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Augustine of Hippo: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo, born the 13th of November 354 in the North African town of Thagaste, began his life as a child who stole pears for no reason other than the thrill of doing wrong. He was not hungry, the pears were not beautiful, and he had better fruit at home, yet he and his friends stole them simply to share the crime. This early act of theft became the first clue to a lifelong struggle with the nature of evil, a mystery that would haunt him until his death. His mother, Monica, a devout Christian, watched with aching hope as her son drifted into the hedonistic lifestyle of Carthage, where he lived for fifteen years with a woman who was not his wife. They had a son named Adeodatus, meaning Gift from God, who was considered a genius by his contemporaries. Augustine's father, Patricius, was a pagan who converted to Christianity only on his deathbed, leaving Augustine to navigate a world of conflicting beliefs without a clear spiritual guide. The young Augustine was a brilliant student, mastering Latin but failing to learn Greek due to a brutal teacher who beat his pupils. He was a Roman African, part of a Berber family that had been Roman citizens for a century, speaking Latin with pride and dignity. His early years were marked by a deep intellectual curiosity, sparked by Cicero's lost dialogue Hortensius, which ignited a love for wisdom that would eventually lead him away from the Manichaean faith he had embraced as a teenager.
The Road To Milan
At the age of thirty, Augustine arrived in Milan, a city where the Roman Empire was beginning to fracture under the weight of its own contradictions. He had been a Manichaean auditor for ten years, the lowest level of that religion's hierarchy, but a meeting with the bishop Faustus of Mileve had begun to erode his faith. In Milan, he was introduced to Ambrose, the bishop of the city, a man of great rhetorical skill and spiritual depth. Augustine did not initially love Ambrose as a teacher of truth, for he had despaired of finding truth in the Church, but he came to love him as a friendly man. Ambrose welcomed him as a father would, and their relationship grew into a profound spiritual mentorship. During this time, Augustine's mother Monica followed him to Milan, arranging a marriage for him to a teenage heiress. He had to dismiss his long-time lover, a woman who had borne him a son, and the grief of this separation was so deep that he wrote of his heart being racked and wounded. He prayed a famous, insincere prayer: Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet. The turning point came in a garden, where he heard a child's voice say take up and read. He opened the writings of Paul at random and read Romans 13:13, 14, a passage that commanded him to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. This moment of conversion, occurring in late August of 386, changed the course of Western thought. He was baptized by Ambrose on Easter Vigil, the 24th of April 387, along with his son Adeodatus. A year later, his mother died at Ostia, and his son followed her into death, leaving Augustine to sell his patrimony and give the money to the poor. He established a monastic community, turning his family home into a place of prayer and study, preparing for a life that would soon be defined by the pulpit.
Augustine of Hippo was born on the 13th of November 354 in the North African town of Thagaste. He was a Roman African from a Berber family that had been Roman citizens for a century.
What event caused Augustine of Hippo to convert to Christianity?
Augustine of Hippo converted to Christianity in late August of 386 after hearing a child's voice in a garden tell him to take up and read. He opened the writings of Paul and read Romans 13:13 and 14, which commanded him to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When did Augustine of Hippo die and what was happening at that time?
Augustine of Hippo died on the 28th of August 430 during the Vandal siege of Hippo. He spent his final days in prayer and repentance before the Vandals lifted the siege shortly after his death.
What major work did Augustine of Hippo write after the Visigoths sacked Rome?
Augustine of Hippo wrote The City of God after the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410. This work reimagined the relationship between the Church and the state and became a foundational text for medieval political thought.
Who were the parents of Augustine of Hippo and what were their religious beliefs?
Augustine of Hippo's mother was Monica, a devout Christian, and his father was Patricius, a pagan who converted to Christianity only on his deathbed. His mother followed him to Milan and arranged a marriage for him while his father remained a pagan until dying.
In 391, Augustine was ordained a priest in Hippo Regius, now Annaba, Algeria, and by 395 he became the bishop of the city, a position he held until his death in 430. He was a prolific preacher, delivering between 6,000 and 10,000 sermons, though only about 500 survive today. He stood on an elevated platform to address his congregation, walking among them to connect with their lives, using analogies, metaphors, and rhymes to explain the Bible. His preaching was not merely a duty but a mission to ensure the salvation of his audience, and he used his rhetorical training to make the scriptures accessible to the common people. As bishop, he believed it was his job to interpret the work of the Bible, and he wrote his autobiographical Confessions between 397 and 398, a work that would become a classic of Christian theology and a key text in the history of autobiography. The City of God was written to console his fellow Christians after the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, imagining the Church as a spiritual City of God distinct from the material Earthly City. He remained in that position until his death, leading a large community of Christians against political and religious factors that shaped his writings. Possidius, bishop of Calama, recorded much of Augustine's later life, describing him as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against its detractors. He ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his see. His life was one of constant labor, balancing the duties of a bishop with the contemplative life of a monk, a duality that would define his legacy.
The Theology Of Grace
Augustine's theological legacy was forged in the fires of controversy, particularly in his struggle against the Pelagians, who argued that human nature was not wounded by the Fall and that people could choose to do good without divine grace. He taught that the sin of Adam and Eve was an act of foolishness followed by pride, and that concupiscence, or the passion of both soul and body, made humanity a massa damnata, a mass of perdition. He was the first to add the concept of inherited guilt from Adam, whereby an infant was eternally damned at birth, though this idea was later omitted by councils and popes. His teaching on predestination held that God orders all things while preserving human freedom, but that grace is irresistible and leads to conversion. He argued that God's grace causes the individual act of faith, and that the sin of pride consists in assuming we are the ones who choose God. This view of grace and predestination became the foundation for later Protestant theology, particularly for Martin Luther and John Calvin, who held Augustine in preeminence among early Church Fathers. He also developed a distinction between the regularity and validity of the sacraments, teaching that sacraments performed by schismatics are irregular but still valid if done in the name of Christ. His views on the Eucharist held that Christ is really present in the elements, though not in a bodily manner, because his body remains in Heaven. He strongly stressed the importance of infant baptism, saying that only the baptized are saved, though he allowed for exceptions for children born to Christian parents. His theology was a complex tapestry of grace, free will, and the nature of the soul, woven together to answer the deepest questions of human existence.
The City Of God
The City of God, written after the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, was Augustine's masterpiece, a work that reimagined the relationship between the Church and the state. He conceived of the Church as a heavenly city or kingdom, ruled by love, which would ultimately triumph over all earthly empires that were self-indulgent and ruled by pride. This concept countered the Donatist claim that only those in a state of grace were the true church on earth, and that priests and bishops who were not in a state of grace had no authority to confect the sacraments. He taught that the Church, visible and societal, would be made up of wheat and tares, good and wicked people, until the end of time. The City of God also addressed the nature of creation, arguing that God created everything simultaneously, not over six days, and that the six-day structure of Genesis was a logical framework rather than a physical timeline. He rejected the idea that original sin caused structural changes in the universe, suggesting that the bodies of Adam and Eve were already created mortal before the Fall. His eschatology taught that the eternal fate of the soul is determined at death, and that purgatorial fires purify only those who died in communion with the Church. The work was a response to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, offering a vision of hope and spiritual continuity in the face of material destruction. It became a foundational text for medieval political thought, shaping the relationship between church and state for centuries to come.
The Legacy Of A Saint
Augustine died on the 28th of August 430, during the Vandal siege of Hippo, spending his final days in prayer and repentance. He requested the penitential Psalms of David be hung on his walls, and he wept freely and constantly as he faced death. He had excommunicated himself in an act of public penance and solidarity with sinners, a gesture that reflected his deep sense of humility and responsibility. The Vandals lifted the siege shortly after his death, but they returned and burned the city, destroying all but his cathedral and library. His body was later moved to Cagliari, Sardinia, and then to Pavia, Italy, where it rests in the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. A marble box containing human bones was discovered in 1695, and a dispute arose between the Augustinian hermits and the regular canons over whether these were his remains. Pope Benedict XIII directed the Bishop of Pavia to make a determination, and the bishop declared that the bones were those of Augustine. His feast day is celebrated on the 28th of August, and he is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Communion. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview, and many Protestants, especially Calvinists and Lutherans, consider him one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation. In the East, his teachings are more disputed, with the filioque and views on original sin and predestination rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church, though he is still considered a saint and has influenced some Eastern Church Fathers, most notably Gregory Palamas.