Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo
Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century
Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church "Doctor Gratiae"
Born	(354-11-13)13 November 354 Thagaste, Numidia (now Souk Ahras, Algeria)
Died	28 August 430(430-08-28) (aged 75) Hippo Regius, Numidia (now modern-day Annaba, Algeria)
Honored in	Catholic Church Assyrian Church of the East Eastern Orthodoxy Oriental Orthodoxy Anglican Communion Lutheranism Aglipayan Church
Major shrine	San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, Pavia, Italy
Feast	August 28 (Western Christianity) June 15 (Eastern Christianity) November 4 (Assyrian)
Attributes	child; dove; pen; shell, pierced heart, holding book with a small church, bishop's staff, miter
Patronage	brewers; printers; theologians Bridgeport, Connecticut; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines;
Influences	Saint Monica, Plotinus, Ambrose, Anthony the Great, Saint Paul, Cyprian, Plato
Influenced	Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Martin Luther, René Descartes, Cornelius Jansen, Nicolas Malebranche, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Antonio Negri, Jean-Paul Sartre, Saint Bonaventure, Benedict XVI, John Piper, R. C. Sproul
Major work(s)	Confessions of St. Augustine City of God On Christian Doctrine

Part of a series on
St. Augustine of Hippo
Main topics
Original sin · Divine grace Invisible church · Time Predestination · Infant baptism Incurvatus in se Allegorical interpretation Amillennialism Augustinian hypothesis Just War
Works
The City of God Confessions On Christian Doctrine Soliloquies Enchiridion
Influences and followers
Plotinus · St. Monica Ambrose · Possidius Hugh of Saint Victor · Thomas Aquinas Bonaventure · Luther Calvin · Jansen
Related topics
Neoplatonism · Pelagianism Augustinians · Scholasticism Jansenism Order of St. Augustine
v t e

Augustine of Hippo ( /ɒˈɡʌstɨn/^[1][2] or /ˈɔːɡəstɪn/;^[2] Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis;^[3] November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin,^[4] St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed,^[5] was Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). He was a Latin philosopher and theologian from Roman Africa. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity.

According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith."^[6] In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus.^[7] After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in AD 387, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives.^[8] He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, and he framed the concepts of original sin and just war.

When the Western Roman Empire was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Catholic Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City.^[9] His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the Church, the community that worshipped God.^[10]

In the 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, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.^[11] Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation due to his teaching on salvation and divine grace. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is also considered a saint, his feast day being celebrated on 15 June.^[12]. He carries the additional title of Blessed. Among the Orthodox, he is called "Blessed Augustine", or "St. Augustine the Blessed".^[13]

Life

Early childhood

Augustine at the school of Taghaste by Benozzo Gozzoli

Augustine was born in 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in Roman Africa.^[14][15] His father, Patricius, was a pagan, and his mother, Monica, was Christian. Scholars believe that Augustine's ancestors included Berbers, Latins and Phoenicians.^[16] Augustine's family name, Aurelius, suggests that his father's ancestors were freedmen of the gens Aurelia. Augustine's family had been Roman, from a legal standpoint, for at least a century when he was born.^[17] It is assumed that his mother, Monica, was of Berber origin, on the basis of her name,^[16][18] but as his family were honestiores, Augustine's first language is likely to have been Latin.^[16] At the age of 11, he was sent to school at Madaurus (now M'Daourouch), a small Numidian city about 19 miles south of Thagaste. There he became familiar with Latin literature, as well as pagan beliefs and practices.^[19] While at home in 369 and 370, he read Cicero's dialogue Hortensius (now lost), which he described as leaving a lasting impression on him and sparking his interest in philosophy.^[20]

Studying at Carthage

At age 17, through the generosity of fellow citizen Romanianus,^[20] Augustine went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric. Although raised as a Christian, Augustine left the church to follow the Manichaean religion, much to the despair of his mother, Monica.^[21] As a youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associating with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits with women and urged the inexperienced boys, like Augustine, to seek out experiences or to make up stories about experiences in order to gain acceptance and avoid ridicule.^[22] It was during this period that he uttered his famous prayer, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet" (Latin: da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo).^[23] At a young age, he began an affair with a young woman in Carthage. She was his lover for over thirteen years and gave birth to his son Adeodatus,^[24] who was said to have been extremely intelligent.^[25]

Teaching rhetoric

During the years 373 and 374, Augustine taught grammar at Thagaste. The following year he moved to Carthage to conduct a school of rhetoric, and would remain there for the next nine years.^[20] Disturbed by the unruly behavior of the students in Carthage, in 383 he moved to establish a school in Rome, where he believed the best and brightest rhetoricians practiced. However, Augustine was disappointed with the Roman schools, where he was met with apathy. Once the time came for his students to pay their fees they simply fled. Manichaean friends introduced him to the prefect of the City of Rome, Symmachus, who had been asked to provide a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court at Milan.^[26]

"St Augustine and Monica" (1846), by Ary Scheffer.

Augustine won the job and headed north to take up his position in late 384. At the age of thirty, he had won the most visible academic position in the Latin world – at a time when such posts gave ready access to political careers. During this period, although Augustine showed some fervor for Manichaeism, he was never an initiate or "elect" but remained an "auditor", the lowest level in the sect's hierarchy.^[26]

While he was in Milan, Augustine's life changed. While still at Carthage, he had begun to move away from Manichaeism, in part because of a disappointing meeting with the Manichean Bishop, Faustus of Mileve, a key exponent of Manichaean theology.^[26] In Rome, he is reported to have completely turned away from Manichaeanism, and instead embraced the scepticism of the New Academy movement. At Milan, his mother pressured him to become a Christian. Augustine's own studies in Neoplatonism were also leading him in this direction, and his friend Simplicianus urged him that way as well.^[20] But it was the bishop of Milan, Ambrose, who had most influence over Augustine. Ambrose was a master of rhetoric like Augustine himself, but older and more experienced.^[27]

Augustine's mother had followed him to Milan and he allowed her to arrange a society marriage, for which he abandoned his concubine. It is believed that Augustine truly loved the woman he had lived with for so long. In his "Confessions," he expressed how deeply he was hurt by ending this relationship, and also admitted that the experience eventually produced a decreased sensitivity to pain over time. However, he had to wait two years until his fiancee came of age, so despite the grief he felt over leaving "The One", as he called her, he soon took another concubine. Augustine eventually broke off his engagement to his eleven-year-old fiancee, but never renewed his relationship with "The One" and soon left his second concubine.

It was because of otium that Alypius of Thagaste steered Augustine away from marriage. He said that they could not live a life together in the love of wisdom if he married. Augustine looked back years later on the life at Cassiciacum, a villa outside of Milan where he gathered with his followers, and described it as Christianae vita otium - the Christian life of leisure.^[28] Augustine had been awarded a job of professor of rhetoric in Milan at the time he was living at Cassiciacum around A.D. 383. In 388 he returned to Africa and his home country and pursued a life of aristocratic otium at his family's property.^[29][30] In 391 he was ordained bishop of Hippo Regius (hence obtaining the name "Augustine of Hippo") and gave his property to the church of Thagaste.^[31]

Christian conversion

In the summer of 386, after having heard the story of Placianus about his and his friends' first reading of the life of Saint Anthony of the Desert, which greatly inspired him, Augustine underwent a profound personal crisis, leading him to convert to catholic Christianity, abandon his career in rhetoric, quit his teaching position in Milan, give up any ideas of marriage, and devote himself entirely to serving God and to the practices of priesthood, which included celibacy. According to Augustine his conversion was prompted by a childlike voice he heard telling him in a sing-song voice, "Take up and read" (Latin: tolle, lege):

I threw myself down somehow under a certain figtree^[32], and let my tears flow freely. Rivers streamed from my eyes, a sacrifice acceptable to you ^[Ps 50:19] and (though not in these words, yet in this sense) I repeatedly said to you: 'How long, O Lord? How long, Lord, will you be angry to the uttermost? Do not be mindful of our old iniquities.'^[Ps 6:4]. For I felt my past to have a grip on me. It uttered wretched cries: 'How long, how long is it to be?' 'Tomorrow, tomorrow.'^[33] 'Why not now? Why not an end to my impure life in this very hour?'

As I was saying this and weeping in the bitter agony of my heart, suddenly I heard a voice from the nearby house ^[34] chanting as if it might be a boy or a girl (I do not know which), saying and repeating over and over again 'Pick up and read, pick up and read.' At once my countenance changed, and I began to think intently whether there might be some sort of children's game in which such a chant is used. But I could not remember having heard of one. I checked the flood of tears and stood up. I interpreted it solely as a divine command to me to open the book and read the first chapter I might find. For I had heard how Antony happened to be present at the gospel reading, and took it as an admonition addressed to himself when the words were read: 'Go, sell all you have, give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me'^{[Matt 19:21][35]} . By such an inspired utterance he was immediately 'converted to you' (Ps. 50.15). So I hurried back to the place where Alypius was sitting. There I had put down the book of the apostle when I got up. I seized it, opened it and in silence read the first passage on which my eyes lit: 'Not in riots and drunken parties, not in eroticism and indecencies, not in strife and rivalry, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in its lusts'^{[Rom 13:13-15]}.

I neither wished nor needed to read further. At once, with the last words of this sentence, it was as if a light of relief from all anxiety flooded into my heart. All the shadows of doubt were dispelled.

— The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Book VIII, Paragraphs 28 and 29.^[36]

The volume Augustine read was Paul's Epistle to the Romans. He wrote an account of his conversion in his Confessions (Latin: Confessiones), which became a classic of Christian theology. Ambrose baptized Augustine, along with his son, Adeodatus, on Easter Vigil in 387 in Milan, and a year later they returned to Africa.^[20] Also in 388 he completed his apology On the Holiness of the Catholic Church.^[26] On the way back to Africa Augustine's mother Monica died, ^[37] and Adeodatus soon after. ^[38]

Priesthood

Upon his return to north Africa Augustine sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor. The only thing he kept was the family house, which he converted into a monastic foundation for himself and a group of friends.^[20] In 391 he was ordained a priest in Hippo Regius (now Annaba, in Algeria). He became a famous preacher (more than 350 preserved sermons are believed to be authentic), and was noted for combating the Manichaean religion, to which he had formerly adhered.^[26]

In 395 he was made coadjutor Bishop of Hippo, and became full Bishop shortly thereafter.^[39] He remained in this position until his death in 430. Augustine worked tirelessly in trying to convince the people of Hippo to convert to Christianity. He left his monastery, but continued to lead a monastic life in the episcopal residence. He left a regula his monastery that has led him to be designated the "patron saint of regular clergy"^[40]

Much of Augustine's later life was recorded by his friend Possidius, bishop of Calama (present-day Guelma, Algeria), in his Sancti Augustini Vita. Possidius admired Augustine as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against its detractors. Possidius also described Augustine's personal traits in detail, drawing a portrait of a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his see.^[41]

Death

Tomb in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro Basilica, Pavia.

Shortly before Augustine's death, Roman Africa was invaded by the Vandals, a Germanic tribe that had converted to Arianism. The Vandals besieged Hippo in the spring of 430, when Augustine entered his final illness. According to Possidius one of the few miracles attributed to Augustine took place during the siege. While Augustine was confined to his sick bed, a man petitioned him that he might lay his hands upon a relative who was ill. Augustine replied that if he had any power to cure the sick, he would surely have applied it on himself first. The visitor declared that he was told in a dream to go to Augustine so that his relative would be made whole. When Augustine heard this, he no longer hesitated, but laid his hands upon the sick man, who departed from Augustine's presence healed.^[42]

Possidius also gives a first-hand account of Augustine's death, which occurred on August 28, 430, while Hippo was still besieged. Augustine spent his final days in prayer and repentance, requesting that the penitential Psalms of David be hung on his walls so that he could read them. He directed that the library of the church in Hippo and all the books therein should be carefully preserved.^[43] Shortly after his death the Vandals lifted the siege of Hippo, but they returned not long thereafter and burned the city. They destroyed all of it but Augustine's cathedral and library, which they left untouched.^[44]

According to Bede's True Martyrology, Augustine's body was later removed to Cagliari, Sardinia by the Catholic bishops expelled from North Africa by Huneric. Around 720 his remains were moved again by Peter, bishop of Pavia and uncle of the Lombard king Liutprand, to the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, in order to save them from frequent coastal raids by Muslims. In January 1327 Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Veneranda Santorum Patrum, in which he appointed the Augustinians guardians of the tomb of Augustine, which was remade in 1362 and elaborately carved with bas-reliefs of scenes from Augustine's life. By that time, however, the actual remains of Augustine could not be authenticated. Stonemasons working in the crypt altar removed paving blocks and discovered a marble box. Within it were other boxes; in the third box were fragments of wood, numerous bones and bone fragments, and glass vials. Some of the workers later claimed to have seen the name "Augustine" written in charcoal on the top of the box. A factor complicating the authentication of the remains was that San Pietro was shared by two Augustinian religious orders in bitter rivalry.^{[citation needed]} The Augustinians were expelled from Pavia in 1700, taking refuge in Milan with the relics of Augustine, and the disassembled Arca, which were removed to the cathedral there. San Pietro fell into disrepair and was a military magazine during the Napoleonic occupation of the city. It was finally rebuilt in the 1870s, under the urging of Agostino Gaetano Riboldi, and reconsecrated in 1896 when the relics of Augustine and the shrine were once again reinstalled.^[45][46]

Works

Augustine was one of the most prolific Latin authors in terms of surviving works, and the list of his works consists of more than one hundred separate titles.^[47] They include apologetic works against the heresies of the Arians, Donatists, Manichaeans and Pelagians, texts on Christian doctrine, notably De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine), exegetical works such as commentaries on Book of Genesis, the Psalms and Paul's Letter to the Romans, many sermons and letters, and the Retractationes, a review of his earlier works which he wrote near the end of his life. Apart from those, Augustine is probably best known for his Confessiones (Confessions), which is a personal account of his earlier life, and for De civitate dei (Of the City of God, consisting of 22 books), which he wrote to restore the confidence of his fellow Christians, which was badly shaken by the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410. His On the Trinity, in which he developed what has become known as the 'psychological analogy' of the Trinity, is also among his masterpieces, and arguably one of the greatest theological works of all time. He also wrote On Free Choice Of The Will (De libero arbitrio), addressing why God gives humans free will that can be used for evil.

Influence as a theologian and thinker

Augustine was a bishop, priest, and father who remains a central figure, both within Christianity and in the history of Western thought, and is considered by modern historian Thomas Cahill to be the first medieval man and the last classical man.^[48] In both his philosophical and theological reasoning, he was greatly influenced by Stoicism, Platonism and Neo-platonism, particularly by the work of Plotinus, author of the Enneads, probably through the mediation of Porphyry and Victorinus (as Pierre Hadot has argued). Although he later abandoned Neoplatonism some ideas are still visible in his early writings.^[49] His generally favourable view of Neoplatonic thought contributed to the "baptism" of Greek thought and its entrance into the Christian and subsequently the European intellectual tradition. His early and influential writing on the human will, a central topic in ethics, would become a focus for later philosophers such as Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. In addition, Augustine was influenced by the works of Virgil (known for his teaching on language), Cicero (known for his teaching on argument), and Aristotle (particularly his Rhetoric and Poetics).

Augustine's concept of original sin was expounded in his works against the Pelagians. However, St. Thomas Aquinas took much of Augustine's theology while creating his own unique synthesis of Greek and Christian thought after the widespread rediscovery of the work of Aristotle. Augustine's doctrine of efficacious grace found eloquent expression in the works of Bernard of Clairvaux; also Reformation theologians such as Martin Luther and John Calvin would look back to him as their inspiration.

Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim, and later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII.^[50] His feast day is August 28, the day on which he died. He is considered the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.^[11]

The latter part of Augustine's Confessions consists of an extended meditation on the nature of time. Even the agnostic philosopher Bertrand Russell was impressed by this. He wrote, "a very admirable relativistic theory of time. ... It contains a better and clearer statement than Kant's of the subjective theory of time - a theory which, since Kant, has been widely accepted among philosophers."^[51] Catholic theologians generally subscribe to Augustine's belief that God exists outside of time in the "eternal present"; that time only exists within the created universe because only in space is time discernible through motion and change. His meditations on the nature of time are closely linked to his consideration of the human ability of memory. Frances Yates in her 1966 study The Art of Memory argues that a brief passage of the Confessions, 10.8.12, in which Augustine writes of walking up a flight of stairs and entering the vast fields of memory^[52] clearly indicates that the ancient Romans were aware of how to use explicit spatial and architectural metaphors as a mnemonic technique for organizing large amounts of information.

Augustine's philosophical method, especially demonstrated in his Confessions, has had continuing influence on Continental philosophy throughout the 20th century. His descriptive approach to intentionality, memory, and language as these phenomena are experienced within consciousness and time anticipated and inspired the insights of modern phenomenology and hermeneutics. Edmund Husserl writes: "The analysis of time-consciousness is an age-old crux of descriptive psychology and theory of knowledge. The first thinker to be deeply sensitive to the immense difficulties to be found here was Augustine, who laboured almost to despair over this problem."^[53] Martin Heidegger refers to Augustine's descriptive philosophy at several junctures in his influential work, Being and Time.^[54] Hannah Arendt began her philosophical writing with a dissertation on Augustine's concept of love, Der Liebesbegriff bei Augustin (1929): "The young Arendt attempted to show that the philosophical basis for vita socialis in Augustine can be understood as residing in neighbourly love, grounded in his understanding of the common origin of humanity."^[55] Jean Bethke Elshtain in Augustine and the Limits of Politics finds likeness between Augustine and Arendt in their concepts of evil: "Augustine did not see evil as glamorously demonic but rather as absence of good, something which paradoxically is really nothing. Arendt ... envisioned even the extreme evil which produced the Holocaust as merely banal [in Eichmann in Jerusalem]."^[56] Augustine's philosophical legacy continues to influence contemporary critical theory through the contributions and inheritors of these 20th century figures.

According to Leo Ruickbie, Augustine's arguments against magic, differentiating it from miracle, were crucial in the early Church's fight against paganism and became a central thesis in the later denunciation of witches and witchcraft. According to Professor Deepak Lal, Augustine's vision of the heavenly city has influenced the secular projects and traditions of the Enlightenment, Marxism, Freudianism and Eco-fundamentalism.^[57]

Influence on St. Thomas Aquinas

For quotations of St. Augustine by St. Thomas Aquinas see Aquinas and the Sacraments and Thought of Thomas Aquinas.

On the topic of original sin, Aquinas proposed a more optimistic view of man than that of Augustine in that his conception leaves to the reason, will, and passions of fallen man their natural powers even after the Fall.^[58]

Influence on Protestant reformers

While in his pre-Pelagian writings Augustine taught that Adam's guilt as transmitted to his descendants much enfeebles, though does not destroy, the freedom of their will, Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin affirmed that Original Sin completely destroyed liberty (see total depravity).^[58]

Influence on Modern-Day Ministers and Authors

Augustine's influence has impacted many modern day theologians and authors. One known theologian and author is John Piper, whose series of books are called, The Swans Are Not Silent in which the first book is titled The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, referring to a quote taken from (Confessions, IX,1).

"How sweet it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose.... You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not of flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves.... O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and My Salvation."^[59]

Hannah Arendt, an influential twentieth century political theorist, wrote her doctoral dissertation in philosophy on St. Augustine, and continued to rely on his though throughout her career.

In his autobiographical book Milestones, Pope Benedict XVI, a prolific and influential Catholic theologian in his own right before ascending to the papacy, claims St. Augustine as one of the deepest influences in his thought.

Theology

Abortion and ensoulment

Like other Church Fathers such as Athenagoras ^[60] St Augustine "vigorously condemned the practice of induced abortion" as a crime, in any stage of pregnancy.^[61]

Anthropology

Augustine was one of the first Christian ancient Latin authors with very clear anthropological vision.^[62] He saw the human being as a perfect unity of two substances: soul and body. In his late treatise On Care to Be Had for the Dead, section 5 (420 AD) he exhorted to respect the body on the grounds that it belonged to the very nature of the human person:

In no wise are the bodies themselves to be spurned. (...) For these pertain not to ornament or aid which is applied from without, but to the very nature of man.^[63]

Augustine's favourite figure to describe body-soul unity is marriage: caro tua, coniunx tua - your body is your wife.^[64] Initially, the two elements were in perfect harmony. After the fall of humanity they are now experiencing dramatic combat between one another.

They are two categorically different things. The body is a three-dimensional object composed of the four elements, whereas the soul has no spatial dimensions.^[65] Soul is a kind of substance, participating in reason, fit for ruling the body.^[66] Augustine was not preoccupied, as Plato and Descartes were, with going too much into details in efforts to explain the metaphysics of the soul-body union. It suffices for him to admit that they are metaphysically distinct; to be a human is to be a composite of soul and body, and that the soul is superior to the body. The latter statement is grounded in his hierarchical classification of things into those that merely exist, those that exist and live, and those that exist, live, and have intelligence or reason.^[67]

Astrology

Augustine's contemporaries often believed astrology to be an exact and genuine science. Its practitioners were regarded as true men of learning and called mathemathici. Astrology played a prominent part in Manichean doctrine, and Augustine himself was attracted by their books in his youth, being particularly fascinated by those who claimed to foretell the future. Later as a bishop he used to warn that one should avoid astrologers who combine science and horoscopes. (Augustine's term "mathematici". meaning "astrologers", is sometimes mistranslated as "mathematicians".) According to Augustine, they were not genuine students of Hipparchus or Eratosthenes but "common swindlers":^{[68][69][70][71]}

Hence, a devout Christian must avoid astrologers and all impious soothsayers, especially when they tell you the truth, for fear of leading his soul into error by consorting with demons and entangling himself with the bonds of such association.

— The Literal Meaning of Genesis^[72]

Baptism

Against the Pelagians Augustine strongly stressed the importance of infant baptism. About the question if baptism is an absolute necessity for salvation however, Augustine appears to have refined his beliefs during his lifetime, causing some confusion among later theologians about his position. He said in one of his sermons:

"God does not remit sins but to the baptized".

— A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed, Paragraph 16

This belief was shared by many early Christians.

However, a passage from his City of God, concerning the Apocalypse, may indicate that Augustine did believe in an exception for children born to Christian parents:

"But what shall become of the little ones? For it is beyond all belief that in these days [the Apocalypse] there shall not be found some Christian children born, but not yet baptized, and that there shall not also be some born during that very period; and if there be such, we cannot believe that their parents shall not find some way of bringing them to the laver of regeneration."

— City of God, Book 20, Chapter 8

Creation

In "The Literal Interpretation of Genesis" Augustine took the view that everything in the universe was created simultaneously by God, and not in seven calendar days like a plain account of Genesis would require. He argued that the six-day structure of creation presented in the book of Genesis represents a logical framework, rather than the passage of time in a physical way - it would bear a spiritual, rather than physical, meaning, which is no less literal. One reason for this interpretation is the passage in Sirach 18:1, creavit omni simul ("he created all things at once"), which Augustine took as proof that the days of Genesis 1 had to be taken non-literally.^[73] Augustine also does not envision original sin as originating structural changes in the universe, and even suggests that the bodies of Adam and Eve were already created mortal before the Fall.^{[citation needed]} Apart from his specific views, Augustine recognizes that the interpretation of the creation story is difficult, and remarks that we should be willing to change our mind about it as new information comes up.^[74]

In "City of God", Augustine rejected both the immortality of the human race proposed by pagans, and contemporary ideas of ages (such as those of certain Greeks and Egyptians) that differed from the Church's sacred writings:

Let us, then, omit the conjectures of men who know not what they say, when they speak of the nature and origin of the human race. For some hold the same opinion regarding men that they hold regarding the world itself, that they have always been... They are deceived, too, by those highly mendacious documents which profess to give the history of many thousand years, though, reckoning by the sacred writings, we find that not 6000 years have yet passed.

— Augustine, Of the Falseness of the History Which Allots Many Thousand Years to the World's Past, The City of God, Book 12: Chapt. 10 [419].

Ecclesiology

Augustine developed his doctrine of the Church principally in reaction to the Donatist sect. He taught that there is one Church, but that within this Church there are two realities, namely, the visible aspect (the institutional hierarchy, the sacraments, and the laity) and the invisible (the souls of those in the Church, who are either dead, sinful members or elect predestined for Heaven). The former is the institutional body established by Christ on earth which proclaims salvation and administers the sacraments while the latter is the invisible body of the elect, made up of genuine believers from all ages, and who are known only to God. The Church, which is visible and societal, will be made up of "wheat" and "tares", that is, good and wicked people (as per Mat. 13:30), until the end of time. This concept countered the Donatist claim that only those in a state of grace were the "true" or "pure" church on earth, and that priests and bishops who were not in a state of grace had no authority or ability to confect the sacraments.^[75]

Augustine's ecclesiology was more fully developed in City of God. There he conceives of the church as a heavenly city or kingdom, ruled by love, which will ultimately triumph over all earthly empires which are self-indulgent and ruled by pride. Augustine followed Cyprian in teaching that the bishops and priests of the Church are the successors of the Apostles,^[75] and that their authority in the Church is God-given.

Eschatology

Augustine originally believed that Christ would establish a literal 1,000-year kingdom prior to the general resurrection (premillennialism or chiliasm) but rejected the system as carnal. He was the first theologian to systematically expound a doctrine of amillennialism, although some theologians and Christian historians believe his position was closer to that of modern postmillennialists. The mediaeval Catholic church built its system of eschatology on Augustinian amillennialism, where the Christ rules the earth spiritually through his triumphant church.^[76] At the Reformation, theologians such as John Calvin accepted amillennialism while rejecting aspects of mediaeval ecclesiology which had been built on Augustine's teaching.

Augustine taught that the eternal fate of the soul is determined at death,^[77][78] and that purgatorial fires of the intermediate state purify only those that died in communion with the Church. His teaching provided fuel for later theology.^[77]

Epistemological views

Augustine's intellectual development was shaped by epistemological concerns. His early dialogues (Contra academicos (386) and De Magistro (389)), both written shortly after his conversion to Christianity, reflect his engagement with skeptical arguments and show the development of his doctrine of inner illumination. Augustine also posed the problem of other minds throughout different works, most famously perhaps in On the Trinity (VIII.6.9), and develops what has come to be a standard solution: the argument from analogy to other minds.^[79] In contrast to Plato and other earlier philosophers, Augustine recognizes the centrality of testimony to human knowledge and argues that what others tell us can provide knowledge even if we don't have independent reasons to believe their testimonial reports.^[80]

Intercession of the Saints

In his book Confessions, Augustine wrote of a peculiar practice of his Christian mother, Monica, in which she "brought to certain oratories, erected in the memory of the saints, offerings of porridge, bread, and wine."^[81] When she moved to Milan, the bishop Ambrose forbade her to use the offering of wine, since "it might be an occasion of gluttony for those who were already given to drink". So, Augustine wrote of her:

In place of a basket filled with fruits of the earth, she had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs a heart full of purer petitions, and to give all that she could to the poor - so that the communion of the Lord's body might be rightly celebrated in those places where, after the example of his passion, the martyrs had been sacrificed and crowned.

— Confessions 6.2.2

Just war

Augustine agreed strongly with the conventional wisdom of the time, that Christians should be pacifists in their personal lives. But he routinely argued that this did not apply to the defense of innocents. In essence, the pursuit of peace must include the option of fighting to preserve it in the long-term.^[82] Such a war could not be preemptive, but defensive, to restore peace.^[83]

Thomas Aquinas, centuries later, used the authority of Augustine's arguments in an attempt to define the conditions under which a war could be just:^[84]

• First, war must occur for a good and just purpose rather than for self-gain or as an exercise of power.
• Second, just war must be waged by a properly instituted authority such as the state.
• Third, peace must be a central motive even in the midst of violence.^[85]

Mariology

Although Augustine did not develop an independent Mariology, his statements on Mary surpass in number and depth those of other early writers.^[86] Even before the Council of Ephesus, he defended the ever Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, who, because of her virginity, is full of grace.^[87] Likewise, he affirmed that the Virgin Mary “conceived as virgin, gave birth as virgin and stayed virgin forever”.^[88]

Natural knowledge and biblical interpretation

Augustine took the view that the Biblical text should not be interpreted as properly literal, but rather as metaphorical, if it contradicts what we know from science and our God-given reason. While each passage of Scripture has a literal sense, this "literal sense" does not always mean that the Scriptures are mere history; at times they are rather an extended metaphor. In The Literal Interpretation of Genesis, St. Augustine wrote:

It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, though, and greatly to be avoided, that he [the non-Christian] should hear a Christian speaking so idiotically on these matters, and as if in accord with Christian writings, that he might say that he could scarcely keep from laughing when he saw how totally in error they are. In view of this and in keeping it in mind constantly while dealing with the book of Genesis, I have, insofar as I was able, explained in detail and set forth for consideration the meanings of obscure passages, taking care not to affirm rashly some one meaning to the prejudice of another and perhaps better explanation.

— De Genesi ad literam 1:19–20, Chapt. 19 [408]

With the scriptures it is a matter of treating about the faith. For that reason, as I have noted repeatedly, if anyone, not understanding the mode of divine eloquence, should find something about these matters [about the physical universe] in our books, or hear of the same from those books, of such a kind that it seems to be at variance with the perceptions of his own rational faculties, let him believe that these other things are in no way necessary to the admonitions or accounts or predictions of the scriptures. In short, it must be said that our authors knew the truth about the nature of the skies, but it was not the intention of the Spirit of God, who spoke through them, to teach men anything that would not be of use to them for their salvation.

— De Genesi ad literam, 2:9

A more clear distinction between "metaphorical" and "literal" in literary texts arose with the rise of the Scientific Revolution, although its source could be found in earlier writings, such as those of Herodotus (5th century BC). It was even considered heretical to interpret the Bible literally at times.^{[89][clarification needed]}

Original sin

Augustine taught that Original sin of Adam and Eve was either an act of foolishness (insipientia) followed by pride and disobedience to God or the opposite: pride came first.^[90] The first couple disobeyed God, who had told them not to eat of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17).^[91] The tree was a symbol of the order of creation.^[92] Self-centeredness made Adam and Eve eat of it, thus failing to acknowledge and respect the world as it was created by God, with its hierarchy of beings and values.^[93] They would not have fallen into pride and lack of wisdom, if Satan hadn't sown into their senses "the root of evil" (radix Mali).^[94] Their nature was wounded by concupiscence or libido, which affected human intelligence and will, as well as affections and desires, including sexual desire.^[95] In terms of Metaphysics, concupiscence is not a being but bad quality, the privation of good or a wound.^[96]

Augustine's understanding of the consequences of the original sin and of necessity of the redeeming grace was developed in the struggle against Pelagius and his pelagian disciples, Caelestius and Julian of Eclanum,^[75] who had been inspired by Rufinus of Syria, a disciple of Theodore of Mopsuestia.^[97] They refused to agree that libido wounded human will and mind, insisting that the human nature was given the power to act, to speak, and to think when God created it. Human nature cannot lose its moral capacity for doing good, but a person is free to act or not to act in a righteous way. Pelagius gave an example of eyes: they have capacity for seeing, but a person can make either good or bad use of it.^[98] Like Jovinian, pelagians insisted that human affections and desires were not touched by the fall either. Immorality, e.g. fornication, is exclusively a matter of will, i.e. a person does not use natural desires in a proper way. In opposition to that, Augustine pointed out to the apparent disobedience of the flesh to the spirit, and explained it as one of the results of original sin, punishment of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God:

For it was not fit that His creature should blush at the work of his Creator; but by a just punishment the disobedience of the members was the retribution to the disobedience of the first man, for which disobedience they blushed when they covered with fig-leaves those shameful parts which previously were not shameful.
(...) As, therefore, they were so suddenly ashamed of their nakedness, which they were daily in the habit of looking upon and were not confused, that they could now no longer bear those members naked, but immediately took care to cover them; did not they—he in the open, she in the hidden impulse—perceive those members to be disobedient to the choice of their will, which certainly they ought to have ruled like the rest by their voluntary command? And this they deservedly suffered, because they themselves also were not obedient to their Lord. Therefore they blushed that they in such wise had not manifested service to their Creator, that they should deserve to lose dominion over those members by which children were to be procreated.

— Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.31-32

Augustine had served as a "Hearer" for the Manicheans for about nine years,^[99] who taught that the original sin was carnal knowledge.^[100] But his struggle to understand the cause of evil in the world started before that, at the age of nineteen.^[101] By malum (evil) he understood most of all concupiscence, which he interpreted as a vice dominating person and causing in men and women moral disorder. A. Trapè insists that Augustine's personal experience cannot be credited for his doctrine about concupiscence. His marriage experience, though Christian marriage celebration was missing, was exemplary, very normal and by no means specifically sad.^[102] As J. Brachtendorf showed, Augustine used Ciceronian Stoic concept of passions, to interpret St. Paul's doctrine of universal sin and redemption.^[103]

The view that not only human soul but also senses were influenced by the fall of Adam and Eve was prevalent in Augustine's time among the Fathers of the Church.^[104] It is clear that the reason of Augustine's distance towards the affairs of the flesh was different than that of Plotinus, a neo-Platonist^[105] who taught that only through disdain for fleshly desire could one reach the ultimate state of mankind.^[106] Augustine taught the redemption, i.e. transformation and purification, of the body in the resurrection.^[107]

Some authors perceive Augustine's doctrine as directed against human sexuality and attribute his insistence on continence and devotion to God as coming from Augustine's need to reject his own highly sensual nature as described in the Confessions. But in view of his writings it is apparently a misunderstanding.^[108] Augustine teaches that human sexuality has been wounded, together with the whole of human nature, and requires redemption of Christ. That healing is a process realized in conjugal acts. The virtue of continence is achieved thanks to the grace of the sacrament of Christian marriage, which becomes therefore a remedium concupiscentiae - remedy of concupiscence.^[109][110] The redemption of human sexuality will be, however, fully accomplished only in the resurrection of the body.^[111]

The sin of Adam is inherited by all human beings. Already in his pre-Pelagian writings, Augustine taught that Original Sin was transmitted by concupiscence,^[112] which he regarded as the passion of both, soul and body,^[113] making humanity a massa damnata (mass of perdition, condemned crowd) and much enfeebling, though not destroying, the freedom of the will.

Augustine's formulation of the doctrine of original sin was confirmed at numerous councils, i.e. Carthage (418), Ephesus (431), Orange (529), Trent (1546) and by popes, i.e. Pope Innocent I (401–417) and Pope Zosimus (417–418). Anselm of Canterbury established in his Cur Deus Homo the definition that was followed by the great Schoolmen, namely that Original Sin is the "privation of the righteousness which every man ought to possess", thus interpreting concupiscence as something more than mere sexual lust, with which some Augustine's disciples had defined it^[114] as later did Luther and Calvin, a doctrine condemned in 1567 by Pope Pius V.^[58]

Lutherans and Calvinists suggest that, according to Augustine, human beings are utterly depraved in nature. That humans are spoiled by the original sin to the extent that the very presence of concupiscence, fomes peccati (incendiary of sin), is already a personal sin.^[115] Augustine's doctrine about the liberum arbitrium or free will and its inability to respond to the will of God without divine grace is interpreted in terms of Predestination: grace is irresistible, results in conversion, and leads to perseverance. The Calvinist view of Augustine's teachings rests on the assertion that God has foreordained, from eternity, those who will be saved. The number of the elect is fixed.^[75] God has chosen the elect certainly and gratuitously, without any previous merit (ante merita) on their part.

The Catholic Church considers Augustine's teaching to be consistent with free will.^[116] He often said that any can be saved if they wish.^[116] While God knows who will be saved and who will not, with no possibility that one destined to be lost will be saved, this knowledge represents God's perfect knowledge of how humans will freely choose their destinies.^[116]

Sacramental theology

Also in reaction against the Donatists, Augustine developed a distinction between the "regularity" and "validity" of the sacraments. Regular sacraments are performed by clergy of the Catholic Church while sacraments performed by schismatics are considered irregular. Nevertheless, the validity of the sacraments do not depend upon the holiness of the priests who perform them (ex opere operato); therefore, irregular sacraments are still accepted as valid provided they are done in the name of Christ and in the manner prescribed by the Church. On this point Augustine departs from the earlier teaching of Cyprian, who taught that converts from schismatic movements must be re-baptised.^[75] Augustine taught that sacraments administered outside the Catholic Church, though true sacraments, avail nothing. However, he also stated that baptism, while it does not confer any grace when done outside the Church, does confer grace as soon as one is received into the Catholic Church.

Eucharist

Upholding the early Christian understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Augustine made the following logical observation regarding this sacrament: "Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own body, he said, ‘This is my body’ [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands."^[117]

In a sermon addressed to new Christians, Augustine explicitly described the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ.

I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. . . . That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ.^[118]

What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not desire instruction".^[119]

Soteriology

Augustine made several statements concerning his views on the limitations of the atonement, such as:

The garden of the Lord's brothers and sisters, includes, yes it includes, it certainly includes not only the roses of martyrs but also the lilies of virgins, and the ivy of married people and the violets of widows. There is absolutely no kind of human beings, dearly beloved, who need to despair of their vocation; Christ suffered for all. It was truly written, it is he "who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the acknowledgment of the truth."

— Sermon 304.2

Statements on Jews

Against certain Christian movements, some of which rejected the use of Hebrew Scripture, Augustine countered that God had chosen the Jews as a special people,^[120] and he considered the scattering of Jews by the Roman Empire to be a fulfillment of prophecy.^[121]

Augustine also quotes part of the same prophecy that says "Slay them not, lest they should at last forget Thy law" (Psalm 59:11). Augustine argued that God had allowed the Jews to survive this dispersion as a warning to Christians, thus they were to be permitted to dwell in Christian lands. Augustine further argued that the Jews would be converted at the end of time.^[122]

Views on lust

Augustine struggled with lust throughout his life. He had a mistress before he converted, but once he became a Christian, he condemned all forms of extra-marital sex (including his previous relationship with his mistress), considering them unlawful and unbiblical. In the Confessions, Augustine describes his personal struggle in vivid terms: "But I, wretched, most wretched, in the very commencement of my early youth, had begged chastity of Thee, and said, 'Grant me chastity and continence, only not yet.'"^[123] At sixteen Augustine moved to Carthage where again he was plagued by this "wretched sin":

There seethed all around me a cauldron of lawless loves. I loved not yet, yet I loved to love, and out of a deep-seated want, I hated myself for wanting not. I sought what I might love, in love with loving, and I hated safety... To love then, and to be beloved, was sweet to me; but more, when I obtained to enjoy the person I loved. I defiled, therefore, the spring of friendship with the filth of concupiscence, and I beclouded its brightness with the hell of lustfulness.

— Confessions 3.1.1

For Augustine, the evil was not in the sexual act itself, but rather in the emotions that typically accompany it. In On Christian Doctrine Augustine contrasts love and lust:

By love I mean the impulse of one's mind to enjoy God on his own account and to enjoy oneself and one's neighbour on account of God, and by lust I mean the impulse of one's mind to enjoy oneself and one's neighbour and any corporeal thing not on account of God.

— 3.37

Here we can see the theoretical resolution of the struggle documented in Confessions: that proper love exercises a denial of selfish pleasure and the subjugation of corporeal desire to God.

To the pious virgins raped during the sack of Rome, he writes, "Truth, another's lust cannot pollute thee." Chastity is "a virtue of the mind, and is not lost by rape, but is lost by the intention of sin, even if unperformed."^[124][125]

Augustine viewed erections themselves as involuntary: at times, without intention, the body stirs on its own, insistent; at other times, it leaves a straining lover in the lurch.^[126]

In short, Augustine's life experience led him to consider lust to be one of the most grievous sins, and a serious obstacle to the virtuous life.

Teaching philosophy

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

Augustine is considered an influential figure in the history of education. He introduced the theory of three different categories of students, and instructed teachers to adapt their teaching styles to each student's individual learning style. The three different kinds of students are: the student who has been well-educated by knowledgeable teachers; the student who has had no education; and the student who has had a poor education, but believes himself to be well-educated. If a student has been well educated in a wide variety of subjects, the teacher must be careful not to repeat what they have already learned, but to challenge the student with material which they do not yet know thoroughly. With the student who has had no education, the teacher must be patient, willing to repeat things until the student understands, and sympathetic. Perhaps the most difficult student, however, is the one with an inferior education who believes he understands something when he does not. Augustine stressed the importance of showing this type of student the difference between "having words and having understanding," and of helping the student to remain humble with his acquisition of knowledge.

Another radical idea which Augustine introduced is the idea of teachers responding positively to the questions they may receive from their students, no matter if the student interrupted his teacher. Augustine also founded the restrained style of teaching. This teaching style ensures the students' full understanding of a concept because the teacher does not bombard the student with too much material; focuses on one topic at a time; helps them discover what they don't understand, rather than moving on too quickly; anticipates questions; and helps them learn to solve difficulties and find solutions to problems. Yet another of Augustine's major contributions to education is his study on the styles of teaching. He claimed there are two basic styles a teacher uses when speaking to the students. The mixed style includes complex and sometimes showy language to help students see the beautiful artistry of the subject they are studying. The grand style is not quite as elegant as the mixed style, but is exciting and heartfelt, with the purpose of igniting the same passion in the students' hearts.^{[127][Full citation needed]}

Augustine balanced his teaching philosophy with the traditional Bible-based practice of strict discipline. For example, he agreed with using punishment as an incentive for children to learn. He believed all people tend toward evil, and students must therefore be physically punished when they allow their evil desires to direct their actions.^{[128] [Full citation needed]}

List of Works (books, letters and sermons)

• On Christian Doctrine (Latin: De doctrina Christiana, 397-426)
• Confessions (Confessiones, 397-398)
• The City of God (De civitate Dei, begun ca. 413, finished 426)
• On the Trinity (De trinitate, 400-416)
• Enchiridion (Enchiridion ad Laurentium, seu de fide, spe et caritate)
• Retractions (Retractationes): At the end of his life (ca. 426-428) Augustine revisited his previous works in chronological order. The English translation of the title has led some to assume that at the end of his career, Augustine retreated from his earlier theological positions. In fact, the Latin title literally means 're-treatments" (not "Retractions") and though in this work Augustine suggested what he would have said differently, it provides little in the way of actual "retraction." It does, however, give the reader a rare picture of the development of a writer and his final thoughts.
• The Literal Meaning of Genesis (De Genesi ad litteram)
• On Free Choice of the Will (De libero arbitrio)
• On the Catechising of the Uninstructed (De catechizandis rudibus)
• On Faith and the Creed (De fide et symbolo)
• Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen (De fide rerum invisibilium)
• On the Profit of Believing (De utilitate credendi)
• On the Creed: A Sermon to Catechumens (De symbolo ad catechumenos)
• On Continence (De continentia)
• On the teacher (De magistro)
• On the Good of Marriage (De bono coniugali)
• On Holy Virginity (De sancta virginitate)
• On the Good of Widowhood (De bono viduitatis)
• On Lying (De mendacio)
• To Consentius: Against Lying (Contra mendacium [ad Consentium])
• To Quodvultdeus, On Heresies (De haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum)
• On the Work of Monks (De opere monachorum)
• On Patience (De patientia)
• On Care to be Had For the Dead (De cura pro mortuis gerenda)
• On the Morals of the Catholic Church and on the Morals of the Manichaeans (De moribus ecclesiae catholicae et de moribus Manichaeorum)
• On Two Souls, Against the Manichaeans (De duabus animabus [contra Manichaeos])
• Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus the Manichaean ([Acta] contra Fortunatum [Manichaeum])
• Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental (Contra epistulam Manichaei quam vocant fundamenti)
• Reply to Faustus the Manichaean (Contra Faustum [Manichaeum])
• Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichaeans (De natura boni contra Manichaeos)
• On Baptism, Against the Donatists (De baptismo [contra Donatistas])
• The Correction of the Donatists (De correctione Donatistarum)
• On Merits and Remission of Sin, and Infant Baptism (De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum)
• On the Spirit and the Letter (De spiritu et littera)
• On Nature and Grace (De natura et gratia)
• On Man's Perfection in Righteousness (De perfectione iustitiae hominis)
• On the Proceedings of Pelagius (De gestis Pelagii)
• On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin (De gratia Christi et de peccato originali)
• On Marriage and Concupiscence (De nuptiis et concupiscientia)
• On the Nature of the Soul and its Origin (De natura et origine animae)
• Against Two Letters of the Pelagians (Contra duas epistulas Pelagianorum)
• On Grace and Free Will (De gratia et libero arbitrio)
• On Rebuke and Grace (De correptione et gratia)
• On the Predestination of the Saints (De praedestinatione sanctorum)
• On the Gift of Perseverance (De dono perseverantiae)
• Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount (De sermone Domini in monte)
• On the Harmony of the Evangelists (De consensu evangelistarum)
• Treatises on the Gospel of John (In Iohannis evangelium tractatus)
• Soliloquies (Soliloquiorum libri duo)
• Enarrations, or Expositions, on the Psalms (Enarrationes in Psalmos)
• On the Immortality of the Soul (De immortalitate animae)
• Answer to the Letters of Petilian, Bishop of Cirta (Contra litteras Petiliani)
• Against the Academics (Contra Academicos)
• Sermons, among which a series on selected lessons of the New Testament
• Homilies, among which a series on the First Epistle of John

Translations

English translations of Augustine's work abound. One of the best translations of Augustine into English currently available is the one offered by New City Press in the series The Works of St. Augustine: A translation for the 21st Century.^[129] To date, this is also the most complete translation of Augustine's works in English.^[130] The second most complete translation of Augustine's works in English is by the Catholic University of America Press.^[131] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy offers a list of selected translations, which however does not claim to be exhaustive.

In popular culture

Augustine was played by Dary Berkani in the 1972 television movie Augustine of Hippo. He was also played by Franco Nero in the 2010 mini-series Augustine: The Decline of the Roman Empire. The modern day name links to the Agostinelli Family.^[132]

Jostein Gaarder's book Vita Brevis is a translation of a letter Gaarder found in a bookshop in Buenos Aires which is assumed to be a letter from Augustine's concubine to him after he became the Bishop of Hippo.

Bob Dylan recorded a song entitled I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine on his album John Wesley Harding.

Pop artist Sting pays an homage of sorts to Augustine's struggles with lust with the song "Saint Augustine in Hell" which appears on the singer's 1993 album Ten Summoner's Tales.

Christian Rock artist Disciple named their fourth track on their 2010 release (Horseshoes and Handgrenades) after Augustine called: The Ballad of St. Augustine.

The song "St. Augustine" appears on Girlyman's album, Supernova.

American rock band, "Moe.", named and referenced Augustine of Hippo in their song entitled, "St. Augustine."

St. Augustine appears in the novel The Dalkey Archive by Irish Author Brian O'Nolan under the pen name Brian O'Nolan. He is summoned in an underwater cavern by an absurd scientist called De Selby, together they discuss life in Heaven and the characters of other Saints.

See also

Saints portal

References

Bibliography

• Ancient Christian Writers: The Works of the Fathers in Translation. New York: Newman Press. 1978. 
• Augustine, Saint (1974). Vernon Joseph Bourke. ed. The Essential Augustine (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett. 
• Ayres, Lewis (2010). Augustine and the Trinity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83886-3. 
• Bourke, Vernon Joseph (1945). Augustine's Quest of Wisdom. Milwaukee: Bruce. 
• Bourke, Vernon Joseph (1984). Wisdom From St. Augustine. Houston: Center for Thomistic Studies. 
• Brachtendorf J. "Cicero and Augustine on the Passions". Revue des Études Augustiniennes 43 (1997): 289–308. hdl:2042/23075. 
• Brown, Peter (1967). Augustine of Hippo. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-00186-9. 
• Burke, Cormac (1990). "St. Augustine and Conjugal Sexuality". Communio IV (17): 545–565. http://www.cormacburke.or.ke/node/355. 
• Burnaby, John (1938). Amor Dei: A Study of the Religion of St. Augustine. The Canterbury Press Norwich. ISBN 1-85311-022-1. 
• Clark, Mary T. (1994). Augustine. Geoffrey Chapman. ISBN 978-0-225-66681-6. 
• Deane, Herbert A. (1963). The Political and Social Ideas of St. Augustine. New York: Columbia University Press. 
• Doull, James A. (1979). "Augustinian Trinitarianism and Existential Theology". Dionysius III: 111–159. 
• Doull, James A. (1988). "What is Augustinian "Sapientia"?". Dionysius XII: 61–67. 
• Fitzgerald, Allan D., O.S.A., General Editor (1999). Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-8028-3843-X. 
• Ferguson, Everett, Christianity in relation to Jews, Greeks, and Romans, Taylor & Francis (1999), ISBN 0-8153-3069-3
• Gilson, Etienne (1960). The Christian Philosophy of St. Augustine. L. E. M. Lynch, trans. New York: Random House. 
• Lawless, George P. (1987). Augustine of Hippo and His Monastic Rule. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 
• LeMoine, Fannie; Kleinhenz, Christopher, eds. (1994). Saint Augustine the Bishop: A Book of Essays. Garland Medieval Casebooks. 9. New York: Garland. 
• Lubin, Augustino (1659). Orbis Augustinianus sive conventuum ordinis eremitarum Sancti Augustini - chorographica et topographica descriptio. Paris. http://www.cassiciaco.it/ITA/001ago/Agostiniani/lubin_conventi/lubin_600.htm. 
• Mackey, Louis (2011). Faith Order Understanding: Natural Theology in the Augustinian Tradition. Totonto: PIMS. ISBN 978-0-88844-421-9. 
• Magee, Bryan (1998). The Story of Thought. London: The Quality Paperback Bookclub. ISBN 0-7894-4455-0. 
• Magee, Bryan (1998). The Story of Philosophy: The Essential Guide to the History of Western Philosophy. New York: DK Pub. ISBN 0-7894-7994-X. 
• Markus, R. A., ed. (1972). Augustine: A Collection of Critical Essays. Garden City, NY: Anchor. 
• Matthews, Gareth B. (2005). Augustine. Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-23348-2. 
• Nash, Ronald H (1969). The Light of the Mind: St Augustine's Theory of Knowledge. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. 
• Nelson, John Charles (1973). "Platonism in the Renaissance". In Wiener, Philip. Dictionary of the History of Ideas. 3. New York: Scribner. pp. 510–15 (vol. 3). ISBN 0-684-13293-1. http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=DicHist/uvaBook/tei/DicHist3.xml;chunk.id=dv3-64. "(...) Saint Augustine asserted that Neo-Platonism possessed all spiritual truths except that of the Incarnation. (...) " 
• O'Daly, Gerard (1987). Augustine's Philosophy of the Mind. Berkeley: University of California Press. 
• O'Donnell, James (2005). Augustine: A New Biography. New York: ECCO. ISBN 0-06-053537-7. 
• Pagels, Elaine (1989). Adam, Eve, and the Serpent: Sex and Politics in Early Christianity. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-72232-7. 
• Plumer, Eric Antone, (2003). Augustine's Commentary on Galatians. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924439-1. 
• Pollman, Karla (2007). Saint Augustine the Algerian. Göttingen: Edition Ruprecht. ISBN 3-89744-209-4. 
• Pottier, René (2006) (in French). Saint Augustin le Berbère. Fernand Lanore. ISBN 2-85157-282-2. 
• Règle de St. Augustin pour les religieuses de son ordre; et Constitutions de la Congrégation des Religieuses du Verbe-Incarné et du Saint-Sacrament (Lyon: Chez Pierre Guillimin, 1662), pp. 28–29. Cf. later edition published at Lyon (Chez Briday, Libraire,1962), pp. 22–24. English edition, (New York: Schwartz, Kirwin, and Fauss, 1893), pp. 33–35.
• Ruickbie, Leo (2004). Witchcraft out of the Shadows. London: Robert Hale. pp. 57–8. ISBN 0-7090-7567-7. 
• Starnes, Colin (1990). Augustine's Conversion: A Guide to the Arguments of Confessions I-IX. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press. 
• Tanquerey, Adolphe (2001). The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology. Rockford, IL: Tan Books & Publishers. pp. 37). ISBN 0-89555-659-6. 
• Trapè, A. (1990). S. Agostino: Introduzione alla Dottrina della Grazia. Collana di Studi Agostiniani 4. I - Natura e Grazia. Rome: Città Nuova. p. 422. ISBN 88-311-3402-7. 
• von Heyking, John (2001). Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0-8262-1349-9. 
• Weiskotten, Herbert T. (2008). The Life of Saint Augustine: A Translation of the Sancti Augustini Vita by Possidius, Bishop of Calama. Merchantville, NJ: Evolution Publishing. ISBN 1-889758-90-6. 
• Zumkeller O.S.A., Adolar (1986). Augustine's Ideal of the Religious Life. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 0-8232-1105-3. 
• Zumkeller O.S.A., Adolar (1987). Augustine's Rule. Villanova: Augustinian Press. ISBN 0-941491-06-4. 

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Augustine of Hippo

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Augustine of Hippo

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Augustine of Hippo

General

• "St. Augustine, Bishop and Confessor, Doctor of the Church", Butler's Lives of the Saints
• The Life and Writings of St. Augustine of Hippo: Bishop & Doctor of the Christian Church
• Augustine of Hippo edited by James J. O'Donnell – texts, translations, introductions, commentaries, etc.
• Augustine's theory of knowledge
• St. Augustine page at Christian Iconography
• "The Life of St. Austin, or Augustine, Doctor" from the Caxton translation of the Golden Legend
• David Lindsay: Saint Augustine - Doctor Gratiae

Bibliography

• Augustine of Hippo at EarlyChurch.org.uk – extensive bibliography and on-line articles
• Works by or about Augustine of Hippo in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Works by Augustine

• St. Augustine at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Aurelius Augustinus at "IntraText Digital Library" – texts in several languages, with concordance and frequency list
• Augustinus.it – Latin and Italian texts
• Sanctus Augustinus at Documenta Catholica Omnia – Latin
• City of God, Confessions, Enchiridion, Doctrine audio books
• Saint Augustine (2008). The Happy Life; Answer to Sceptics; Divine Providence and the Problem of Evil; Soliloquies. USA: CUA Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-1551-8. http://books.google.ru/books?id=u4EJZWrmqgkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

Biography and criticism

• Saint Augustine entry by Michael Mendelson in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Order of St Augustine
• Blessed Augustine of Hippo: His Place in the Orthodox Church
• Augustine's World: An Introduction to His Speculative Philosophy by Donald Burt, OSA, member of the Augustinian Order, Villanova University

Links to related articles v t e Catholic Church Organizations, papacy, teachings and liturgical traditions History Jesus Twelve Apostles Early Christianity History of the Papacy Ecumenical Councils Missions Great Schism of East Crusades Great Schism of West Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Catholic Church by country Hierarchy Pope Cardinals Patriarchs Major Archbishops Primates Metropolitans Archbishops Diocesan Bishops Theology Body and Soul Divine Grace Dogma One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church Original sin Salvation Sermon on the Mount The Ten Commandments Trinity Worship Sacraments Anointing of the Sick Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Holy Orders Matrimony Penance Mariology Roman Catholic Mariology Assumption History of Mariology Immaculate Conception Mariology of the popes Mariology of the saints Mother of God Perpetual Virginity Veneration Doctors of the Church Albertus Magnus Ambrose Anselm of Canterbury Anthony of Padua Thomas Aquinas Athanasius of Alexandria Augustine of Hippo Basil of Caesarea Bede Robert Bellarmine Bernard of Clairvaux Bonaventure Petrus Canisius Catherine of Siena Peter Chrysologus John Chrysostom Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Jerusalem Peter Damian Ephrem the Syrian Francis de Sales Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory the Great Hilary of Poitiers Isidore of Seville Jerome John of Damascus John of the Cross Lawrence of Brindisi Leo the Great Alphonsus Maria de Liguori Teresa of Ávila Thérèse of Lisieux Pope Benedict XVI Conclave Theology Works Dominus Iesus Sacramentum Caritatis Deus Caritas Est Summorum Pontificum Spe Salvi Caritas in Veritate Preceding popes Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul I Pope Paul VI Pope John XXIII Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XI Pope Benedict XV Pope Pius X Pope Leo XIII Pope Pius IX Religious institutes and similar Assumptionists Augustinians Benedictines Capuchin Order Carmelites Carthusians Congregations of Holy Cross Dominican Order Franciscan orders Jesuits Oratory of Saint Philip Neri Vatican II Definition of the Church Dei Verbum Gaudium et Spes Lumen Gentium Nostra Aetate Sacrosanctum Concilium Particular Churches and liturgical rites Alexandrian Coptic Ethiopic Antiochian Maronite Syriac Syro-Malankara Armenian Armenian Byzantine Albanian Belarusian Bulgarian Croatian Greek Hungarian Italo-Albanian Macedonian Melkite Romanian Russian Ruthenian Slovak Ukrainian East Syrian Chaldean Syro-Malabar Latin Roman Anglican Use Sarum Ambrosian Mozarabic Catholicism portal Pope portal v t e Medieval philosophers Abd-el-latif Peter Abelard Petrus Aureolus Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī Abu Rayhan Biruni (Alberonius) Alcuin Al Amiri Al-Farabi (Alpharabius) Al-Ghazali (Algazel) Al-Jahiz Alkindus Al-Razi (Rhazes) Alain de Lille Albertus Magnus Albert of Saxony Alexander of Hales Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Laon Thomas Aquinas Athir al-Din al-Abhari Augustine of Hippo Averroës Avicenna Ayn-al-Quzat Hamadani Bernard of Chartres Boethius Bonaventure Brethren of Purity Jean Buridan Dominicus Gundissalinus Durandus Duns Scotus Francesc Eiximenis Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Gersonides Gilbert de la Porrée Giles of Rome Godfrey of Fontaines John Hennon Henry of Ghent Hugh of St Victor Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) Ibn al-Nafis Ibn al-Rawandi Ibn Arabi Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) Ibn Hazm Ibn Khaldun Ibn Masarrah Ibn Miskawayh Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Tufail Isidore of Seville John Peckham Johannes Scotus Eriugena Lambertus de Monte Maimonides Mohammad Ibn Abd-al-Haq Ibn Sab'in Nasir al-Din al-Tusi Nicole Oresme Paul of Venice Peter Lombard Pierre de Maricourt Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi Ramon Llull Rashid al-Din Richard of St. Victor Robert Grosseteste Roger Bacon Roscelin Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi Vincent Ferrer William of Ockham Zachariah Kazwin v t e Doctors of the Church St. Gregory the Great St. Ambrose St. Augustine St. Jerome St. John Chrysostom St. Basil St. Gregory Nazianzus St. Athanasius of Alexandria St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Cyril of Jerusalem St. John Damascene St. Bede the Venerable St. Ephrem St. Thomas Aquinas St. Bonaventure St. Anselm St. Isidore St. Peter Chrysologus St. Leo the Great St. Peter Damian St. Bernard of Clairvaux St. Hilary of Poitiers St. Alphonsus Liguori St. Francis de Sales St. Peter Canisius St. John of the Cross St. Robert Bellarmine St. Albertus Magnus St. Anthony of Padua St. Lawrence of Brindisi St. Teresa of Ávila St. Catherine of Siena St. Thérèse of Lisieux St. John of Ávila v t e Philosophy of religion Concepts in religion Afterlife Euthyphro dilemma Faith Miracle Problem of evil Religious belief Soul Spirit Theodicy Theological veto Conceptions of God Aristotelian view Brahman Demiurge Divine simplicity Egoism Holy Spirit Maltheism Pandeism Personal god Process theology Supreme being Unmoved mover God in Abrahamic religions Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Mormonism Sikhism Bahá'í Faith Existence of God For Beauty Christological Consciousness Cosmological Degree Desire Experience Love Miracles Morality Ontological Pascal's Wager Proper basis Reason Teleological Natural law Transcendental Against 747 Gambit Atheist's Wager Evil Free will Hell Inconsistent revelations Nonbelief Noncognitivism Occam's razor Omnipotence Poor design Russell's teapot Theories of religion Acosmism Agnosticism Animism Antireligion Atheism Dharmism Deism Divine command theory Dualism Esotericism Exclusivism Existentialism Christian Agnostic Atheist Feminist theology Fundamentalism Gnosticism Henotheism Humanism Religious Secular Christian Inclusivism Monism Monotheism Mysticism Naturalism Metaphysical Religious Humanistic New Age Nondualism Nontheism Pandeism Panentheism Pantheism Perennialism Polytheism Process theology Spiritualism Shamanism Taoic Theism Transcendentalism more... Religious language Eschatological verification Language-game Logical positivism Apophatic theology Verificationism Problem of evil Augustinian theodicy Best of all possible worlds Euthyphro dilemma Inconsistent triad Irenaean theodicy Natural evil Theodicy Philosophers of religion Albrecht Ritschl Alvin Plantinga Anselm of Canterbury Antony Flew Anthony Kenny Augustine of Hippo Averroes Baron d'Holbach Baruch Spinoza Blaise Pascal Bertrand Russell Boethius Charles Hartshorne D.Z. Phillips David Hume Desiderius Erasmus Emil Brunner Ernst Cassirer Ernst Haeckel Ernst Troeltsch Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Nietzsche Gaunilo of Marmoutiers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel George Santayana Harald Høffding Heraclitus Immanuel Kant J. L. Mackie Jean-Luc Marion Johann Gottfried Herder Karl Barth Karl Christian Friedrich Krause Karl Marx Lev Shestov Loyal Rue Ludwig Feuerbach Maimonides Martin Buber Martin Lings Mircea Eliade Paul Tillich Pavel Florensky Peter Geach Pico della Mirandola Reinhold Niebuhr René Descartes René Guénon Richard Swinburne Robert Merrihew Adams Rudolf Otto Søren Kierkegaard Sergei Bulgakov Thomas Aquinas Thomas Chubb Vladimir Solovyov Walter Kaufmann William Alston William James William Lane Craig W.K. Clifford William L. Rowe William Whewell William Wollaston more... Related topics Criticism of religion Ethics in religion Exegesis History of religions Religion Religious language Religious philosophy Theology Relationship between religion and science Political science of religion Faith and rationality more... Portal Category v t e Social and political philosophy Philosophers Plato Vaisheshika Nyāya Sūtras Augustine Sri Aurobindo Marsilius Machiavelli Grotius Montesquieu Comte Bosanquet Spencer Malebranche Durkheim Santayana Royce Russell Confucius Hobbes Leibniz Hume Kant Rousseau Locke Burke Smith Bentham Mill Thoreau Marx Gentile Maritain Berlin Schmitt Debord Camus Sartre Foucault Rawls Popper Đilas Habermas Kirk Oakeshott Nozick Rabindranath Tagore Alinsky Chomsky Baudrillard Badiou Strauss Rand Žižek Walzer Social theories Anarchism Authoritarianism Conservatism Liberalism Libertarianism National liberalism Socialism Utilitarianism Conflict theory Consensus theory Social concepts Society War Law Justice Peace Rights Revolution Civil disobedience Democracy Social contract more... Related articles Philosophy of economics Philosophy of education Philosophy of history Jurisprudence Philosophy of social science Philosophy of love Philosophy of sex Portal Category Task Force Discussion Changes v t e Ethics Philosophers Plato Aristotle Confucius Mencius Mozi Cicero Augustine of Hippo Thomas Aquinas Baruch Spinoza David Hume Immanuel Kant Georg W. F. Hegel Arthur Schopenhauer Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Søren Kierkegaard Henry Sidgwick Friedrich Nietzsche G. E. Moore Karl Barth Paul Tillich Philippa Foot John Rawls Bernard Williams J. L. Mackie Alasdair MacIntyre Peter Singer Derek Parfit Thomas Nagel more... Theories Consequentialism Deontology Virtue ethics Ethics of care Concepts Freedom Autonomy Conscience Good Evil Value Morality Care Justice Principles Virtue Happiness Norm Suffering or Pain Equality Trust Free will Consent Right Wrong Just War Axiology full index... Related articles Applied ethics Descriptive ethics Evolutionary ethics Religious ethics Christian ethics Jewish ethics Islamic ethics Legal ethics Medical ethics Meta-ethics Normative ethics Professional ethics Sexual ethics Portal Category Task Force Stubs Discussion