The City of God · Chapter
Of the knowledge by which the holy angels know God in His essence, and by which they see the causes of His works in the art of the worker, before they see them in the works of the artist explained
Augustine explains that holy angels know God not through audible words but through the presence of immutable truth, the only-begotten Word of God.
What happens
Augustine explains that holy angels know God not through audible words but through the presence of immutable truth, the only-begotten Word of God. They understand the Trinity as one substance and know creatures better in God's wisdom than in themselves, possessing a 'noonday' knowledge in God and a 'twilight' knowledge in themselves. This distinction is illustrated by examples such as geometric forms and justice, and by the works of creation, which when referred to the Creator's praise, bring a dawning light to the mind.
Themes in this chapter
True Worship and the One God
The angels' knowledge of the indivisible Trinity and their adoration of the Creator exemplify true worship.
Sin, Grace, and Redemption
The distinction between noonday and twilight knowledge implies the fallibility of creaturely understanding, contrasting with the perfect knowledge of God.
Characters to notice
- Augustine
Author and expositor of the knowledge of angels and the Trinity.
- Jesus Christ
Referred to as the only-begotten Word of God, through whom angels know the Father and the Holy Spirit.
- Holy Scripture
Referenced implicitly in the account of creation (firmament, waters, plants, animals, man).
Key passages
“Those holy angels come to the knowledge of God not by audible words, but by the presence to their souls of immutable truth, i.e., of the only-begotten Word of God; and they know this Word Himself, and the Father, and their Holy Spirit, and that this Trinity is indivisible, and that the three persons of it are one substance, and that there are not three Gods but one God; and this they so know, that it is better understood by them than we are by ourselves.”
The angels know God directly through the eternal Word, not through speech, and they understand the Trinity as one God, three persons, more clearly than we understand ourselves.
Augustine emphasizes the superior, intuitive knowledge of angels compared to human self-knowledge.
“For there is a great difference between knowing a thing in the design in conformity to which it was made, and knowing it in itself—e.g., the straightness of lines and correctness of figures is known in one way when mentally conceived, in another when described on paper; and justice is known in one way in the unchangeable truth, in another in the spirit of a just man.”
There is a major distinction between understanding something through its eternal pattern and understanding it through its physical or temporal manifestation, as with geometric forms or justice.
Augustine uses analogies to illustrate the difference between divine and creaturely knowledge.