Augustine
354-430
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Early Years
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Augustine of Hippo was a theologian philosopher whose work blended biblical tradition with classical philosophy. His work was seminal for the development of Christianity, and his morality was a standard for medieval Europe. Born in present-day Algeria to a Christian mother (Monica) and pagan father, he studied rhetoric and law while living a rather free lifestyle: he lived with a concubine and fathered a child out of wedlock. He became enamored with Manichaeism, a sect that emphasized a contrast between good and evil, and the accent on the evil nature of flesh had a deep influence.
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At his mother’s insistence, he began to study the Bible but found it too crude and unfulfilling compared to the Ancient Greeks, such as Aristotle. A person feud led him away from Manicheanism and to Rome, where he taught rhetoric and gained a new appreciation for the Bible as allegory. He was introduced to Plato’s works and was taken with the Platonic conception of idealism; he was soon combining inquiries into the nature of evil with New Testament gospels: the absolute Good was center of all reality, transcending physical form: God within Christ.
Conversion
While pursuing spiritual and philosophical inquiries, Augustine struggled to understand his own desires, leaving one mistress to marry for financial gain, then taking another mistress. Reading the Bible and debating with friends led Augustine to consider celibacy, and in 386, after Monica’s incessant pleas, he became a Christian. He would later write in Confessions to his mother, “I was frantic, overcome by violent anger with myself for not accepting your will and entering into your covenant.”
He finally felt the calling and transformed is sometimes profligate life into one devote to God. He returned to Africa and was prolific in his spiritual writings: a genuine philosopher invested in understanding faith. He was drafted as a priest in a town on the Algeria coast, founded a monastery, and, after the death of a collaborator, found himself Bishop of Hippo. Soon, north Africa and Rome was sacked by the Germanic Vandals. Augustine died soon after, probably of malaria.
Augustine has dominated Western thought since the medieval era. His pursuit of knowledge, astute observations of human nature, and humanism have guided Western Christian culture. After the Bible, Augustine is most quoted source.
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"Lord, make me chaste, just not yet!"
Major Themes
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Augustine’s most significant work is his Confessions, in which uses intimate memory to express his gratitude to God. They reveal his own personal struggles and engagement with issues that dominated his work: internal struggle, sexual desire, self-will, and pride. The work is also an exegesis on the Bible and the nature of father-son-holy ghost trinity. Additionally, Augustine was particularly interested in why we sin: sin is spiritually and morally reprehensible, yet it’s the exact thing that can propel us toward God. Sin is tied closely to free will and our ability to choose light over darkness, should we be successful in distancing the soul from the body. The soul is perfect but trapped in an imperfect body; it must break free.
From Book Eight of Augustine's Confessions, among the most famous passages.