The Augustine Record

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Augustine

Augustine Background

Saint Augustine was a 4^th century philosopher whose philosophical work merged the Christian doctrine with . Augustine was born in the Roman province of Numidia, which is in modern-day Algeria in 354 A.D. His mother, Monica, was a Christian who encouraged him to stay within the Church but his father was a pagan. However, at a young age, Augustine left the church and lived a sensual lifestyle for a particular period of time. Consequently, In 370, he went to Carthage to study rhetoric. While there, he became a student of Manicheism, a Persian Gnostic religion. It is at this stage that Augustine familiarized himself with Neoplatonism.

At a later stage, Augustine went to Milan Italy where he became acquainted with St. Ambrose, the bishop of that city. As a result, Augustine’s relationship with Ambrose was critical in his decision to convert to Christianity in 386. Interestingly, Just like Martin Luther, Augustine's encounter with the New Testament book of Romans was pivotal in his change of heart. After his conversion, Augustine went to Hippo in Africa, where he served as an apologist and adminstrator for the Christian faith. Unfortunately, Saint Augustine of Hippo died in 430.

Augustine contributions to philosophy

The Confessions, The City of God, and Enchiridion are among the influential works that were done by Augustine. As a result, Augustine key accomplishments are his metaphysical analysis of time, ethical analysis of evil, interpretation of Christianity, and the examination of conditions that justify war. However, Augustine most profound impact was his interpretation of Christianity. In 400 C. E, Christianity could not compete with some religions because it was young and not unified in its own doctrine. However, Augustine merged Christianity with the philosophy of Neoplatonism and Plato and successfully interpreted it. As a result of this merger, Christianity took the idea of God as a transcendent and independent being. Consequently, humans strive to be moral due to the appearance of an accidental and undeserved Grac...