Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) one of the most important theologians of the ancient Christian church Aurelius Augustine was born and raised in North Africa. His mother, Monica, was a staunch Christian, but Augustine did not at fi rst practice CHRISTIANITY. He received an education in rhetoric and taught it in Carthage. Later he moved to Rome and then to Milan, where he held a prominent post as an orator. These skills served him well when he eventually became a spokesperson for Catholic Christianity (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM). In matters of religion, Augustine fi rst inclined to MANICHAEISM. This religion taught that two opposed forces, light and darkness, created the world when they somehow came into contact. In time, Augustine abandoned Manichaeism and toyed with the ideas of ancient philosophers known as Skeptics. They took a cautious attitude toward the ability of human beings to know things for certain. In Milan, Augustine came under the infl uence of Bishop Ambrose. From Ambrose he learned the ideas of Plato and Plotinus. Plotinus had taught that the many things of the world had all emanated from "the One." In August 386 Augustine had a profound experience. He heard a voice like that of a child saying, "Pick it up and read." He picked up the BIBLE and read a passage from PAUL's letter to the Romans. He was so moved that he renounced his previous life-style (characterized by sexual immorality), adopted celibacy, and was baptized the next EASTER. In 391 the people of Hippo in North Africa convinced him to become a priest. In 395 he became their bishop. He spent the rest of his life administering the church at Hippo, heading a monastery, preaching, teaching, and writing. His highly infl uential books include the Confessions (c. 400), an account of Augustine's long road to Christianity, and The City of God (413–426). The second book attempts to show that Christianity did not cause the decline of the Roman Empire. As a thinker, Augustine grappled with questions that became classic in the history of European and North American THEOLOGY. Where does EVIL come from? If GOD already knows what human beings will do, how can they freely choose their own acts? What must people do in order to be saved? Augustine developed his answers to questions like these in the course of attacking three different groups: Manichaeans, Donatists, and Pelagians. Donatists taught that members of the church must be pure and that SACRAMENTS administered by sinful priests were invalid. Pelagians said that human beings could and should try to be morally perfect. In attacking these ideas, Augustine combined biblical teachings, especially teachings of the apostle Paul, with Greek philosophy, especially the ideas of Plato and his many followers. God, Augustine insisted, is absolutely good. Evil comes into the world because God creates human beings who are free to choose. Since human beings are free to choose, they will not always choose good. In fact, once ADAM sinned, his transgression was handed down to all of his descendants as original SIN. Original sin makes it impossible for human beings to be perfect on their own. They need the gift of God's GRACE before they can do good. One way they receive grace is through sacraments like BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST. Sacraments are effective because God is at work in them. Augustine wrote in his letters that he was "an African, writing for Africans . . . living in Africa." But he also defi ned the terms that future European theologians, Catholic and Protestant, would use in trying to express their faith. His ideas infl uenced Protestant reformers like Martin LUTHER and John CALVIN tremendously. At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church considers him a SAINT. It celebrates his feast on August 28, the date of his death.