Saint Augustine
Ranked #13,890 in Culture & Society, #279,728 overall | Donates to Grameen Foundation
Saint Augustine (Augustine of Hippo)
As he describes in his autobiography, Confessions, he only converted to Christianity after a long period of doubt.
In the years 396-430, he was Bishop of Hippo in north Africa. During this period he defended Christianity against heresies such as Manichaeism and Pelagianism.
He also wrote many other works, including the City of God (426 AD).
St Augustine was greatly influenced by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus. He introduced certain concepts in Christian theology such as the "original sin", the "just war" and the idea of the Church as a spiritual "City of God".
Harry Potter, St. Augustine, and the Confrontation with Evil
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Bethke Elshtain, Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago
Our Heart is Restless
"You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
-- St. Augustine, Confessions (c. 397-8 AD)
St. Augustine - Confessions (Oxford World's Classics)
St. Augustine Confessions (Oxford World's Classics)
Amazon Price: $24.46 (as of 06/04/2012)
This is a good translation of St Augustine's 'Confessions', one of the most important works of Christian and also world religious and philosophical thought.
St Augustine's genius needs no advertisment. His brilliant intellect is more or less the founder of Western Christianity as we know it. Between St Paul and Aquinas, he is the most brilliant theological and philosophical mind the medieval period managed to produce. If Western philosphy is a cathedral, then Augustine is one of its capstones.
The Confessions is a personal narrative of Augustine's life, which describes his spiritual and intellectual journey from childhood to adulthood. Augustine is such a brilliant writer he manages to capture countless facets of experience in a book which itself is only about 340 pages long (thirteen books in total) and this work also has immense range and depth, from the strange nature of free will and sin to the inner quest for the indwelling image of the Trinity, to Augustine's mystical experiences, to his dramatic conversion, to his allegorical commentary on Genesis to his ceaseless praise of God's goodness and the beauty of creation.
Augustine is clearly influenced by several sources, especially Neo-Platonic Philosophy. Augustine read the Enneads of Plotinus in translation into Latin (thanks to Marcus Victorius, a Christian convert from Neo-Platonism) and found its concepts of God made more sense to him than that of the sect he was a member of, the Manicheans. The Manicheans, a syncretic sect who blended Buddhism, elements of Christianity, Zorastrianism and Gnosticism, and Platonism captivated Augustine for several years, seeming to provide a satisfying explanation for the baffling problem of evil. Yet Augustine, after reading Plotinus, thought the explanation of evil in terms of non-being made more sense than God making an evil world, or being ruled by an evil principle. In this sense Augustine made a crucial breakthrough in theology, not only by finding God 'within' the depths of his own soul, but also in associating God with the Platonic Good.
Yet Augustine's strongest influence is the Bible. References to the Bible abound far more than references to Plotinus, and for Augustine, pagan thought is mostly useful for articulating truths already main plain by the Word of God. However, Augustine is always too brilliant and original thinker to merely fall into a rigid pattern of dogma he never leaves (in contrast to many more mediocre minds in the Christian tradition) and reworks his theology consistently and constantly in a creative manner.
However the Confessions is too brilliant and profound a work to summarise in one review, and it is best if readers avail themselves to a copy of this work as soon as they can.
Not Yet
"Give me chastity and continence, but not yet."
-- St. Augustine, Confessions (c. 397-8 AD)
Latest News on St. Augustine
What are Kingdoms?
"Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?"
-- St. Augustine, The City of God (early 5th century AD)
St Augustine (article)
Augustine was born in the city of Thagaste, the present day Souk Ahras, Algeria, to a Catholic mother named Monica. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. Living as a pagan intellectual, he took a concubine and became a Manichean. Later he converted to the Catholic Church, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such as the belief that people can have the ability to choose to be good to such a degree as to merit salvation without divine aid (Pelagianism). His works-including The Confessions, which is often called the first Western autobiography-are still read around the world.
In Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation teaching on salvation and divine grace. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is blessed, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June, though a minority are of the opinion that he is a heretic, primarily because of his statements concerning what became known as the filioque clause. Among the Orthodox he is called Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed.
Source: Wikipedia
No salvation outside the church
"There is no salvation outside the church."
-- St. Augustine, De Baptismo contra Donatistas
More Catholic Theologians, Thinkers and Saints
How about a thumbs up?
This module only appears with actual data when viewed on a live lens. The favorite and lensroll options will appear on a live lens if the viewer is a member of Squidoo and logged in.
Have something to say about this lens or about St. Augustine?
Do it here!
-
-
mcochs
Feb 10, 2011 @ 6:48 pm | delete
- REally nice lens,enjoyed reading it.
-
by letsthink
Let's explore great ideas from great minds from all over the world!
- 37 featured lenses
- Winner of 6 trophies!
- Top lens » St. Thomas Aquinas
Explore related pages
- St. Augustine, Florida - America's Oldest City St. Augustine, Florida - America's Oldest City
- Catholic Saints Mosaic Art By Michelle Collins Catholic Saints Mosaic Art By Michelle Collins
- St. Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas Aquinas
- Ghosts & Orbs St. Augustine Florida Ghosts & Orbs St. Augustine Florida
- America's Most Sacred Acre - Mission Nombre de Dios America's Most Sacred Acre - Mission Nombre de Dios
- St Augustine Of Hippo St Augustine Of Hippo
