386–430

Augustine: Neoplatonism, the Ascent to the Light and the Proof of God's Existence from Truth

In 386 Augustine became acquainted with the "Platonic books" (according to Hall, the writings of Plotinus): the mind can rise above the material world to Mind and further to the "One," or the "Good"; his doubts about evil were resolved by the view that being as a whole is perfect. He experienced a vision of the "unfading Light," and the idea that man was created to see God became the basis of his spirituality. From the understanding of truth Augustine derives the existence of God: the mind perceives unchanging truths that it did not create and cannot change, and the ground of all truth is God. According to González, this is not a strict "proof" but a pointer that contingent beings fall into absurdity if they do not acknowledge a necessary reality above themselves.