Saint Augustine Essay -- essays research papers

Saint Augustine was born on 354 CE in Tagaste, Africa.His given name was Aurelius Augustinus. His father wasPatricius, a pagan who was name Christian before hedied, and his mother was Monica, a baptized Christian withan influential role in the life of her son. Augustine isregarded as one of the most legal Christian theologiansand bishops of all time. His works and actions have left amajor imprint on the Church and its doctrine.As a boy, Augustine was not baptized and grew up in theRoman Empire. He studied under the local schoolmastersin Tagaste until he turned fifteen and move to continue hisstudies in Madaurus. From Madaurus, he moved toCarthage for advanced studies in rhetoric and law. It was inCarthage that he took a concubine and later had a sonnamed Adeodatus from her. It was in this period of his lifethat embraced Manichaeism, which is a notion that one godis responsible for all good and another responsible for allevil. Augustines belief in Manichaeism prompted Monica,his mother, not to allow his entrance into the familys house.Even with her actions, she continued praying and hopingthat Augustine would find the Lord. After he ended hisstudies in Carthage, he became a teacher and wasconstantly on the move through and throughout Yankee Africa.Augustine stopped teaching and moved to Milan where hegained the position of Public Orator. In Milan, Augustinemet Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. Augustine grew to loveAmbroses allegorical interpretations of the Bible and thisled to his appreciation and youthful appreciation of theScripture. He also studied and learned to appreciatePlatos works and started linking a lot of his works into themeaning and messages in the Bible. Augustines family,including his mother, joined him in Milan. Her constantprayers for his conversion to Christianity and the strictethical demands of Ambrose made Augustinesappreciation of Platos work grew deeper. It made him nochoice, but to convert to Christianity. On east wind Sunday of387 CE in Milan, Augustine along with his son and hisfriend, Alypius, were baptized by Ambrose. After Augustines mother passed away, he traveledthroughout the Roman Empire. He wrote many of hisbooks on theology along the way. He had no aspirations ofpriesthood, but through a mere chance visit at Hippo inAfrica the bisho... ...howed that the Church is the union of all people intoChrist. He defined free will, Christian sacraments, andoriginal sin. His argument with the Donatists clarifiedChristian doctrines for further generations to come.Pelagianism was the final literary argument that Augustinehandled. They believed that Gods grace is not needed forsalvation, but only good works. Augustine fought thiscontroversy by explaining that grace was necessary forsalvation because without it, people would be even moresinful. The leader of Pelagianism, Pelagius, never met withAugustine, but as a result of this controversy, "Gods savinggrace" was clearly understood through Augustinesargu ments.On August 28, 430 CE in Hippo, Augustine died. He isregarded as one of the greatest and intelligent saints of theChurch. He clarified Church doctrines, establishedmonasteries for new priests, educated many into themeaning of Christianity and made Christianity humanisticwhich is nurtured by Gods love and grace. Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo. Berkeley University ofCalifornia Press, 1967.Possidius. The Life of Saint Augustine. VillanovaAugustinian Press, 1988.