Augustine of Hippo

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Augustine is one of the most important teachers and preachers in the 2,000-year history of the Christian faith.

 


 

Augustine was born to Monica and Patricius in 354 AD. Patricius would not permit him to be baptized. Monica felt that Augustine was wayward and lazy. Her goal was to get him baptized.

They sent young Augustine to a prestigious school in Carthage for his studies. There, he lived a dissolute life. He dated a woman and had a child out of wedlock.

He joined a religion called Manicheanism. It was not Christian, and Monica didn’t like it.

After finishing his studies, Augustine became a professor of rhetoric. He taught in his native Africa for nine years, and then he secured a very prestigious position in Italy.

Along the way, he had switched to a new religion called Neoplatonism.

But neither the Manichean religion nor Neoplatonism had fulfilled Augustine. His heart was still restless.

But thanks to the preaching of Ambrose of Milan, Augustine felt inspired to become a Christian.

However, he knew that to become a Christian meant living under moral prohibitions that were new to him. He prayed:

Lord, grant me chastity, but not yet.

Finally, in 386, Augustine had Ambrose of Milan baptize him. Augustine soon returned to his native Africa and lived as a hermit.

Following his lead, his Manichean friends and his Neoplatonist friends got baptized as Christians, and joined him in his hermit life.

When the local bishop passed away, the people elected Augustine to be their next bishop.

He went on to become one of the most important teachers and preachers in the 2,000-year history of the Christian faith.

He is a saint and a Doctor of the Church.

The Memorial of Augustine is observed each year on August 28.

 


Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.