Laela Zwollo: St. Augustine's trinitarian exploration of amor: how do we characterize Augustine as a "Christian Platonist"?

St. Augustine utilized numerous elements from Plotinus' philosophy to underpin his theology of the image of God, the imago trinitatis in De Trinitate. In spite of the fact that Augustine is continuously quoting scripture to explain the role of love in the development of the "image" (the intellect), his conception of amor has distinct parallels with Plotinus' notion of eros, especially when the image-intellect is depicted in the ascent to the divine.
How can the Plotinian influence in Augustine's doctrine of love in the imago trinitatis be accounted for? Especially in light of his explicit criticism of Platonist philosophy in book IV of De trinitate? Augustine's criticism (as well as his approbation) of Plotinian philosophy is often implicit - as can be detected in his teachings of love in his doctrine of the image of God from books VIII-X of De Trinitate. Are his Christian oriented teachings really "at tension" with those of his philosophical mentor Plotinus?