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On the Profit of Believing
Augustine of Hippo (pronounced /ˈɔːɡəstiːn/ or /ɒˈɡʌstɨn/;[1] Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis;)[2] (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), Bishop of Hippo Regius, also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, or St. Austin[3] was a Romanized Berber philosopher and theologian.
Augustine, a Latin church father, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. He "established anew the ancient faith" (conditor antiquae rursum fidei), according to his contemporary, Jerome.[4] In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterwards by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus,[5] but after his conversion and baptism (387), he developed his own approach to philosophy and theology accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives.[6] He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom and framed the concepts of original sin and just war. When the Roman Empire in the West was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name) distinct from the material Earthly City.[7] His thought profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the church, and was the community which worshipped God.[8]
Augustine was born in the city of Thagaste,[9] the present day Souk Ahras, Algeria, to a pagan father named Patricius and a Catholic mother named Monica. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. Living as a pagan intellectual, he took a concubine, with whom he had a son, Adeodatus, and became a Manichean. Later he converted to Catholicism, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such as the belief that people can have the ability to choose to be good to such a degree as to merit salvation without divine aid (Pelagianism).
In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation teaching on salvation and divine grace. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is blessed, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June.[10] Among the Orthodox he is called Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed.
Augustine, a Latin church father, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. He "established anew the ancient faith" (conditor antiquae rursum fidei), according to his contemporary, Jerome.[4] In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterwards by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus,[5] but after his conversion and baptism (387), he developed his own approach to philosophy and theology accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives.[6] He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom and framed the concepts of original sin and just war. When the Roman Empire in the West was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name) distinct from the material Earthly City.[7] His thought profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the church, and was the community which worshipped God.[8]
Augustine was born in the city of Thagaste,[9] the present day Souk Ahras, Algeria, to a pagan father named Patricius and a Catholic mother named Monica. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. Living as a pagan intellectual, he took a concubine, with whom he had a son, Adeodatus, and became a Manichean. Later he converted to Catholicism, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such as the belief that people can have the ability to choose to be good to such a degree as to merit salvation without divine aid (Pelagianism).
In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation teaching on salvation and divine grace. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is blessed, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June.[10] Among the Orthodox he is called Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed.
36 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 391
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About the author
Augustine of Hippo
3,336 books2,019 followersEarly church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical
Confessions
in 397 and the voluminous
City of God
from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 26, 2024
Short, early work by Augustine that is largely a polemic against the Manichees, which was a large focus of his early work. It was addressed to a friend that had followed him into the heretical sect and whom he wished to now lead to Christianity.
Augustine focuses on two issues: the reliability of the Old Testament and, the titular issue, the neccesity and value of belief. The Manichees followed Marcion and rejected the OT while claiming to follow the NT. They believed the OT to portray a totally different God not in keeping with the morality of the NT and they also saw many of the stories as fanciful. Augustine endeavours to show that the OT need not always be taken literally, that there are different ways Scripture can be understood, such as allegorically, as St Ambrose had shown him. Although Augustine lists a fourfold way of interpreting Scripture (historically, etiologically, analogically and allegorically), Henri de Lubac shows (see Medieval Exegesis v1 p123-132) that this is not the origin of the well known fourfold sense of literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical. Augustine's four senses is more of a division of the literal into three plus the allegorical.
The Manichees had also rejected Catholic Christianity for being based on faith. They considered themselves to be rationalists who did not denigrate themselves with mere belief. Augustine in the second half of the work shows why this is ridiculous and that belief is actually good and even neccesary. We require belief before we can move onto proven knowledge. We must take things at face value before we can even attempt to test them so that they might become knowledge, to attempt to claim otherwise is absurd. Belief therefore is neccesary and it leads us to the truth. Are there not things we cannot knowingly verify? How do we KNOW who our father is but that we believe our mother? How can we know any historical events eg the legal cases of Cicero which Augustine was very familiar with? Of course we can only believe in the events of the NT since we did not personally experience them.
Augustine focuses on two issues: the reliability of the Old Testament and, the titular issue, the neccesity and value of belief. The Manichees followed Marcion and rejected the OT while claiming to follow the NT. They believed the OT to portray a totally different God not in keeping with the morality of the NT and they also saw many of the stories as fanciful. Augustine endeavours to show that the OT need not always be taken literally, that there are different ways Scripture can be understood, such as allegorically, as St Ambrose had shown him. Although Augustine lists a fourfold way of interpreting Scripture (historically, etiologically, analogically and allegorically), Henri de Lubac shows (see Medieval Exegesis v1 p123-132) that this is not the origin of the well known fourfold sense of literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical. Augustine's four senses is more of a division of the literal into three plus the allegorical.
The Manichees had also rejected Catholic Christianity for being based on faith. They considered themselves to be rationalists who did not denigrate themselves with mere belief. Augustine in the second half of the work shows why this is ridiculous and that belief is actually good and even neccesary. We require belief before we can move onto proven knowledge. We must take things at face value before we can even attempt to test them so that they might become knowledge, to attempt to claim otherwise is absurd. Belief therefore is neccesary and it leads us to the truth. Are there not things we cannot knowingly verify? How do we KNOW who our father is but that we believe our mother? How can we know any historical events eg the legal cases of Cicero which Augustine was very familiar with? Of course we can only believe in the events of the NT since we did not personally experience them.
January 29, 2024
Interesting read about Augustine’s anger for the Manichaeans treatment and dismissal of the Catholic Church for logic and reason. Augustine does make some good points however, I found his own arguments to be circular as to why the Catholic Church the mediator/ extension of God should be believed and respected. However, I did appreciate his idea of giving the benefit of the doubt when we encounter another perspective or knowledge (in his case specifically religion) that is to not knock the author or perspectives immediately but to ask questions that further learning and understanding.
September 6, 2020
A difficult read on the significance (and causes of/for) belief in the Catholic Christian Faith
June 1, 2015
A little hard to read, but the essential points are fantastic. Augustine refutes the wicked idea that we don't need to believe anything upon authority, but should only base our knowledge upon pure reason. He shows the ridiculousness and impiety of this opinion, and the becoming wholesomeness of use of intelligent faith. Believing is not credulity. It is believing that which we do not perfectly know upon trustworthy authority. Without faith we cannot even begin to come to a knowledge of the truth; God, knowing this, condescended to teach us by furnishing us with many sound evidences to trust His Word. It is eminently wise to humble ourselves, recognize our need for instruction, and apply our minds to intelligent learning. Excellent wisdom.
“It is indeed wretched to be deceived by authority, but surely more wretched not to be moved.” – Augustine
“It is indeed wretched to be deceived by authority, but surely more wretched not to be moved.” – Augustine
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews