On the Triumphs and Limits of Platonism: A Trinitarian Account

Abstract

Beginning with Augustine’s remark that he discovered the Logos of God in the Platonists, I consider how a certain trinitarian sensibility is endemic to Platonism that might be particularly helpful for working out a trinitarian theology. In particular, the Platonic axiom that the Good is generative and self-diffusive, especially in its Plotinian form, where the Good is considered an infinite power of generation, represents a point of contact between the best of Neoplatonic metaphysics and orthodox trinitarian thinking. At the same time, however, the Platonic insight ultimately fails outside a trinitarian context, where alone the infinite goodness and power of God are secured. Special attention is given to Dionysius the Areopagite and Bonaventure both for showing the great link between Neoplatonism and trinitarian Christianity and for exposing the incoherence of the Platonic account without the requisite trinitarian translation and transformation.