St. Augustine is considered one of the most profound popes that the Catholic Church has ever had, not only from his popular texts, but the fact that he unified members of the church, and up bring their mural at a turbulent time. St. Augustine was born in modern day Algeria(then part of the Roman Empire) in 354 AD. Eventually, near the age of 17-18, he travelled to Carthage to excel in his studies. Here, he met the future of the mother of his child, and remained with her for over fifteen years. Soon however, he eventually left his old hedonistic life behind to join the priesthood. This is when he would eventually start to write more of his popular work.
St. Augustine wrote many texts, reportedly up to one hundred. The most popular however
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This included stealing of his neighbors fruit for no other reason besides the fact that he wanted to commit the sin. Then he would boost about sleeping around with women even though he hadn’t because he wanted the attention. These experiences are how Augustine believed that humans were inclined towards original sin, and could only be saved from the grace of God. Next, in his work about the Holy Trinity, Augustine wrote about how the Holy Trinity was one substance, including the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and not separate. “This does not, however, make three gods or three creators. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are each one Person, and any person affirms himself for himself”(De Trin, VII, 11). Lastly, in the City of God, Augustine wrote that the fall of the Roman Empire was not at the hands of the Christians. In this, he also emphasized his original position on original sin, and include statements of good versus evil. Furthermore, Augustines work were vital to debating points in the first council that defined the Holy Trinity(First Council of Nicaea), set up by Constantinople. Augustine spent his final days in Hippo. Here, he carried out a miracle of curing a sick man. Apart from this however, he fell ill while Germanic Tribesmen called Vandals invaded the Roman Empire territory in Africa, and took over Hippo. Shortly after, he died from his illness on August 28th, 430(age 75)
Confessing his sins Augustine recalls the first sin that he can remember, thievery. As a boy Augustine “and some other wretched youths” had gone and stole pears from trees. Augustine himself having no need to steal out of poverty or hunger, as the boys end up disposing of the pears to pigs in the end (Augustine, 30). Augustine explaining that “I loved my sin - not the thing for which I had committed the sin, but the sin itself” (Augustine, 31). This task of thievery seeming to be trivial, is a significant obstacle as Augustine is not only discovering why he and others sin. As well as the important difference between what Augustine describes are lower and higher goods. Augustine explains that while following worldly law, we also have to keep in mind and not stray from the Lord’s law (Augustine,31). With the aspect of worldly honor and greed, sin was committed for the reason in acting due to the love of something
I really enjoyed reading your discussion post. I agree that Augustine philosophy and theology still impact the church today. Christianity is a journal and it does take years to understand the scriptures and how they relate to our Christian walk with Christ. Christians are commanded to witness to people and impact their lives. Ferguson states, “The presbyter Simplicians took on Augustine as his personal project. Augustine read the commentary on Paul written by Marius Victorinus, who had been converted in 355 from Neoplatonism to Christianity.” We as Christians must minister to people and help them changed their lives so that they can have a relationship with Christ.
Augustine was born at Thagaste, a small town in the Roman province of Numidia in North Africa. His mother was a devout Christian, but his father never embraced the Christian faith. He received a classical education that both schooled him in Latin literature and enabled him to escape from his provincial upbringing. Trained at Carthage in rhetoric, which was a requisite for a legal or political career in the Roman empire, he became a teacher of rhetoric in Carthage, in Rome, and finally in Milan, a seat of imperial government at the time. At Milan, in 386, Augustine underwent religious conversion. He retired from his public position, received baptism from Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, and soon returned to North Africa. In 391, he was ordained to the priesthood in Hippo Regius and five years later he became bishop.
Augustine's writings became sacred in their own way. His books still form the backbone of Catholic philosophy today. He died during the barbarian invasions around the year 430.
Augustine, who lived from A.D. 354 – 430, was a genius in certain aspects of biblical exegesis. He was part of the Western School of interpretation. He developed significant theories of biblical interpretation such as: the interpreter must possess a genuine Christian faith & the literal and historical meaning of Scripture should be held in high regard, to name a few. Unfortunately, Augustine forsook most of his own principles and tended to follow a method of allegorization. His theories, however, became the predominant view of the middle ages.
St. Augustine was a theologian and philosopher born in Africa to St. Monica. Although he is now known as a an incredibly influential Christian writer and thinker, his early years were defined by rebellion and discord that did not, in the least, reflect Christianity or the values that he is now known for supporting. His early years were freckled with mindless disobedience, wretched behavior, and characterized godlessness that makes his conversion to the faith incredibly remarkable and one that is worth defining in Saint Augustine 's Confessions. His incredible turnaround from a faithless man to a devout supporter of Christianity is significant and is freckled with many major milestones that truly demonstrate his spiritual and internal growth into one of the biggest spiritual icons of the fifth century. These major milestones include his realization that his boyhood was defined by pointless rebellious behavior, even though he grew up in a Christian home, his new found appreciation for philosophy as well as God and his incredible mercy during his years as a student at Carthage,
Augustine challenged the claims of pagans, including those who sacked Rome. He wished to refute the claims which accused the Christian God as the source of turmoil in Rome. Augustine assured his fellow Christians , through his writing, of the false notions these pagans believed in. Furthermore, he showed the way in which pagans worshipped their gods, including the practice of offering sacrifices, was not the way to eternal salvation. In a time of Chaos and uncertainty, Christians could look to Augustine’s writing in order to find solace in their faith. Therefore, the invaders held no power over them, since
Aurelius Augustinius, St. Augustine, was born in 354 A.D. in Tagaste, a town in North Africa. Born just over a century before the fall of Rome, Augustine would live his entire life within the Roman empire. Augustine was a great Christian thinker and wrote numerous works which survive today, and offer us a vivid glimpse into the period. His works and thoughts on Christ, the nature of God, the role of the Church, and myriad other topics, shaped much of medieval thought. He would remain a major influence for 1000 years after he died. Two of his works stand out as possibly the most important of his writings: City of God, and Confessions. Augustine's Confessions is the first ever
Before submitting himself to God, Augustine lived a life controlled by various sinful tendencies such as theft and lust. Surrounded by strong believers of Catholicism, such as his mother, St. Monica, Augustine grew up questioning Christ and the faith and rather explored other religions. Two religions that Augustine devoted himself to were Manichaeism and Neoplatonism. While both religions had strengths and flaws, neither truly satisfied Augustine’s spiritual emptiness. Before devoting himself fully to the Catholic faith, Augustine is seen as an honorable saint because of the significance of his works and teachings. Augustine’s conversion from Manichaeism to Neoplatonism to Catholicism as noted through Confessions, transformed his life from being powered by sin and immortality to a life dominated by rectitude and devotion.
It is obvious from The Confession that Augustine was a man who struggled endlessly to extricate himself from the bondage of sin, but the more he tried, the more he failed and sinks deeper into its abyss. And with every failure, comes a sense of disappointment and despondency, until he had a strange experience. In AD 386, while sitting in his garden, Augustine heard a voice from some children playing not far away urging “him” to pick the book—the Bible, and read. What he read from Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman Christian in Chapter 13 transformed, not only his understanding of the hopelessness and despair man encounters in trying to solve the problem of sin on his own, but he saw the provision that God has made to remedy the consequences of sin and the grace he has graciously provided to live a life that is acceptable to God. That moment was the turning point in Augustine’s life and how he developed his sotoriological
Saint Augustine was born is 354 in a North Africa province part of the Roman Empire. Growing up in the Roman Empire was a major influence on his work. He is well known for his theological teaching on Christianity and developed much of its doctrine. Augustine wrote on political philosophy as well and developed his own ideas on what the ideal state is. Augustine believes that government is an act of God and its function is to allow people to live good lives. The state is a part of God's ultimate plan. The type of government is not important as the state playing its role to God. The church and government will be the key institutions in society and each will take care of different functions.
In 383 Augustine left Carthage for Rome where he found refuge with Bishop Ambrose of Milan. A year later he became a teacher of rhetoric. Having visited Bishop Ambrose, the fascination of that saint's kindness induced him to become a regular attendant at his preaching’s. Augustine presently was attracted again to Christianity. At last one day, according to his own account, he seemed to
St. Augustine was born in the fourth century, (354 A.D. to be exact) . Augustine was born to a Christian mother and to a pagan father. Although Augustine struggled throughout his life he finally converted to Christianity and began his journey as a theological philosopher whom was one of the biggest influences on western Christianity. Augustine spent much of his life continuously learning and teaching new things even after he became a Priest and later Bishop. Augustine as you may already know is very famous
At this point in his life, Augustine is recognized for doing many things for the Church as a priest, author, and defender of faith. As an author he wrote Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, and City of God, his great work describing the Christian philosophy throughout history. In this magnificent work,
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was one of the greatest philosophers of the roman period. He was raised in a religiously divided home, but through time he found his own truth. He was always an excellent student. He fully mastered the Latin language, however, he never did well with Greek. Saint Augustine was also a man who had a way with words. After his teenage rebellious stage, he found an unorthodox religious group that he decided to become involved with for a while. He traveled the area and ended up staying in Milan for a while. This is where he met Bishop Ambrose and began to listen to his teachings. This caused for Augustine think about his life and ultimately converted him to Christianity. After converting, he wrote books such as: Confessions, The City of God, and De Doctrinia (On Christian Doctrine), along with many others. Saint Augustine was and still is a great Christian influence in the world today.