چيستي و اقسام مرگ در آثار آگوستين قديس

The Nature and Varieties of Death in the Works of Saint Augustine

مرگ يكي از ناگشوده­ترين رازهايي است كه انسان با آن روبه‌روست؛ بنابراين همواره جز دغدغه­هاي دانشمندان بزرگ و آموزه­هاي اصلي اديان الهي بوده است. آگوستين از بزرگاني است كه درباره مرگ و چيستي آن انديشيده و سخن گفته است. در تعريف آگوستين از مرگ با يك تعريف معين روبه‌رو نيستيم. وي فيلسوفي افلاطوني است؛ بنابراين مرگ را جدايي نفس از بدن مي­داند؛ ولي در جايگاه يك متكلم، مرگ را نتيجه گناه و دوري از خدا مي­داند. در آثار آگوستين براي مرگ طبيعي و مرگ ارادي كه در زندگي خود وي ظهور بارزي دارد، ويژگي­هاي خاصي مي‌توان يافت. آگوستين كوشيده است تا چيستي و اقسام مرگ را بشناسد و بشناساند؛ با اين حال گفته­هاي او بيانگر ناتواني در شناخت اين معماي بزرگ هستي است و ناگزير آرزو مي­كند كاش آدم و حوا ما را در اين دنيا گرفتار اين مسيله نمي­كردند.

As one of the most unfathomable mysteries human beings encounter with, death has always been one of the main concerns of great scholars and one of the major teachings of monotheistic religions. Augustine is one of the great scholars who reflect upon and talk about death. Interestingly, we do not face with a particular definition of death in Augustine’s works. As a Platonic philosopher, he considers death as the separation of spirit from the body; As a Christian theologian, however, he opines that death is the consequence of sin and distance from God. In his works, one can find both some specific characteristics of natural death as well as characteristics of intentional death, which has an obvious manifestation in Augustine’s own life. Even though he endeavors to know and introduce the nature and varieties of death, his sayings signify his inability to the knowledge of this great existential enigma. It is why that he wishes Adam and Eve had not captivated us with this predicament.