What is philosophy, based on Augustine's City of God, Bk. VIII, ch.5?

Philosophy for Augustine based on book VIII, chapter 4 of “City of God” is knowing the one true God.  It is the God that is outside of the empirical nature.

In this chapter, Augustine discusses the demons that bear a god’s name that are worshipped by the people. Augustine states that the people should not be deceived by these gods for they are not the real God. He called these so called theologies of the fake God as fabulous and civil theology.

Fabulous theology and civil theology are these theologies pertaining to the gods that are defined through human terms. He stated that the gods contained in here deceives people into doing impure acts that are caused by impure desires. What they offer is letting people desire for earthly pleasures which for Augustine are not the rites suited for the true God.

The gods that was discussed are not the real God because according to Augustine, they are placed under the scale of nature. Meaning, they are boxed in the context of the empirical nature. They are not the real God for him because he believes that the one true God is not the same as man. He has different characteristics that does not resemble to man and to the nature that surrounds the man.

Augustine explained this through using the examples of the Roman gods which were pictured to have the same physical aspects of man and through the Stoics claim that the fire was the maker of all things. He said that these examples are not a picture of the one true God. God is not boxed and is not defined through the context of man and nature. These supposedly gods are not the real God because they were enslaved by the body which is vulnerable. He argues that God is beyond these things.

For Augustine, God is unchangeable.  He does not possess a body and is beyond man’s imagination. He is a soul which is neither one of the four elements and is distinct from the human soul. He is not composed of the earthly or worldly aspects for the earthly aspects change through time and this attribute would be not appropriate to refer to the divine nature. God does not change and is changed by nothing.

Philosophy for Augustine is knowing the one true God. He is not the God that takes the human form. He is not described in terms of human condition. Augustine warns the people to not be deceived by the demons that bear the name of a god for they would not lead to knowing the real God and they would only let them do crimes that are against the will of the real God. Augustine’s God is beyond human terms and is unchangeable. He does not possess the characteristics of the world that are subject to change.

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Source:

Schaff, P. (1896). Augustine on Ancient Philosophy (M. Dods, Trans.).

      In Klima, G., Allhoff, F., & Vaidya, A. (Ed.). Medieval

      Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary

      (pp. 34-36). Blackwell Publishing: Australia.