Augustine of Hippo Profile
A Bishop and Church Father
Augustine was born on Sunday, November 13, in 354. He came from Thagaste, part of what is now Algeria. Although he started out at odds with himself and others, his conversion led to his eventual veneration as a saint in the Catholic Church.
Augustine’s Early Years and Conversion
Augustine was educated in North Africa, and as he grew he lived as a pagan intellectual. According to Christian History magazine, he hated Greek and arithmetic. At age 12, he went to school in Madaura and flaunted his paganism. He wrote in his Confessions about his lustful thoughts and activities, some of which apparently brought him much guilt.
As he matured and gained education in Carthage, he devoted himself to Manichaeism, an ancient Gnostic religion preoccupied with the struggle between good and evil. He achieved a teaching position in Milan and while there, began moving away from Manichaeism. His mother, Monica, constantly pressured him to become a Catholic. But it was another rhetorician, Ambrose, a bishop, who began turning Augustine toward the faith that Monica had hoped her son would embrace.
In 386 A.D., Augustine experienced Christian conversion and a humble heart. He reportedly heard a childlike voice telling him to “take up and read” and was influenced that same day by a reading from the 13th chapter of the New Testament book of Romans. His Confessions detail his spiritual journey and these writings have become a classic in theological literature. In time, he sought the priesthood and later became a bishop.
Augustine’s Influence on Protestant Reformers
Martin Luther and John Calvin were two church reformers who relied upon the thinking of Augustine. Luther referred to Augustine frequently, but departed with Augustine’s theology on the concept of justification. When Calvin was in trouble with church authorities, he used Augustine’s writings to form his defense. English reformer Thomas Cranmer favored a particular sentence credited to Augustine: “A good life is indeed inseparable from faith.”
Importance of Augustine for Today’s Church
Augustine referenced Biblical theology as a way of life. For example, he was known to have preached on the birth of John the Baptist. Today’s Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, can learn a great deal from this early church father. His views on creation, original sin, church doctrine, the sacraments, just war, the Jewish people, and Biblical theology are debated and enjoyed by scholars, clergy, and laypeople.
Christians and persons of all faiths owe a debt to the man that went from pagan intellectual to a pastor to his people. His broad thinking and teaching set a standard in theological and sacramental perspective.
Sources:
- Augustine: Sinner, Bishop, Saint. Christian History magazine. Issue 67 (Vol. XIX, No.3).
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Augustine of Hippo.
Augustine of Hippo
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