The few and the many : a motif of Augustine’s controversy with the Manichaeans
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Authors
Hoffmann, Andreas
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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AOSIS OpenJournals
Abstract
It is one fundamental conviction of ancient philosophy that, in contrast to the vast majority, only
few are able to gain knowledge of truth. This axiom, which also underlies Cicero’s Hortensius,
is adapted by the young Augustine. When looking for a concept of truth that combines the
ideal of a philosophical existence with Christianity, he decides to join the Manichaeans.
As opposed to the ‘mainline church’ of the catholica in which ‘the many’ are gathered, the
Manichaeans appear to him as a small, elitist Christian community meeting higher intellectual
as well as ethical demands. This claim seems to be particularly and impressively confirmed
by the ‘pauci electi’. Their approach has apparently strengthened Augustine’s belief that true,
higher Christianity is to be found amongst the Manichaeans. When he later devotes himself to
the catholica and leads the fight against the Manichaeans, Augustine adheres to the conviction
of the ‘few wise’. Also within the catholica only few attain maximum insight and lead an
appropriate life. At the same time, however, Augustine increasingly considers ‘the many’
as positive. These two aspects are combined in his epistemological concept of ‘auctoritas’: by
means of their auctoritas, the few ‘wise’ within the Catholic Church are supposed to guide the
many towards truth on their journey of faith and cause them to improve their moral conduct.
Its big success is a major argument for the catholica, whilst the ‘paucitas’ of the Manichaeans
(and all heretics) can be considered evidence of the groundlessness and absurdity of
their doctrine.
Description
Contribution to ‘Augustine
and Manichaean Christianity’,
the First South African
Symposium on Augustine of
Hippo, University of Pretoria,
24−26 April 2012. Dr Andreas
Hoffmann is participating
as research fellow of Prof.
Dr Hans van Oort, Professor
Extraordinarius in the
Department of Church History
and Polity of the Faculty of
Theology at the University of
Pretoria, Pretoria,
South Africa.
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Keywords
Manichaeans, Augustine
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Hoffmann, A., 2013, ‘The few and the many: A motif of Augustine’s controversy with the Manichaeans’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 69(1), Art. #1923, 6 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/10.4102/hts.v69i1.1923