St. Augustine's Influence On The Western World

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

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 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

What a man hopes for is the central tenant to his worldview. That worldview is not only the lens through which one views the world, but the expression through which the world shapes how one views the world. In a way, worldview colors what we see in the world, all the while those same things are shaping that very same worldview into something new and different. Ultimately, where our hope lies always remains central to worldview. This is especially true in our view of the physical dimension. How one views the material world and human bodies in relation to human souls and the afterlife is fundamental to one’s worldview. Plato, the Late Classical Greek philosopher, and Saint Augustine, the Catholic Bishop of the North African city of Hippo, both made their views on the material world and human bodies clear in their writings and dialogues. While Plato’s hope rested in an ethereal bodiless existence, Augustine hoped in the redemption and reconciliation of the body through Christ.

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

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

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.

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 was born Aurelius Augustinus on November 13, 354 in North Africa. He received a classical Latin education and went to study rhetoric at the age of twelve in Madaura. He later studied at Cathrage

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.

As one of the most prominent figures of the early church, Saint Augustine is not only recognized for his leadership but also for his knowledge and influence on the thinking and doctrine of the Christian Church. As a priest, he was an important leader of the early African Church; as a philosopher, he brought a new approach to Church Doctrine through the ideas of pagan philosophy (TeSelle 892). These accomplishments put him among the ranks of Thomas Aquinas and other great Church philosophers whose ideas revolutionized the Church. Because of his accomplishments and influence, Augustine was named a Doctor of the Church.

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.

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.

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