Want to Understand Aquinas? Start with Augustine | An Interview w/ Dr. Chad Engelland

Today, I'm joined at the bar table by Dr. Chad Engelland of the University of Dallas to discuss St. Augustine and his most classic work, "The Confessions."

St. Thomas Aquinas held St. Augustine in high esteem. In fact, if you think Aquinas quoted Aristotle frequently, then just check out how many times he quotes Augustine!! So, if you want to understand Aquinas, then one of the first things you can do is better understand St. Augustine. Dr. Engelland is an expert on Augustine, and "The Confessions."

This episode is special to me, because next week, we'll start a 7-part video series on Augustine's "Confessions," exclusively for Patrons. Scroll down for a link to my Patreon page, where you can become a Patron and get access to this 7-part series.

So join us for an extremely interesting discussion on THE BOOK, Dr. Engelland says, you should read (aside from the Bible) if you're a Christian.

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This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show.

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[pintswithaquinas]

Hi All! Here's The timestamps for the episode!

00:00 Introduction
03:16 Interview Starts
04:30 Why Dr. Engelland went into philosophy
07:37 Should Catholics be afraid of phenomenology?
11:42 On Aquinas and Augustine
15:12 What's so great about St. Augustine?
16:35 What was it like to live through a societal collapse for Augustine?
20:04 The Confessions
24:40 What does Augustine mean by "the Heart?"
32:22 The Cheerful Drunken Beggar
35:11 How we distract ourselves: Pascal and the Lockdown
42:09 Prayer as de-centering
44:38 EVERYBODY needs to read the Confessions!
46:56 "Understanding Our Stories"
50:33 What's the best translation of the Confessions?
51:50 What can we learn from Augustine about the collapse of society?
55:11 Dr. Engelland's opinion on the University of Dallas
56:53 Outro

[teresalinn]

That’s my professor! The University of Dallas is

[eduardobarreira]

Hi Matt Fradd, I'm from Brazil. Here in Brazil there are many viewers of your channel. Put subtitles in Portuguese, Portuguese, this will greatly increase your reach in Brazil. Brazil, Mexico and the USA are the countries with the largest Catholic populations in the world.
God bless You. Thank you very much.🙏🏻👍🏻

[EC-rdys]

Wow! Had him for a college class. Can't wait!
You should see if you can get Dr. Jonathan Sanford from UD on here too. Basically everything he says is amazing.

[luisjuarez]

Was blessed to take one of my philosophy classes with Dr. Engelland! I will take him next semester, God-willing!

[sandragoss]

I have been very sensitive throughout my life, thus feel very deeply of what is going on around me. During this pandemic my prayer, contemplative life has expanded which increases my awareness of the blowing of the Holy Spirit, calling us to change our ways. Mother Mary aid us in our journey through these dark times!

[AndrewTheFrank]

I have a method for prayer so that it doesn't feel like vain repetition but rather evokes a lot of emotion from me. And that is often declaring vocally as to what I am meditating upon for the prayer.

An example would be something like "the first joyful mystery, The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. For this mystery I meditate on the obedience to the will of God." And then for the our Father I attempt to think bout the mystery directly and for each of the Hail Marys I attempt to think of 10 different ways of where I either fail at this task or how I can improve it in my life. That is i make the prayer and meditation personal and I vocalize it all so as to make it more concrete in my mind, body and soul.

Another example is that you can do invocations or ejaculations as prayers that wrap up a bundle of Hail Mary prayers. And then you can choose a number of Hail Marys that equates to something significant in the Faith. Such as 3 for the 3 persons of God, or the 3 Theological Virtues. Or you can choose 7 and for each profess your full belief in the seven sacraments. Or you could choose 12 and meditate upon the 12 articles of Faith from the Apostles Creed or the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Praying isn't hard in this manner and it can make a short and simple prayer become very emotionally impactful as you reaffirm your faith in a very real and intimate conversation with God. And make sure to get rid of all your distractions because it is in silent contemplation that we can often hear God the best.

[zita-lein]

This whole show was fantastic! Definitely signing up for the course. God bless your work, and remember to just stop now and then to let your heart fill up with love and wordlessly turn to God with thanksgiving. Even if your resting in that place only lasts 15 seconds, that mutual glance is a little gift you can give to Him who loves you infinitely. It’s a 15-second retreat where it’s just you and Him. And it is good.

[titamaegli]

Loved it! Hi Matt... Thanks for keeping up the good work. God Bless!

[ibnfiktur]

It's a shame that it's not more accessible or widely printed, but Augustine's "Exposition of the Pslams" is just a wonderful addition to any prayer life. This video mentions Aquinas' debt to Augustine due to Aquinas' frequent citations. Augustine's great debt is clearly to the Psalter.

[kathyoleen]

Thank you 🙏 loved your reading Matthew, beautiful. I try to express this love and desire for God to my children and I so fail. I can’t wait to learn more.

[carniedph]

ohhhh i bet this one's gonna be good.

[zenbum]

Excellent discussion. But I long to reach across the Internet and adjust the good doctor's glasses, for they are askew.

[jimnewl]

It's not a matter of how often St. Thomas quotes someone, whether it's Augustine, Aristotle, Maimonides, or Averroes. The key to understanding Aquinas is absorbing Aristotle's philosophy and making it one's own first. The reason is that St. Thomas finds in it the True Philosophy and therefore uses it exclusively in his reasoning. That is to say, he doesn't just quote Aristotle. He actually thinks like him (corrected, of course, where necessary). If you want to understand St. Thomas, then, which is a far different thing from simply being able to quote him or cite his conclusions, you need to make his thought your own, and if you want to make his thought your own you have to make Aristotle's thought your own first.

It's true, however, that St. Thomas is a theologian, not a philosopher, and as such his purpose is the proper interpretation of Sacred Scripture. That's what his aim is in the Summa Theologica especially: to teach men how to interpret Scripture inerrantly, and in so doing to show that what the Church teaches is precisely in accord with that. In pursuit of that theological aim, it is St. Augustine's words that he most often has recourse to. Why? Because St. Augustine was a master theologian and possessor of the truth himself. Consequently, he has great authority in the Church, such that his agreeing with you means something.

So to the extent that you mean St. Augustine helps one to understand St. Thomas because he almost invariably agrees with St. Thomas, you're right. It could hardly be otherwise. But if you mean it will help one to understand St. Thomas' principles regarding, say, Being and Essence, well, not so much.

[brianamend]

Augustine expounds upon what meant by the heart in The Trinity. There he says that man is composed of intellect, will, and memory. He defines each of these. What he calls memory is much more like imagination because it allows for projection into the future and reassembly of affections and images into different situations. The anthropology of The Trinity is that man is only fully himself when intellect, will, and memory are together united in a trajectory towards the Triune Creator of whom they are an image.

[alissonferreira]

Hello Matt Fradd, promote the canonization of Popes Blessed Pius IX and Pope Leo XIII, Pope Benedict XV, Pope Gregory XVI, Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII. These six popes were splendid. Pope Leo XIII was a great pope. Pope Leo XIII did a magnificent pastoral and doctrinal work in the Holy See. The Pope Benedict XV strongly valued Pope Leo XIII's lines of action and put them into practice. Pope Benedict XV published the encyclical SPIRITUS PARACLITUS. Pope Leo XIII could be called "the Great", just like Pope St. John Paul II. This will help to revitalize the Church. Try to help with your influence to awaken private devotion to those holy popes who need to be canonized one day. In order for Catholics to wake up to the treasure that represents the ecclesial magisterium of these popes.Thank you very much for your zeal for the Holy Roman Apostolic Catholic Church. Thank you very much for your Catholic apologetic apostolate. God bless you and your family and friends.Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
Saint Augustine, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for the USA.
Our Lady of Guadalupe pray for Latin America and Europe.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us.

[jeremydavie]

I have the Maria Boulding translation!

[amakandubisi]

Where are you going to in Africa @MattFradd? Please please say Nigeria!!! :)

[sharonmegaffin]

What is the best translation of st. Augustine

[MajorasTime]

Please set up a debate with Jay Dyer. That guy seems unstoppable and a threat to Catholicism.