116 | Human Reason and Divine Illumination

The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s Confessions

Human Reason and Divine Illumination

The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s
Confessions
(Razão Humana e Iluminação Divina: O
Conhecimento de Deus nas Confissões de
Agostinho)

Thiago Silva

Abstract: The question I ask is, according to Augustine, in what sense God provides
illumination for one to gain true knowledge of God, i.e., that knowledge that
enables one to enjoy and to love God? This essay attempts to demonstrate that
divine illumination in human mind is the basis for human true knowledge of God in
Augustine’s Confessions; i.e., without divine illumination, human reason can only
acquire a vague and incomplete notion of God’s existence, consequently, from
Augustine’s perspective, true natural theology is vague and incomplete if seen apart
from the framework of divine illumination. Since it is in his Confessions that Augustine
appeals constantly to the necessity of divine illumination in order to gain knowledge
of God’s truth, I will focus primarily on this specific work in order to understand
Augustine’s view of human reason and divine illumination and to demonstrate the
relation between divine illumination and human reason concerning knowledge of
God. Finally, I will provide some brief insights to the topic of natural theology.

Keywords: Augustine, Confessions, Human Reason, Divine Illumination, Knowledge.

Resumo: A pergunta que guia este artigo é, de acordo com Agostinho, em que sentido
a iluminação divina age na a razão humana a fim de que ela adquira o verdadeiro
conhecimento de Deus? É a tese deste artigo que, de acordo com as Confissões de
Agostinho, iluminação divina é a base para o verdadeiro conhecimento de Deus;
isto é, sem iluminação divina, a razão humana só é capaz de adquirir uma noção
vaga e incompleta da existência de Deus, mas o verdadeiro conhecimento de Deus
só é possível através da iluminação divina, consequentemente, da perspectiva de
Agostinho, a correta teologia natural é vaga e incompleta se compreendida fora da
realidade da iluminação divina. Este ensaio se concentra principalmente nas

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 Thiago Silva | 117
Confissões de Agostinho, com o objetivo de compreender a relação entre a razão
humana e a iluminação divina e demonstrar como essas duas realidades funcionam
ao adquirir conhecimento de Deus. Finalmente, o artigo oferece alguns insights
para a teologia natural.

Palavras-chave: Agostinho, Confissões, Razão Humana, Iluminação Divina,

Conhecimento.

1 INTRODUCTION

The attempt to know God and his attributes by human reason

alone has been a controversial issue among Christian scholars. There
are those who affirm and those who reject natural theology as a
source of knowledge of God. In modern theology, on the one hand,
scholars as William Paley, believed that it was possible to argue for
the existence of God from natural reason and nature alone.1 On the
other hand, Karl Barth is one strong opponent who denied natural
theology because for him, God does not reveal himself in nature, but
only in Jesus Christ.2 Yet, Augustine’s view on knowledge of God does
not align with either of these positions. As a man of balance, he does
not deny completely the human capacity to know God by reason, but
he does object the human capacity to gain true knowledge of God by
reason alone, without God’s intervention. In the 4th century Augustine
introduced the idea of divine illumination in his theory of knowledge,
and divine illumination plays a central role in his theory of knowledge,
and it has been a great tool for modern scholars who are studying and
writing on the influence of Augustine’s epistemology.3

1 William Paley. Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes

of the Deity. John Morgan: Philadelphia, 1802.
2 See: Church Dogmatics: A Selection (Bromiley. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1961);
Paul Jersild. “Natural theology and the doctrine of God in Albrecht Ritschl and
Karl Barth.” Lutheran Quarterly, v. 14, n. 3, p. 239-57, 1962; Bouillard, Henri;
Gerard Farley; Nicholas Fiorenza; and James E. A. Woodbury. “A dialogue with
Barth: the problem of natural theology.” Cross Currents, v. 18, n. 2, p. 203-28,
1968; Paul D. Molnar. “Natural theology revisited: a comparison of T.F. Torrance
and Karl Barth.” Zeitschrift Für Dialektische Theologie, v. 21, n. 1, p. 53-83, 2005.
3 See: Lydia Schumacher. Divine Illumination: The History and Future of Augustine's
Theory of Knowledge. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011; Lydia Schumacher.
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118 | Human Reason and Divine Illumination
The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s Confessions

Augustine’s doctrine of knowledge begins with the conviction

that there is such a thing as truth and that it is accessible to human
reason,4 however, the mind “needed to be open to the radiance of
another light in order to become a partaker in the truth.”5 Note that
he uses the term “partaker” because for him, to truly know God, in a
biblical sense, is more than just grasp some information about God’s
existence, but it is to enjoy him, to love his truth and to become a
participant in his life. In this paper, I am going to use the term
knowledge of God in this deeper and biblical sense.

That being said, for Augustine, divine light is what makes true
knowledge of God possible. Therefore, the question I ask is, according
to Augustine, in what sense God provides illumination for one to gain
true knowledge of God, i.e., that knowledge that enables one to enjoy
and to love God? It is the thesis of this essay that, divine illumination
in human mind is the basis for human true knowledge of God in
Augustine’s Confessions; i.e., without divine illumination, human
reason can only acquire a vague and incomplete notion of God’s
existence. Although Augustine believes that the rational investigation
in philosophy leads up to the revealed truth of faith, the complete
true knowledge of the triune God is only possible through divine

“The “Theo-Logic” of Augustine’s Theory of Knowledge by Divine Illumination.”

Augustinian Studies, v. 41, n. 2, p. 375–399, 2010; Lydia Schumacher. “Knowledge
by illumination: the grandeur of reason according to Augustine.” In: Grandeur of
reason: religion, tradition and universalism. London: SCM Pr, 2010. p. 417-431;
Rudolph Allers. “St. Augustine’s Doctrine on Illumination.” Franciscan Studies, v.
12, n. 1, p. 27-46, 1952; Marie-Anne Vannier. “Light and illumination in Augustine:
revisiting an old theme.” In: Studia patristica. Louvain: Peeters, 2010. p. 59-64;
Gareth B. Matthews.“Knowledge and illumination.” In: Cambridge companion to
Augustine. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. p. 171-185; Ronald
H. Nash. The Light of the Mind: St. Augustine’s Theory of Knowledge. Lexington,
KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 1969.
4 Ronald H. Nash. The Light of the Mind: St. Augustine’s Theory of Knowledge.
Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 1969. p.12.
5 Augustine. The Confessions: The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the
21st Century I/1. Trans. and annot. Maria Boulding. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press,
1997. p. 72. Future citations are indicated parenthetically in the text (e.g., conf.
4.15.25).
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 Thiago Silva | 119
illumination, consequently, from Augustine’s perspective, natural
theology is incomplete and will provide only a vague notion of God’s
existence if seen apart from the framework of divine illumination.

Since it is in his Confessions that Augustine appeals constantly

to the necessity of divine illumination in order to gain knowledge
of God’s truth, I will focus primarily on this specific work in order to
understand Augustine’s view of human reason and divine illumination
and to demonstrate the relation between divine illumination and
human reason concerning knowledge of God. Finally, I will provide
some brief insights to the topic of natural theology.

2THE LIMITS OF HUMAN REASON IN AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS

As it has already been said, Augustine’s theory of knowledge

begins with the conviction that there is truth, and this truth is accessible
to human reason. The theory of knowledge plays an important role
in Augustine’s thought, and in his Confessions, he clearly points that
knowledge of God is the most important knowledge that someone can
acquire, because it is the only knowledge that brings true happiness.
He writes, “unhappy is anyone who knows it all but does not know you,
whereas one who knows you is blessed, even if ignorant of all these”
(conf. 5.4.7). And this true knowledge of God that brings happiness
and blessings, according to Augustine, also results in glory to God and
thanksgiving to the Creator (Cf.: conf. 5.4.7).

For Augustine, the intellect plays a central role in a man’s belief

and knowledge, especially knowledge of God. In fact, it is through
reason that one can know and understand God’s truth. In other words,
the human capacity to use the intellect comes from God. Augustine
uses words such as persuasion, understanding, judgment, in order to
express the importance of human reason when we writes:

I was fully persuaded that your invisible reality is

plainly to be understood through created things, your
everlasting power also, and your divinity; for I had been
trying to understand how it was possible for me to
appreciate the beauty of material things in the sky or

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on earth, and why the power to make sound judgments

about changeable matters was readily available to me,
so that I could say, “this thing ought to be like this, but
that other different”; and in seeking the reason why
I was able to judge as I did I realized that above my
changeable mind soared the real, unchangeable truth,
which is eternal (conf. 7.17.23).

However, Augustine’s epistemology not only sees the

importance of human reason, but it also takes the reality of sin
into account. Due to his sinful nature, Augustine could not fully
comprehend God’s revealed truth in nature. His intellect functions
under the influence of sin, however, the knowledge that his sinful mind
acquires is vague and incomplete. He says, “I was swept off helplessly
after profitless things and borne away from you, my God… [and] to
be estranged in a spirit of lust, and lost in its darkness, that is what it
means to be far away from your face” (conf. 1.18.28). In fact, because
of his sinful nature, Augustine concludes that, “from the mud of my
fleshly desires and my erupting puberty belched out murky clouds
that obscured and darkened my heart until I could not distinguish the
calm light of love from the fog of lust” (conf. 2.2.2).

He describes it as if it his mind was in the dark, and all he could

see was the truth covered by fog. For Augustine, “the rational mind
itself is vicious, errors and wrong-headed opinions corrupt our life”
(conf. 4.15.25). He asks, “Who can teach me, except the One who
illumines my heart and distinguishes between its shadows?” (conf.
2.8.16). Augustine’ sinful human mind was insufficient and he needed
help to distinguish between the shadows and to truly know the truth,
and according to him, this help comes from this Light, this One who
illumines his heart, which is God himself.

Although Augustine understands that, even the sinful mind

could grasp something about God in philosophy and natural sciences,
by taking the reality of sin into account, he also believes that natural
human reason cannot fully and truly comprehend God. The knowledge
of God that comes through philosophy and nature is incomplete
because natural human mind has been affected, darkened and
corrupted by the Fall of Genesis 3. Therefore, according to Romans
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 Thiago Silva | 121
1:21, it can only inform humans of God’s existence so they are without
excuse, but again, it is a vague and incomplete information. Augustine
observes,

I turned to the nature of the soul, but here I was balked

by the false opinion which I held concerning spiritual
entities, and unable to discern the truth. Truth was
thrusting itself upon me, staring me in the face, but I
averted my trembling thought from incorporeal reality
and looked instead toward shapes and colors and
distended mass, and, since in the soul I could not see
these, concluded that I was not able to see the soul”
(conf. 4.15.24).

For Augustine, human reason is naturally corrupted by sin

and too weak to discern God’s truth, and it needs to be graciously
enlightened by an external source of light. Apart from this light,
human mind sees only shadow and has only a vague and incomplete
notion of God’s truth. As he writes, “we were weak and unable to find
the truth by pure reason” (conf. 6.5.8).

For Augustine, rational knowledge without divine illumination

can never be more than partial (conf. 13.12.13). Human reason without
divine illumination is incomplete. For this reason the concept of divine
illumination is important and central do Augustine’s epistemology.
He affirms, “whatever I understood… I understood because my swift
intelligence and keen wits were your gift; you know it, O Lord my
God” (conf. 4.16.30). In other words, for Augustine, divine illumination
is the necessary condition for all human understanding of God. His
understanding is that human mind achieves its full purpose regarding
knowledge of God when it rests in God who is the author of all reason
and all truth. God is the eternal Reason that enables human reason to
gain knowledge of God.

Augustine does not reject the value of human natural reason.

His belief is that reason must be cultivated to comprehend God and
his existence, and in fact, he acknowledges that pagan thinkers and
Platonists had deduced this reality of God’s existence, however,
their knowledge is vague and mixed with darkness. The knowledge
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The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s Confessions

provided by natural reason and natural sciences does not make one
a partaker of God’s truth. In order for one to experience the biblical
concept of knowledge, i.e., that kind of knowledge that makes one to
fully enjoy and to fully embrace and love God’s truth, one needs to be
illuminated by the divine light.

3 THE HELP OF DIVINE ILLUMINATION IN AUGUSTINE’S

CONFESSIONS

In his desire to truly know God’s truth, and knowing that by

his natural and sinful reason alone he could not do it, Augustine looks
inside of himself and prays, “Behold me here before you, O my God;
see that I do not lie. As I speak, this is the true state of my heart. You,
you alone, will light my lamp, O Lord; O my God, you will illumine
my darkness” (conf. 11.25.32). It was not enough to look only inside
the soul in order to find the truth, as the Neo-Platonists believed. As
Robert Crouse (FLITZGERALD; CAVADINI, 1999, p. 486) affirms, “the
source and guarantee of truth has to be sought beyond the soul, in
the light of the intelligible Sun, the Good, the divine light illuminating
the soul by its transcendent presence (conf. 7.10.16).” Therefore, this
divine light comes from an external source without human soul.

When referring to God in his Confessions, Augustine tends to

use the terms Truth, Light and Life interchangeably, and he found
the Truth when he experienced what he refers to as “Light” or “divine
illumination.” The concept of divine illumination is important and
central do Augustine’s epistemology, and he developed his doctrine
of divine illumination based on Plato’s analogy. Crouse claims that,
“just as for Plato the knowledge of truth involves the illumination,
by the Good, of both the seeing eye and the object seen, so also for
Augustine all things have their truth in God’s thinking of them… and
they are truly known only in the light of the eternal reasons, present
to the mind of the knower” (FLITZGERALD; CAVADINI, 1999, p. 486).
R.C. Sproul (2000, p. 58-59) writes, “as Plato argued that to escape
the shadows on the cave wall the prisoner must see things in the light
of day, so Augustine argued that… just as an external source of light
is needed for seeing, so an external revelation from God is needed for
knowing.”
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Divine illumination is then, the basis for human’s true
knowledge of God. Because natural human reason was darkened by
sin and is now insufficient, it needs to be enlightened by the divine
light in order to experience the joy of God’s truth. This revelatory light,
for Augustine, was a source of power and knowledge from outside
of himself that brought understanding and wisdom to his heart and
mind.

Augustine writes, “O God, you will illuminate my darkness and

from your fullness we have all received” (conf. 4.15.25). In other words,
for Augustine, God is not only the truth that must be known but he is
also the light through which one can see the truth. God is the ultimate
object that needs to be known, but he is also the one who enables
humans to know him. In God one finds both, the way to the truth and
the truth itself. Augustine asks, “who else calls us back from our every
death-dealing error but the Life that cannot die, the Wisdom who
enlightens our needy minds but needs no borrowed light itself, the
Wisdom who governs the whole world, even to the fluttering leaves
on the trees?” (conf. 7.6.8).

The intellect is, therefore, extremely important in Augustine’s

view, but it cannot gain true and complete knowledge of God apart
from the source of light, and in his attempt to know the force and
nature of time and the motions of creation, Augustine does not see
another alternative but to ask God for a complete understanding,
because God’s method was far beyond the capacity of his mind. He
says,

What method can you adopt for teaching what is

future, when to you nothing is future at all? Would it be
better to say that you teach what is present but has a
bearing on the future? Yes, because what does not exist
obviously cannot be taught. This method of yours is
far above the reach of my mind; it is too much for me
and of myself I cannot see it, but I will see it with your
help, when you grant me the gift, O gracious light of my
secret eyes” (conf. 11.19.25).

Therefore, for Augustine, divine illumination is the only way

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The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s Confessions

through which human minds can gain true knowledge of God and
embrace God’s truth. Apart from this source of light, knowledge is
partial and mixed with darkness. He says, “that the unchangeable
Light should be known by the changeable beings it illumines in the
same way as it knows itself” (conf. 13.16.19), and then he further
concludes, “so truly is the fount of life with you, that only in your light
will we see light” (conf. 13.16.19). But, in what sense God provides
illumination for humans to gain true knowledge of God?

Lydia Schumacher claims that, for Augustine, “being made

in God’s image means being made with the ability to do what God
does, which is simply know and make known the glory of God”
(SCHUMACHER, 2010, p. 384). But since human mind is finite and
affected by sin, it needs the light of God in order to know and make
known God’s glory. Therefore, Schumacher claims that Augustine
appeals to “illumination to illustrate the work of the human intellect
as the imago dei… recovering the cognitive capacity by regaining the
ability to use it for its proper purpose” (SCHUMACHER, 2010, p. 394).
According to Schumacher, divine illumination affects human ability
to think and understand, and it is through Christ that God enlightens
human minds enabling them to truly know him. As the sun enlightens
the world, so the world of human beings has its intelligible sun that
illuminates everything.

However, for Augustine, one does not receive light in

pure passivity of mind, as if the illumination consisted only of a
full presentation of the concepts of God. But in the process of
divine illumination, the human intellectual activity remains. God’s
illumination of one’s mind does not destroy the very action of the
human will, nor does it preclude the exercise of human’s mind activity.
According to Robert Pasnau, the theory of divine illumination is a “a
theory on which the human mind regularly relies on some kind of
special supernatural assistance in order to complete (some part of) its
ordinary cognitive activity” (PASNAU, 2015).

It is important to observe that, when Augustine speaks of divine

illumination, he is not speaking of biblical revelation alone, although
he says that human natural reason is weak and for this cause it needs
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 Thiago Silva | 125
the authority of Holy Scripture (Cf.: conf. 6.5.8). However, divine
illumination does not come only through Scripture. In his Confessions,
Augustine is also concerned with natural revelation, and how one can
grasp God’s truth in nature (Cf.: conf. 4.10.15; 4.12.18). Consequently,
for Augustine, divine illumination is certainly not the same thing as
Scriptural revelation and it is not restrict to the Bible. It is more a kind
of divine grace that illuminates the human mind that is darkened by
sin, enabling it to see and to love God’s truth.

Divine illumination, therefore, does not erase human intellect

itself; on the contrary, it assumes its existence. God does not replace
the intellect when a man thinks the truth; in fact, illumination only
have the function of making the intellect able to think properly due
to a natural order established by God. The power for reasoning and
understanding is the evidence that humans were created in God’s
image. Augustine writes, “we see humankind, made in your image
and likeness, set over all these irrational living creatures in virtue of
this same image and likeness to you, which resides in its reason and
intelligence…” (conf. 13.32.47).

Humans as rational beings are created in God’s image, and the

capacity to reason is essential part of this image. For Augustine, being
human is being rational, and divine illumination happens when God’s
light shine in one’s intellect making him to become a partaker of God’s
truth. According to Augustine, this divine work involves enlightening
people’s minds, restoring their capacity to reason and comprehend
God’s truth. For this reason, from Augustine’s point of view, reason
and God are not detached; knowledge and faith are not mutually
exclusive because they are both results of God’s illumination.

Without divine illumination, humans can grasp only a vague

notion of God’s existence, mixed with sin and darkness. From
Augustine’s perspective, the image of God in humans is explicitly
demonstrated by their ability to use the intellect, and if this image
of God is darkened by sin, the intellect cannot function properly. It is
only through God’s illumination that the intellect begins to function
properly, as it was created to be. Thus, this view of Augustine offers
important insights to the topic of natural theology.
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126 | The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s Confessions

4 BRIEF INSIGHTS TO NATURAL THEOLOGY BASED ON

AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS

The Augustinian theory of knowledge as seen in his Confessions

establishes that all true knowledge of God, in other words, the biblical
concept of knowledge; that kind of knowledge that enables one to
enjoy and to embrace God’s truth, is the result of a divine illumination
process, which enables man to contemplate the eternal archetypes
of all reality and to glorify God. In this process, the divine light cannot
be seen, but it serves to illuminate human mind and to provide true
knowledge of God. Therefore, according to Augustine, true knowledge
of God does not come naturally by reason alone, because natural
reason is darkened by sin. Without God’s light, humans see things in
the shadow, and their minds grasp very little. True knowledge always
presupposes God’s activity in revealing himself in close relationship
with human ability to reason and understand. Augustine writes, “O
Truth, illumination of my heart, let not my own darkness speak to
me! I slid away to material things, sank into shadow, yet even there,
even from there, I loved you. Away I wandered, yet I remembered
you” (conf. 12.10.10). When he was in darkness, Augustine heard God
calling him to return. In this process of knowing and embracing the
truth, it is God who always takes the initiative.

For Augustine, the reason is the powerful aid to find and make
the truth of God intelligible. But as it was seen in his Confessions,
human natural reason has its limits, and therefore, finite human
eyes cannot see the ultimate truth, and flawed human minds cannot
embrace and love the true knowledge of God. It can only grasp a vague
notion of his existence as stated in Romans 1:21. As Schumacher
claims, “unless God gives the capacity to know Him… there is no such
thing as knowledge at all. After all, there is nothing to see in the dark”
(SCHUMACHER, 2010, p. 399).

Augustine clings to divine illumination as the basis for a

correct knowledge of God by saying that one cannot became a
partaker of God’s truth without divine illumination. Therefore, this
essay claims that true natural theology is only complete also in light
of God’s illumination, because “all human understanding arises from
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 Thiago Silva | 127
this source” (MATTHEWS, 2006, p. 180). Given the limitations of
human minds, natural theology also has its limitations and it should
be properly understood within the framework of divine illumination. If
divine illumination is the basis for true knowledge of God, it must also
be the basis for a proper natural theology.

This essay argues that Augustine’s epistemology does not

deny natural theology, but sets some limitations to natural theology
that must be respected in order to have true knowledge of God.
Reason alone, darkened by sin, acquires only an insufficient notion
of God’s existence. Therefore, human reason needs a better help to
truly know God, and this help, according to Augustine, comes from
divine illumination enlightening the mind and enabling the intellect to
embrace and to enjoy God’s truth.

5 CONCLUSION

In his Confessions Augustine does not develop a systematic

theology of divine illumination, but he provides some insights
extremely important about his view of knowledge of God’s truth.
Augustine’s Confessions serves as a helpful tool for one to start
thinking about the knowledge of God in relation to the topic of natural
theology. This essay has argued that divine illumination is the basis
for human true knowledge of God based on Augustine’s Confessions;
i.e., without divine illumination, human reason can only acquire a
vague and incomplete notion of God’s existence, but true knowledge
of God is only possible through divine illumination. In order to become
a partaker of God’s truth, one must take into account the limits of the
sinful human reason and the necessity of divine illumination.

As the apostle James writes, “every good and perfect gift is

from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who
does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

Thiago Silva é pastor da Igreja presbiteriana. Mestre em teologia sistemática pelo

Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, Estados Unidos.

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The Knowledge of God in Augustine’s Confessions

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