Augustine of Hippo was one of the most important men of his era, and is still one of the most influential men in ours. The body of thought that he established both in the realm of philosophy and Western Christianity is second to none in his era, and his thoughts and conclusions are still read, discussed, and debated today. Perhaps his most famous single quote is the prayer of his that he recalls in his Confessions, "Give me chastity and continence, but do not give it yet," which establishes him as something of a wit in the popular imagination, but this does not begin to plumb the depth and intensity of his thinking.
One of Augustine's major contributions to Christian doctrine was his condemnation of Pelagianism, the belief that original sin did not taint every subsequent human soul. Augustine denounced this as a heresy, claiming that only through the grace of God could anyone be saved, and not by their own works. This is and was a belief held by many Christians, including the Puritans who settled in America, and was arguably the cause of their emigration. Augustine's works had powerful reverberations in his own time, too; his writing condemning the Pelagians led it to be officially adopted in many early synods of Church fathers, when the shape of Christianity was still very much n flux.
Augustine was far from an austere man of the Church, however. His thinking betrays a kind, loving, and even lustful heart. The aspects of his thinking that led more towards individual expression and aesthetic enjoyment found and continue to find resonance with later philosophers. Augustine believed that love should be the central motive to all human actions, even war, and there is another line from one of his sermons that is often quoted: "To sing once is to pray twice." The joy Augustine took in God and life, as well as the serious consideration he gave to theological issues, show how much he cared about his religion and his fellow man. This caring, and the amazing intellect behind it, influenced both his own era and every period of human thought since, making it clear that Augustine of Hippo is the most influential man of his time.
Source
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/augustin.htm#H5
Augustine as Mentor Augustine's Influence In writing a book about a figure who played a fairly eminent role in the ecclesiastical history of Christianity such Aurelius Augustine, who lived from 354-430 A.D., Edward Smither has a wide body of thematic issues with which to choose from in his work of non-fiction entitled Augustine as a Mentor, A Model for Preparing Spiritual Leaders. As the title of this manuscript implies, the author is
Monica was honored for her forbearance in marriage to an undisciplined, often cruel pagan man. Augustine's father suffers by comparison to Augustine's mother, but rather than suggest that she should have left his father because of his mistreatment, Monica's quiet example of patient endurance is praised by her son. Augustine's turning towards his mother was seen, through hindsight, as the major development of his life, but he went through several
Individuals in the city of god are "predestined to reign eternally with God" (p. 7) whereas people living in the earthly city are fated to "suffer eternal punishment with the devil" (p. 7). Order in the city of God is different from how it is in the earthly city, given that people in the former respect each-other and God and because they are not motivated by fear or by their
Augustine, The City of God Which one do you think that he is living in? In The City of God, Saint Augustine of Hippo references two cities. These cities are Rome which he references as the new Babylon and Jerusalem which he calls the city of Heaven because it symbolizes the Christian community. Based upon the way in which he references the two cities, it is likely that St. Augustine lives in
(Alypius was not necessarily being disobedient, of course, but was not doing what his father might have ideally wished) Friendship can even move one to do what is good and right, as Augustine's friendship for Alypius is what motivated the later to give up circuses in he first place. On the other hand, Augustine sees that friendships can lead one (through peer pressure and mutual encouragement of the baser
In Chapter 5, the great churchman informs us that Water is in fact an apt designation for the Divinity, better than any of the other elements. Water possess the unique properties of being more moveable than earth (though less movable than air) while at the same time being essential to the creation and sustaining of life, as in the way water must be added to the soil in order for
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