Cognite intrare?

[ahaley]

Does anyone have any reliable information on “cognite intrare”? I’ve found the following (or some variation thereof) online over and over, but never a solid source:

Saint Augustine’s cognite intrare (“lead them in”—i.e. “force them to convert”). Augustine’s frightening idea that all must be compelled to …

My Latin is rusty like an old pickup truck left outside in a Syracuse winter, but doesn’t “cognite” have something to do with knowledge or understanding and “intrare” deal with entering? As such, the phrase would mean something along the lines of “lead into knowledge”.

Is there some historical context that I’m missing? I find it suspicious that the only places I found information were (a) atheist websites and (b) anti-Christian Islamic websites.

God Bless,
Alan

 

[Julia_Mae]

enter to know

know to enter

To know, to understand, is to become part of. Or, to become part of is to know and understand. It’s Divine feedback!

Ignoring atheist Christian-bashing is always recommended in my opinion. These lies based on misinterpretation work because people are too lazy to look things up themselves and like believing whatever they are fed.

Of course, that works with Christians, too, quite often.

 

[DavidFilmer]

“Compel them to enter” is a quote from Luke 14:23:

[bibledrb]Luke 14:23[/bibledrb]
If you click on the helpful Latin Vulgate link, you will see that “compel them to enter” is “compelle intrare” in Latin.

However, Augustine did cite this passage in his Letter to Vincentius (Letter 93) as part of a lengthy discourse supporting compulsory conversion of Donatist heretics. These people might have goofed up their Latin, but the idea they are trying to express (that Augustine, at one time, supported compulsory conversion) is accurate:

For originally my opinion was, that no one should be coerced into the unity of Christ, that we must act only by words, fight only by arguments, and prevail by force of reason, lest we should have those whom we knew as avowed heretics feigning themselves to be Catholics. But this opinion of mine was overcome [by a list of circumstances] (#17)

 

[Contarini]

Does anyone have any reliable information on “cognite intrare”? I’ve found the following (or some variation thereof) online over and over, but never a solid source:

Saint Augustine’s cognite intrare (“lead them in”—i.e. “force them to convert”). Augustine’s frightening idea that all must be compelled to …

My Latin is rusty like an old pickup truck left outside in a Syracuse winter, but doesn’t “cognite” have something to do with knowledge or understanding and “intrare” deal with entering? As such, the phrase would mean something along the lines of “lead into knowledge”.

Is there some historical context that I’m missing? I find it suspicious that the only places I found information were (a) atheist websites and (b) anti-Christian Islamic websites.

God Bless,
Alan

Cogite, not cognite. It’s from cogo, cogere, coegi, coactus.

Augustine used “Old Latin” translations which may have rendered the Luke passage with cogo rather than compello.

Augustine did understand this to justify state coercion to bring schismatics back into the fold (not to convert heathen). However, he opposed the use of lethal force. Also, according to him the Donatist schismatics had their own armed thugs who were terrorizing people (I take such claims with a few pinches of salt, usually, so I’m not sure how much weight to put on that factor, but it’s part of the evidence that must be considered.)

Edwin

 

[Mintaka]

The Circumcellions of North Africa were indeed some kind of crazy bandits/street thugs. They claimed various non-orthodox beliefs, but mostly so that they could declare themselves to be attacking X or killing Y because they were impure. They also claimed to be trying to get martyred, by forcing others to fight them. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence that the Donatists supported them, but maybe they just wanted to spread some confusion. Anyway, they routinely ambushed travelers along the roads or attacked outlying houses and farms, including a place belonging to a bishop’s family.

It is of course possible that they sincerely were crazy fanatics.

 

[Ignatius]

enter to know

know to enter

To know, to understand, is to become part of. Or, to become part of is to know and understand. It’s Divine feedback!.

Exactly!