Unearthing Evidence for St. Augustine’s Racial Blackness and Paralleling Augustine’s Christian Mystical Religion to Traditional African Religion’s Mysticism
Dillon Cook
Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies July 23, 2025 DOI: 10.15365/sst.2025.5908 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that Augustine of Hippo was a Black African Indigenous person rather than the white European or Roman figure of conventional depiction, and that Augustine's Christian mysticism may be syncretistic with Traditional African Religion's mystical elements. The author presents the first claim as a compelling case lacking epistemic certainty, and answers yes to the syncretism question while exploring how it manifests. |
Abstract
This article undertakes two projects rendering significant ramifications for philosophy/theology, if my assertions are correct. First, the philosopher/theologian known as St. Augustine of Hippo is most saliently recognized as a “white man”; if not a white man, “a European”; if not European, “a man of Rome”; or “Mediterranean”; etc. Outside the intellectual sphere, this is how he is often depicted in art, Penguin Classic books, and so on. Yet ironically, images of Augustine rarely circulate, if at all, as a Black-African-Indigenous person. Was Augustine nonwhite? Evidence is rendered that this is indubitably the case. Could Augustine have been modernly categorized as “Black?” Though I have immense and strong inclinations for asserting his Black-Africanness, they lack epistemic certainty, as does a project of inductive/abductive reasoning. However, despite traditional consensus, a compelling case is presented for Augustine’s racial Black-Africanness, even though it is complicated by his pursuit of “romanitas” with imperial Rome (the imperialists of the African Indigenous and continent). After ample evidence is given, a prima facie acceptance of Augustine’s Blackness is asserted. This opens the second project. Second, with this newfound understanding of Augustine as an Indigenous-Black-African alongside his status as a philoso-pher/theologian/mystic, a question arises of whether Augustine’s Christian mysticism/mystical elements could be syncretistic with Traditional African Religion’s (TAR) mysticism/mystical elements. From the outset, this seemed unlikely. As the project continued, the likelihood increased. The answer to the question is “Yes,” there is a “religious syncretism” but “what is it” and “how does it manifest?” Complicating matters, TAR is fungible with Indigenous philosophy or “African philosophy,” and the hidden epistemic/semantic landmines concerning this will be elaborated. These two projects as an aggregate, (while early in stage) if correct, will have the charged potential to be meaningful for oppressed peoples and restorative justice and will also have meaningful ramifications for philosophy and theology.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |