Augustine On Human Souls And The Cure Of Souls

Augustine,as the greatest Bishop of Hippo,was also the master of patristic philosophy.Not only did he have a lofty position in theological beliefs,but he also pioneered philosophical topics such as free will,soul ascension,and spiritual structure,and he was called "the first modern man." Augustine’s adept at combining his life experience with theological ideas,and his concern for the human soul is second only to the understanding of God,so his writings on the soul are particularly noteworthy.Augustine’s writings express to varying degrees his belief in the conception of the soul.As far as the definition of the soul is concerned,he believes that the soul is not an extensive spiritual entity,and the spirit can be the highest part of the soul,so the spirit can also be called the mind,that is,the human reason and intellectual ability.In the Confessions,he describes his own journey of redemption of the realization of one’s life and the turn of the soul;in The Trinity,he discusses the interaction of the Divine Trinity with the love of the Trinity of the soul and clarifies the relationship between spirit and flesh;in the Monologue he recognizes the extent to which man knows God in order to know the soul;and in On the Greatness of the Soul he argues the origin and nature of the soul.At the same time,he also proposed specific methods of soul healing on a practical level,in the hope that human beings can return to the original image of their souls.Augustine inherited the tradition of the doctrine of the soul in ancient Greek philosophy and developed a unique system of soul concepts and spiritual guidance methods in conjunction with the Christian faith.First,he makes a distinction between the soul,the mind,and the mind,but many times he also mixes the mind and the soul.Second,he discusses the three doctrines of the origin of the soul in early Christianity and the seven faculties of the soul.In addition,he expressed his views on the relationship between spirit and flesh,and talked about the problem of the repair of the soul and the problem of inner unity.The inner unity of the soul is discovered by the imitation of the mind for the Trinity of God,and the return to the Trinity of the Mind is essentially the pursuit of the supreme goodness of the soul.Finally,inspired by the relevant research results of Augustine’s scholarship,this paper expounds Augustine’s theory of soul healing and reviews the ancient tradition of soul healing.Soul therapy,also known as spiritual guidance,is a method of guiding people to understand wisdom through themselves and internalizing it,aiming to help people understand the abilities and inadequacies of their souls,and based on different soul states,through different thinking exercises and rhetorical techniques to adhere to the treatment.Augustine sought to heal and guide the soul through the goodness of rhetoric,and to restore its relationship in sacrament and love.