《懺悔錄》中之愛的三部曲：自我之愛、鄰人之愛、上帝之愛

The Three Loves in Confessions: Love of Self, Love of Neighbor and Love of God

作為一個新典範的開啟者，奧古斯丁（St. Augustine，AD354－430）生活在古羅馬帝國的晚期，這正是基督教信仰與古希臘思想的碰撞時代，是西方文明重大的轉折期。這位中世紀教父時代最偉大的思想家，集所有教父思想之大成，其學說，不是以理論的方式表達，而是將希臘哲學的理與信仰基督的情，與自身的生活和生命結合一起。他採取的是向內探索的路徑（向內探索一方面是理論的知識，另一方面則是實踐的德行），而向內探索的最大成果，便是理解到「愛」的誡命，不但體會出「我的重量就是我的愛」，並且知道獲得幸福的唯一道路就是「愛」。可以說，基督教之於奧古斯丁而言，是他體驗到無上恩典的根源，在其皈依後的新生命中，所要追求的便是天主的愛。對他來說，人作為萬物之靈全繫於愛，科學和知識不能使人成善，唯愛才成。本文主要是以奧氏的名著《懺悔錄》為主，所欲探討的不是奧古斯丁與女人間轟轟烈烈、纏綿悱惻、若即若離的愛情故事，而是他在情字這條路上，對於「愛」的昇華與超脫，所展現出的信仰思路的歷程，其中所顯露出的三種不同愛觀，依著對愛的提昇層次而產生由低至高的等級，分別為：自我之愛（love of self）、鄰人之愛（love of neighbor）和上帝之愛（love of God）；並藉此三種不同的愛觀，說明奧氏一生追尋天主之愛的三部曲。對基督宗教而言，可視為靈修學（spiritual theology）的方法之一，也是本文所欲彰顯的一條以「愛」為主的修行之路。

Being a pioneer of a new paradigm, St. Augustine (AD354-430) lived in the late of the Roman Empire, when was the time for both Greek philosophy and Christian theology collided. It was a very important turning point for Western culture. Augustine, one of the greatest philosophers in the Middle Age, was considered as a 'compressed pile of all Fathers of the Church.' His theory was not expressed by theory, but by means of combining both Greek reason and Christian faith together with his own life experience. He took an inner-ward approach to the God, this kind of the approach included both the theoretical acknowledgement and the truly virtue for practice. Through this method, the most fruit Augustine ultimately acquired was the commandment of the love － Not only 'my love is my weight' but also the only pathway to attain a happy life is through the love. For Augustine, after he perceived the gracious gift from the God and converted to Christianity, his life's goal was in search of the love of God. For him, human beings as the master of all creatures was inspired by love, not science or knowledge. What I hope to accomplish in this essay is to draw Augustine's notion of love in Confessions, not the romance or passionate love story between men and women, but the transcendent love between human-divine relationships on his religious way to God. According to Augustine, there were three kinds of love revealed, which were classified from lower degree to higher one: love of self, love of neighbor and love of God. The trilogy of love that Augustine had spent his life on could be illuminated by means of comprehending these three kinds of love. From the different perspectives of 'Love' the ascendant and purified way for Augustine to pursue God's love can be illustrated. This is considered one of the methods to acquire spiritual theology, as well as the 'Love' road to practicing religion this article intends to manifest.