St. Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine of Hippo was a theologian & philosopher of Berber origin & the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. Hippo Regius is in modern-day Annaba, Algeria. He was born I 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in the Roman province of Numidia.
His mom, Monica/Monnica, was a devout Christian. His dad, Patricius, was a pagan, who converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Augustine, in his writings, mentions his identity as a Roman African.
His writing deeply influenced the development of Western philosophy & Western Christianity. He’s viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Church.
Patristics, a.k.a. Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings & teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st-8th century AD.
St. Jerome said of Augustine: he “established anew the ancient Faith.”
In his youth, he was drawn to the Manichaean faith & later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism. After his conversion to Christianity & baptism in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy & theology, that had a variety of methods & perspective.
Believing the grace of Chris was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin & made significant contributions to the development of just war theory.
The just war theory is a doctrine of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just.
When the Western Roman Empire began to fall apart, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City of God, which is distinct from the material Earthly City.
There’s a segment of the Church that follows the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea & the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustine’s On the Trinity.
Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran church, & Anglican church. He’s also a Catholic “Doctor of the Church.” And he’s the patron of the Augustinians. His feast day is on August 28th, the day he passed away. The Church of England also celebrates August 28th as his feast day. In the Greek & Russian Orthodox Churches, his feast day is June 15. He’s the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, & a number of cities & dioceses.
Many Protestants, especially Calvinists & Lutherans, consider Augustine one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation & divine grace.
In the East, Augustine’s teachings are disputed. The most controversial doctrine associated with him is the filioque. It was rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Other disputed teachings include Augustine’s views on original sin, the doctrine of grace, & predestination. Despite this, Augustine is considered mistaken on some points, he’s still considered a saint.
Filioque is a Latin phrase meaning “and the Son.” This was added to the Nicene Creed by the Western Church to clarify that the Holy Spirit proceeds “from the Father & the Son.”
In 1842, a portion of Augustine’s right arm (cubitus) was secured from Pavia & returned to Annba. It now rests in St. Augustin Basilica within a glass tube inserted into the arm of a life-sized marble statue of the saint. It’s considered a relic.
Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim. He was later recognized as a Doctor of the Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII.
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