Saint Augustine

Ancient philosophy

Saint Augustine (354 - 430 AD) was a Christian philosopher of late antiquity, born in Algeria. He is one of the four Fathers of the Western Church. After a dissipated youth, which he recounts in the Confessions, he became interested in the problem of evil. Initially seduced by Manichaeism, he converted to Christianity and became bishop of Hippo. He wrote The City of God, the work most reproduced by copyists in the Middle Ages. He was canonised in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII.

The works of Saint Augustine summarised on this site

book cover

The Confessions

In this work, Saint Augustine recounts the spiritual journey that led him from a debauched youth to conversion and becoming bishop of Hippo

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Bibliography

Here are the essential books if you wish to better understand this author's thought:

Kolbet, Paul R. (2010). Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
Dodaro, Robert (2004). Christ and the Just Society in the Thought of Augustine. Cambridge University Press.
Conybeare, Catherine (2006). The Irrational Augustine. Oxford University Press.
Ayres, Lewis (2010). Augustine and the Trinity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
von Heyking, John (2001). Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.

Biography: life of Augustine

Childhood

Augustine was born in Algeria in 354 AD, in Thagaste, a Roman colony, to a Romanised Berber family.

While his father, a small landowner, firmly adhered to Roman polytheism, his mother, Monica, was a fervent Christian. In fact, she was beatified by the Church as Saint Monica. Augustine, torn between these two influences, was nevertheless brought up in his mother's religion.

A gifted but undisciplined pupil, he committed petty theft, such as the famous incident of stealing pears.

At Carthage: pleasure

At seventeen, he went to Carthage to study rhetoric. He discovered a city full of debauchery and the unbridled pursuit of pleasure. He immersed himself in it, and met the woman with whom he was to live as a concubine for fifteen years. They had a son, Adeodatus.

However, throughout this time, he remained agitated by great intellectual curiosity and psychological anxiety, which led him to embark on a long quest for truth.

Thus he acquired a book by Cicero, the Hortensius, which awakened in him a keen interest in philosophy.

He also became interested in Manichaeism, a doctrine to which he adhered for nine years. This Eastern religion, now virtually extinct, professed a radical dualism between Good and Evil, Light and Darkness.

After a brief return to Thagaste, he planned to leave for Rome, relying on the relationships he had built up in Carthage, with the consul in particular.

At Milan: the conversion

statue of Saint Augustine in Malta — The statue of Saint Augustine in Victoria, Malta

From there, he went to Milan, to teach rhetoric. He began to succeed and was delighted: ambitious, he chased wealth and honours. He repudiated his partner of sixteen years, which tore his heart apart, in order to prepare a marriage that would speed up his career.

At the same time, he frequented Platonic circles in Milan, and above all attended the homilies of Bishop Ambrose, which led him, if not to convert to Christianity, at least to turn definitively away from Manichaeism.

Friends such as Alypius were to play an important role in his spiritual journey: it was when he heard them recount the conversion of some of their relatives that Augustine, overwhelmed, decided to convert in his turn.

He gave up teaching rhetoric and went on a spiritual retreat at a friend's villa. For a year, he wrote some works such as Contra academicos, Soliloquies, On the Happy Life.

He was finally baptised on the Easter night of 24-25 April 387, along with his son, to the great joy of his mother, whose dearest wish it had been.

At Hippo: the office of bishop

Shortly afterwards, he returned to Thagaste, his native town, and lived for a few years in a spiritual community that he himself had founded, united around the Christian faith.

In 391, he succeeded the bishop of the region, Valerius. Becoming bishop of Hippo, he entered a phase of intense intellectual activity, writing the Confessions, his best-known work, as well as the City of God, or On the Trinity.

The end of Augustine's life coincided with the last days of the Roman Empire.

He died during the siege of the city by a barbarian leader, Genseric, in 430. Nearly 900 years later, he was canonised by the Catholic Church as one of the Doctors of the Church. He is also one of the Fathers of the Church.

Main works

Confessions
The City of God
On the Trinity