanding the place of Augustine’s philosophy in South Korea can be found in the interpretations of Augustine’s notion of love. In all its complexity in these interpretations, the legacy of Augustine in South Korea turns out to consist exclusively of anti-political or non-communal eschatological longings for salvation. In a similar vein, the dominant views of Augustine’s notion of love have been convoluted with their emphasis on the superiority of love of God over love of neighbor. Based on these observations, this paper suggests Ahn Changho’s Confucian reappraisal of Christian love as an alternative to the dominant views of Augustine’s notion of love in South Korea, by investigating his view of filial piety as mutual love with respect to the possible implications of Augustine’s notion of love for shaping or consolidating civic friendship beyond brotherly commonality in Christianity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Augustine and East Asian Thoughts)
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