Our Great Father

ST. AUGUSTINE
OF HIPPO
13 November 354 – 28 August 430

Doctor of the Church | Bishop

Philosopher | Theologian
Friendship in the Light
of St. Augustine :
UNITY LEADING
TO COMMUNITY
 INTRODUCTION
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 It is absurd for someone to be without
friend. The human person is naturally
sociable in nature and this is exhibited
more in these modern times where there
are different kinds of associations,
coalitions and associations. It is also
usual to see welcoming ties within a
family and within academic, and religious
communities.
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 For St. Augustine of Hippo, friendship is
one of the most indispensable life’s
possession.

Friendship is at the core of human

existence

“… what could make me happier than

to love and be loved”
(Confessions II, 2; III, 1)
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 Here in LCUP, as an Augustinian school,
we value true friendship above all other
core achievements within the school.
To live friendship is to live as one with
each other in truth and love. It is Unitas,
Veritas, Caritas. We value true friendship.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 In Augustine’s life there are many stories
of friendship but his book Confessions is
not a story of those friendships –
Confessions, his best known book, is a
story of how he comes to understand the
mirror relationships of friendship with
one another in terms of our relationship
with God.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 THE IMPORTANCE OF
FRIENDSHIP TO AUGUSTINE
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 Few people in human history have lived
friendship as intensely as Augustine did.
Throughout his life he was a person who
could not live without friends: to "love
and to be loved was the sweetest thing to
me" (Confessions, 3, 1, 1). Augustine
stated that there are two things
necessary for "life in this world: health
and a friend" (Sermon 229, D, 1).
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 Friendships were for him of supreme
importance. He always lived with an
attitude of openness to others. Among
other things, his Confessions is a history
of his friendships, some bad
(Confessions, 2, 4, 7-9, 17) and others
good although simply human
(Confessions, 6, 7, 11-16, 26).

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 Some of his friendships - like that with
Alypius - matured and acquired a
different character; they acquired an
eternal quality that was founded in his
Christian faith. In as far as Augustine
came closer to God, his concept and
practice of friendship became deeper
and deeper.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

This was especially so even at the point
of his converting to the Christian faith,
when he thought that the ideal
Christian living would be to dwell with
his friends in community, having
everything in common, and in calm
leisure to the study the Bible.
(Confessions, 6, 14, 24).

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 Later in his life, Augustine continued
living this vision of friendship with those
who shared community life in the
monasteries he founded, and with
those who, like himself, were called to
be church leaders in North Africa:
Alypius, Possidius and Evodius.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

He maintained to the end of his life his
natural clannishness as an African. As a
number of his close friends at Hippo
were called by the Church to become
bishops of other dioceses, his circle of
face-to-face friends grew smaller, and
this was one of the great trials of his
life.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 In Letter 84, he reflected, "But when
you yourself begin to have to surrender
some of the very dearest and sweetest
of those whom you have reared to the
needs of churches located far away
from you, then you will understand the
pangs of longing that stab me on losing
the physical presence of friends united
to me in the most close and sweet
friendship."
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 "There is no greater consolation than
the sincere loyalty and mutual love of ...
true friends" (City of God, 447). God
was at the core of friendship for
Augustine.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 THE SIGNS OF GOOD
FRIENDSHIP
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 Friendship can be a key human
component in our growth towards God.
Of everything that exists in the natural
world, Augustine held that only true
friendship could lead one to God. He
saw friendship as a relationship
between two people, one that was
based on love, leading each friend to
work for the other's happiness.
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
Friendship is an image of the love of God
for us, according to Augustine, since
authentic and generous friendship
mirrors the love that Christ showed for us
on the Cross, and which He described
teaching that "no greater love can one
have than to lay down one's life for one's
friend" (John 15:13).

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

"For what else is friendship but this?
It gets its name from love alone, is
faithful only in Christ, and in him
alone can it be eternal and happy."
(Against Two Pelagian Letters 1, 1).

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 "I know that I can safely entrust my
thoughts and considerations to those
who are aflame with Christian love and
have become faithful friends to me. For I
am entrusting them not to another
human, but to God in whom they dwell
and by whom they are who they are."
(Letter 73, 3).

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

THE GOAL OF FRIENDSHIP
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 It is a common notion that the Great
Father Augustine’s understanding of
friendship is inspired by both Neo-
Platonism and Cicero. Augustine utilized
these ideas as spring board and
absolutely further new Christian
I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that
viewpoints to them. are wise and very beautiful; but I have never
read in either of them: Come to me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 From Neo-Platonism came two ideas of
the goal of friendship. The first idea is
that one sees in the friend an image of
the Beautiful which one’s soul longs for.
(Phaedrus, 250-251; Symposium, 210-212).

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 The second perspective of the goal of
friendship adopted from Neo-Platonism
comes from the Lysis which states that
the main goal of friends is to endeavour
together for ideas. This goal is regarded
as extrinsic to either of them in
friendship. As long as the friend is there
to help me attain knowledge, he is useful.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 From these two ideologies of the goal of
friendship one can define a friend as that
person in whom one treasures the image
of that Beauty which one is seeking or
that person who strives for the same
thoughts or philosophies.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 St. Augustine adopts the neo-platonic
idea of friendship as helping each other
seek knowledge. No matter how moral
the ultimate reason/object is, it is still not
the friend that is loved in essence.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 Augustine’s idea of friendship was
enormously influenced by Cicero. Cicero
defined friendship in this way:

“Now friendship is nothing other than

the most complete agreement on all
points divine and human, combined
with goodwill and love”
(De Amicitia, VI, 20)

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 Augustine’s version of the Ciceronian
idea of friendship displays a departure
and advancement from his neo-platonic
expressions. At least, in this later
perspective, the friend is considered to
be important, and not just what one can
get from or through the friend.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

SOME CHARACTERISTICS
OF FRIENDSHIP
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 For St. Augustine, it is not all forms of
union, camaraderie, and companionship
that can be considered as true
friendship. Informed by his individual
real experience of friendship, Augustine
believes that certain forms of friendship
are either incomplete or fake.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 Having discovered Christ, he became
critical of certain forms of friendship. He
was committed, after this conversion that
true friendship has to include God and
exclude evil and selfishness.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 RECIPROCAL LOVE AND COMMITMENT
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 For Augustine true friendship must
include love, and this love must be
mutual. Friendship is a very distinct type
of love, the reciprocal love of one
person for another. (Van Bavel, 1980)
The spirit of friendship, therefore, in the
thinking of Augustine, is a reciprocal
love that is based on the sharing of the
same commitment.
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 SELF-TRANSCENDENCE
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 Friendship is self-transcending in the
sense that the person has to look outside
himself as he engages into a friendship.
The other person has lots of value that
one may not know at the beginning, that
is why it is important to give ample time
for friendship to flourish and grow.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 ENTAILS TRUST
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 There has to be trust that the love one
contributes in friendship will be
reciprocated by the person to whom
one exhibits that love. In the love of
friendship reciprocity destroys fear and
provides certainty and security
(Letter 192, 1)

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 It is in this state that the persons in
friendship can “become one”.
Augustine actually labels his friend as
his “Other Self”:
“As you are my other self, what better
topic of conversation could there be,
than one already held with myself?”
(Letter 38, 1)

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 CONCLUSION
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
 Augustine’s understanding of friendship
is very tangible and very human. He
does not over-spiritualize the concept
of friendship nor does he treat it as
something totally ordinary and without
the help of God. He gives a very
important place to friendship in life
existence.
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
It is not astounding, therefore, that the
spirituality of St Augustine is centred
on a special form of friendship called
community life. We cannot totally
associate friendship with community
life though, because within a
community of friends, some sort of
bond can be found.

Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY

 Our society that is complete with strife,
suspicion, rancour, unhealthy
competition and different forms of
wickedness is in need of love, but
desperately needs more of friendship.
In other words, following Augustine’s
understanding of friendship, we need
more of reciprocal and mutual love than
a grudging love of our enemies.
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY
Friendship in the Light of St. Augustine : UNITY LEADING TO COMMUNITY