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Chapter 14 - SEEING GOD AS HE IS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2009

David Pratt
Affiliation:
Downing College, Cambridge
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Summary

Justly compared with the Froferboc, the remaining text in the royal corpus offers no less an expression of learned ambition. The version of Augustine's Soliloquia confirms the scope of royal learned resources, raising many questions of their deployment. The source-text held a distinctive place, as a product of Augustine's early Neo-Platonism; royal handling extended far beyond translation, to imaginative re-composition. Only Book I was rendered in anything approaching its entirety. Book II followed the substance of Augustinian claims, but with much independent argument; whereas the Latin text was unfinished, the vernacular version added a third section effectively ‘completing’ Augustine's text. There can be no single explanation for these complex manoeuvres; as with the Consolatio, much hinged on esoteric aspects of Latin philosophy. The Soliloquia offered a further instance of Christian Neo-Platonic dialogue. The nature of divine knowledge, the status of truth, the immortality of the soul: all found extensive treatment in soothing steps of wise comprehension. Surpassing even Boethius in intensity of dialectic, Augustine's philosophy maximized man's capacity for understanding while restricting its practical attainment. Not only was the dialogue incomplete; Augustine had soon abandoned Neo-Platonism, offering revised, scriptural positions in later writings.

The royal version took full account of the text's problematic status, while reorienting its implications towards contemporary priorities. The translation assigned limits to all earthly understanding, in accordance with later Augustinian pronouncement; the ‘completed’ text left enlightenment to the afterlife alone. Royal argumentation matched this framework with arguments appropriate to earthly need.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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  • SEEING GOD AS HE IS
  • David Pratt, Downing College, Cambridge
  • Book: The Political Thought of King Alfred the Great
  • Online publication: 06 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511495595.015
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  • SEEING GOD AS HE IS
  • David Pratt, Downing College, Cambridge
  • Book: The Political Thought of King Alfred the Great
  • Online publication: 06 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511495595.015
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • SEEING GOD AS HE IS
  • David Pratt, Downing College, Cambridge
  • Book: The Political Thought of King Alfred the Great
  • Online publication: 06 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511495595.015
Available formats
×