St. Augustine (28 August) ~ The Patron Saint of Theologians
Summary
TLDRThis transcript explores the life, intellectual journey, and lasting influence of Saint Augustine. Born in 354 in North Africa, Augustine initially led a life of excess, influenced by his pagan father, but later sought truth, delving into philosophy and rhetoric. His studies of Plato helped him embrace Christianity, ultimately converting under the guidance of Saint Ambrose. Augustine's teachings on original sin, free will, and the nature of God became foundational for Christian theology. His famous works like 'Confessions' and 'City of God' still shape Western philosophy and theology today, showing how faith and reason intertwine.
Takeaways
- 📜 Saint Augustine is a foundational figure not only in church history but also in Western philosophy, influencing many later philosophers.
- 🏛️ Augustine's study of Plato helped him understand the Catholic faith, as Plato's ideas aligned with natural law and prepared him for Christianity.
- 🛤️ Born in 354 in Tagaste (North Africa) to a pagan father and Christian mother, Augustine initially led a life of excess, influenced by his father's bad example.
- 🧠 Augustine excelled in intellectual pursuits, particularly rhetoric, and was initially drawn to Manichaeism before rejecting it for its contradictions.
- 📖 His conversion was heavily influenced by Saint Ambrose of Milan and the prayers of his mother, Saint Monica, who followed him to Milan.
- 🌟 Augustine struggled with personal sins, especially lust, and famously prayed for chastity, saying, 'Lord give me chastity, but not yet.'
- 🙏 Augustine was eventually baptized at the age of 33 by Ambrose, marking his full conversion to Christianity.
- 📚 He wrote influential works such as 'Confessions,' which discussed his conversion and deep philosophical and theological insights.
- 🏙️ In 'The City of God,' Augustine laid the foundations for Catholic social doctrine, contrasting the City of God with the City of Man.
- 💬 Augustine is known for famous quotes like 'Our hearts are restless until they rest in you' and 'There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.'
Q & A
Who was Saint Augustine and why is he considered a foundational figure in philosophy and theology?
-Saint Augustine was a significant philosopher and theologian whose ideas formed the foundation of Western philosophy and Catholic theology. He is renowned for his contributions to understanding original sin, free will, and the problem of evil, which deeply influenced later philosophers and the Church.
What role did Augustine's early life play in shaping his later spiritual and intellectual journey?
-Augustine's early life, marked by pagan beliefs and sinful behavior, played a key role in his eventual conversion to Christianity. His intellectual pursuits, combined with a search for truth, led him through various philosophies and heresies before embracing Catholicism.
How did Plato's philosophy influence Augustine's understanding of Christianity?
-Plato's philosophy helped Augustine understand foundational concepts about truth and reality, which he later used to accept Christian theology. He credited Plato's ideas for preparing him to embrace Catholic teachings.
What was the heresy of Manichaeism, and why did Augustine eventually reject it?
-Manichaeism was a dualistic belief system that Augustine initially embraced. He later rejected it because he found it self-contradictory and incompatible with his search for truth, which led him toward Christianity.
What role did Saint Monica, Augustine's mother, play in his conversion?
-Saint Monica, Augustine's mother, played a significant role in his conversion. Her persistent prayers and sorrow over his sinful life were instrumental in his eventual acceptance of Christianity, as famously foretold by Saint Ambrose.
How did Augustine’s encounter with Saint Ambrose influence his conversion?
-Saint Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, impressed Augustine with his intellect and eloquence. Their interactions deepened Augustine's understanding of Christianity, leading to his eventual baptism and conversion.
What was the significance of Augustine’s famous prayer, 'Lord, give me chastity, but not yet'?
-This prayer reflects Augustine's internal struggle with sin, particularly lust. It shows his desire for holiness while also expressing the difficulty of giving up his sinful ways, a key aspect of his journey toward conversion.
What impact did Augustine’s study of Cicero and other pagan works have on his intellectual development?
-Augustine's study of Cicero and other pagan works sparked his desire to seek truth. Although initially inspired by pagan philosophy, these studies ultimately fueled his quest for deeper, spiritual truths that led him to Christianity.
What key ideas did Augustine contribute to Christian theology that are still relevant today?
-Augustine contributed foundational ideas such as original sin, the nature of free will, the problem of evil, and the necessity of grace. These concepts remain central to Christian theology and the Catholic Church's teachings.
How did Augustine’s personal experiences with sin and conversion shape his theological insights?
-Augustine’s personal struggles with sin, particularly his youthful excesses and eventual conversion, gave him deep insights into human nature, free will, and God's grace. His life experience enriched his theological works, making them relatable and profound.
Outlines
📚 Saint Augustine: A Towering Figure in History
Saint Augustine is one of the most influential figures in both Church history and Western philosophy. Born in 354 in Tagaste, North Africa, to a pagan father and Christian mother, Augustine was intellectually gifted. Despite his mother's efforts to raise him Catholic, he fell into youthful excesses and embraced the heresy of Manichaeism. Augustine later became a skilled rhetorician and was inspired by Cicero to seek truth, which set him on a path toward Christianity. His intellectual journey included studying Plato, whose ideas helped him understand Catholic theology, laying the groundwork for his eventual conversion.
💡 The Importance of a Strong Philosophical Foundation
Augustine credited Plato's philosophy for helping him understand Catholicism, emphasizing that the right foundation is crucial for embracing theological truths. He argued that many modern Catholics struggle with faith because they've rejected fundamental truths, such as natural law. Augustine highlighted that deviations from natural law lead to flawed beliefs, contributing to current challenges in evangelizing Catholics and retaining believers. He stressed that truth and dogma are unchangeable, and without the correct philosophical foundation, one cannot fully grasp the faith.
⛪ Augustine's Conversion and the Role of Ambrose and Monica
Augustine's path to conversion was long and filled with personal struggles. His encounters with Saint Ambrose, a skilled rhetorician and bishop, played a significant role in his conversion. Augustine’s mother, Monica, also continued to pray for his change of heart, despite his immoral lifestyle, which included a long-term relationship with a concubine. Ambrose's famous line, 'The child of so many tears will not perish,' encouraged Monica. Augustine's personal battle between intellectual conviction and his inability to relinquish immoral behavior illustrates the difficulty of conversion, especially when tied to sins of impurity.
🔥 Augustine's Internal Struggle and Spiritual Breakthrough
At age 31, Augustine was inspired by the lives of the Desert Fathers, which led him to his pivotal conversion moment. While walking in his garden, he heard a child's voice saying 'Take and read.' Upon picking up a copy of Saint Paul's letters, he read a passage that addressed his inner turmoil. This marked the turning point for Augustine, leading to his baptism by Saint Ambrose at age 33. His personal story highlights the ongoing battle between moral weakness and the desire for spiritual reform, offering hope to those struggling with sin.
📖 The Wisdom of Saint Augustine: Foundations of Western Thought
Augustine's contributions to theology and philosophy are vast, shaping the understanding of original sin, free will, grace, and the problem of evil. His famous works, including 'The Confessions' and 'City of God,' explore these themes in depth. Augustine's reflections on his own life, combined with his theological insights, formed the foundation of Christian doctrine and influenced Western civilization. His writings continue to be integral to the Church's teaching and societal philosophy today.
🧠 Profound Reflections and Timeless Quotes from Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine’s wisdom is encapsulated in many famous quotes that continue to inspire. Among them are: 'Pray as though everything depended on God; work as though everything depended on you,' and 'Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord.' These reflections emphasize the need for humility, the futility of resentment, and the pursuit of God as the ultimate source of fulfillment. His poetic reflections on God's beauty and grace, especially after his conversion, serve as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of divine love.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Saint Augustine
💡Manichaeism
💡Plato
💡Natural Law
💡Conversion
💡Saint Monica
💡Saint Ambrose
💡Confessions
💡City of God
💡Free Will
Highlights
Saint Augustine's foundational influence on Western philosophy and theology is universally recognized.
Born in 354 in Tagaste, North Africa, Augustine was raised by a Christian mother and a pagan father.
His early life was marked by youthful excesses and indulgence, despite his mother's attempts to raise him in the Catholic faith.
Augustine embraced the heresy of Manichaeism for a time but eventually rejected it as self-contradictory.
His study of Plato's philosophy played a crucial role in his eventual acceptance of Christianity.
Saint Monica, his mother, persistently prayed for Augustine’s conversion, following him to Milan where he met Saint Ambrose.
Augustine struggled with giving up his concubine and sinful lifestyle, but Ambrose's influence and his mother's prayers led him to conversion.
The turning point in Augustine’s life occurred when he heard a mysterious voice saying, 'Take and read,' leading him to read a passage from Saint Paul’s letters.
At the age of 33, Augustine was baptized by Saint Ambrose during Easter Vigil in 387.
After his conversion, Augustine became a priest and later the Bishop of Hippo, serving in that role for 35 years.
His major works, such as 'The Confessions' and 'The City of God,' have left a lasting legacy on Christian theology.
Augustine is credited with developing the concept of 'original sin,' which is foundational to Christian doctrine.
He famously stated, 'There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future,' offering hope to all struggling with sin.
Augustine's insights into free will, the nature of evil, and God's grace remain central to theological and philosophical discussions.
His profound reflection on his conversion, 'Late have I loved you,' encapsulates the depth of his spiritual transformation and enduring love for God.
Transcripts
[Music]
well saint augustine
is one of those saints where you have to
just decide what you're not going to say
he's one of the the most towering
figures not just in the church the
history of the church but even the
history of the world
anybody who studies philosophy ends up
studying
augustine because his ideas were so
foundational
to the history of western philosophy in
in general
all those later philosophers would all
be building on the foundation that he
laid
so to understand a little more about
augustine
we go to the year 354 in the
north african town of tagast and he was
born to a pagan father
and a christian mother by
accounts he had a one brother and one
sister
he was predisposed to for intellectual
activity he was a very good at it
and given a very good education at which
he excelled
however his mother saint monica was very
grieved at his pagan behavior
his father was a very bad example and
he fell into all kinds of youthful
excesses
and sins saint augustine did so although
he was
his mother saint monica attempted to
raise him catholic he did fall away from
the faith
as a young man and ended up embracing
the heresy of manichaeism
for a time now by this time also he had
begun to study rhetoric
and was very good at it i was an
excellent
rhetorician and began to have
students and he taught grammar and
rhetoric himself
and then he began to read uh the
pagan works of cicero and uh and so on
and that did inspire him with a love of
seeking the truth he
was at least in that regards i thought
okay there is some truth out there and i
want to find out what it is
and so that is what motivated him to
search and and you'll see that a lot of
people that end up converting
to catholicism that's a common theme
is they want to know what's true they're
convinced that something is true what is
it
and eventually they they land in the
catholic church so saint augustine
no different so he's searching for the
truth and
uh that leads him to eventually leads
him away from manichaeism he sees it
it's just a self-contradictory
every heresy is self-contradictory it's
just not true
um but he is led intermediately to uh
the philosophy of plato and this is a
very important
aspect of saint augustine's life that
perhaps is not
as widely known as it should be but he
would say later on in life that
if it weren't for studying the
philosophy of plato first
i wouldn't have been able to accept
christianity later
because the idea the foundational ideas
in plato
gave me what i needed to understand the
truths of the catholic faith the
philosophy the theology of catholicism
and and i would say here making
kind of a side note this is the problem
in the church today
it's that people talk about we have to
evangelize we have to bring the good
news to the world and to people
we talk about the new evangelization
which is just
trying to understand why people are why
catholics are leaving the faith
the new evangelization is kind of a nice
way of saying why can't we even retain
the catholics we have
we have to evangelize other catholics
why is that because
the catholic faith the truths of
theology
even the philosophical advancements of
saint thomas aquinas and
later theologians
is founded on a certain natural
philosophy
there's something called the natural law
which is uh
it it's god's blueprints the pattern
that god worked into reality
there are realities about um being
and non-being realities about good and
evil
right and wrong truth and falsehood um
the the soul human nature uh
just the nature of society there are
there are natural law truths to all of
this that are always true no matter what
this is why it's called the natural law
if you depart from that your foundation
is wrong it's flawed
and and this is what saint augustine
meant when he said he studied plato
first plato was
much more in keeping with the natural
law and so it was understanding okay
this is the right way to think about
certain things
now that i've got a right thinking about
about
the foundation natural things i can
build on that and arrive at
catholic truths right which which builds
upon it
that's the trouble today is that the
foundation is bad there's a rejection of
natural law there's a rejection of
certain fundamental truths
in the catholic church by catholic
theologians that if those are not
remedied we won't be able to go
anywhere and that's what we see people's
problem with accepting
uh you like abortion is wrong do you not
see abortion as murder but catholics
disagree they argue
there's a natural law problem uh bishops
don't get it
bishops you know a priest think that
well you know doctrine can change
doctrine can't change because truth
doesn't change i should say rather dogma
dogma does not change
so there there's a reality that we
suffer from today
that augustine realized you have to have
the right foundation if you want to be
able to embrace the truth of the faith
that's one of our big problems today
anyway so he eventually comes to milan
italy in his
academic endeavors he's still teaching
and he's still struggling he's
looking for the truth and he he's read
the bible by this time
and it wasn't uh how could he it wasn't
written
with a good enough style it wasn't
elevated enough and he thought if god is
going to speak to man
which should be elevated it should be
poetic it should be perfect it should be
like cicero
and cicero and those others were highly
stylized
and the bible was not like that and so
ambrose was put off at first
by the um the lack of polish we could
say in some of the books of the bible
especially some of the prophets they
were very
very down to earth but eventually but
there was a reason for that as he found
he he comes to milan italy
uh he meets saint ambrose and he was
tremendously impressed ambrose was also
a great rhetorician
uh bishop and this would be the the
instrument of conversion for saint
augustine
is it talking with saint ambrose um
interacting with him
eventually he he would convert uh i
we would also have to mention too the
the role that saint monica played in his
conversion
we have that and she followed him to
milan
from from north africa i guess you would
call that the ancient version of
the helicopter parent right she just
couldn't leave behind
augustine she was her favorite son so
she follows
to milan and she's still sorrowing over
his evil way of life
and he had a concubine right saying
saint augustine had a concubine for 15
years
not married and he knew that was married
he knew he should be married
but it just i think it was something
like a status program
problem she wasn't of the right social
standing so marriage wasn't
proper uh but he couldn't leave her
behind
so he's living in in this this irregular
living situation he's not catholic he's
um his mother's um trying you know
trying to get him to
uh join the faith and ambrose tells her
he utters that favorite
famous line um the child of so many
tears will not perish
and that she sorrowed over him she
prayed for me and said your prayers your
faith will be rewarded
and saint augustine himself was on the
brink he knew he needed to convert he
was intellectually convinced
but it was that it was the um his
immorality which was
preventing him was it was the pleasures
of the flesh the lusts of the flesh
he himself would would utter that
again infamous maybe prayer lord give me
chastity
but not yet he just wasn't ready to do
it he knew he needed to do it but he
just couldn't do it and really
that should that should give hope to to
people stuck in their sins
especially sins of impurity they're hard
to give up it's hard to let go
but but the key is not thinking you have
to do it right now the key is wanting to
be able
eventually to do it i know i need to do
this i want to get rid of it i just
don't see how it's possible right now
keep praying keep keep uh doing your
works of piety
i know a young man who was living with
his girlfriend
and he was also doing a holy hour every
night he would go to a church
and spend an hour in front of the
blessed virgin and and he would go back
and then
spend the rest of night with his
girlfriend and he did this for i don't
know weeks months
he knew what he needed to do but there
was just a weakness there
and guess what eventually he broke up
with his girlfriend
he um reformed his life he went to the
seminary
he became a priest so just like saint
augustine right that is possible it
doesn't doesn't matter where you are
and one of one of san agustin's quotes
is there is no saint
without a past there's no sinner without
a future
you always have hope if you're stuck in
your sins you have a future there's
always hope
and it doesn't matter how good somebody
appears to be
they have a past right we were all
sinners all of us had to be redeemed
uh now that that would be that's the
wisdom right that comes from saint
augustine's
understanding and knowledge of free will
uh the problem of evil
and god's grace all of which he was
foundational i mentioned he was a
foundational figure and that's why
is it because of his past because of his
own wickedness of his life
combined with his incredible brilliance
combined with his study
combined with his love of god all that
came together to produce this this
vast body of of wisdom and knowledge on
philosophy on theology on morality
that the church still uses that was the
foundation that that
every every philosopher afterwards and
then the church they would read
augustine
get your foundation first get these
fundamental ideas and then now you can
go further once you understand the
basics
now you can do something more advanced
that was what saint augustine provided
um think about original sin right
where did that come from that that's not
in the bible the term is not in the
bible how are we supposed to understand
original sin what happened to mankind
augustine was the one who figured it out
he i think he came up with the term
original sin that was his
his term right so he's he's setting the
foundation for for everything
much of what we have today still
so eventually eventually he would
convert at age
31 and it came about is that he was
reading the life of saint anthony of the
desert
and he was marveling at the courage and
the faith of these
desert fathers able to um leave
everything behind
and he's walking around his garden and
meditating and he hears this mysterious
voice
that seems to be a voice of a child
saying tole le jay
and that is latin for take and read
and he looks down and there's a copy of
the works of saint paul
that he has there and so he picks it up
and he randomly opens it
uh these works of saint paul and he
finds a passage from romans chapter 13
not in writing and drunkenness not in
chambering unwantedness not in strife
and envying
but put ye on the lord jesus christ and
make no provision for the flesh
to fulfill the lusts thereof
right speaking directly to him in fact
um
protestants nowadays they they're big
fans of seeing augustine
for some reason good for them that gets
them closer to the truth
but they get their they're famous like
if you're having a trouble just open the
bible and read the first page as it
comes to you like that that's a kind of
a
this is where it comes from that ideas
from this this
conversion of saint augustine and if i
could just make a note that
this this passage he read from romans 13
chapter divisions didn't exist until the
11th or 12th century
so that was that's a retroactive thing
it was just it was all
one thing he just happened to read that
passage so a little little side note
there
so augustine was finally baptized on
easter vigil in the year 387
he was 33 years old and it was of course
by ambrose was the one who baptized him
prepared and brought him into the church
and then he was ordained a priest about
four years later and then made bishop
four years after that bishop of hippo in
north africa
and he would remain in that position for
the next 35 years
governing and preaching and writing all
the works that have come down to us
today
so he would eventually die in the year
430.
was close to i guess that would be 70 70
some years old
so um you know three of his most famous
works were the confessions
of saint augustine and this is what he
writes this is where we get much of what
we have
is his autobiography he says this is
what happened this is what converted me
this is what i was thinking here's what
was going on these are my struggles
he writes that yeah the confessions but
he also discusses in there
the nature of god the nature of evil the
idea of time
memory right these these um highly
abstract philosophical ideas
that he he brings down he gives some
concrete reality to it
in response it's either there was a
cities are being destroyed by the
vandals
barbarians coming in and people were
blaming it on christianity
and augustine responds to christianity
is what is enabling us to hold on to the
shreds that we are
it is pagan decadence and evil that's
what's bringing these barbarians upon us
that's what's causing the destruction of
society
so he writes the city of god and it's
the city of man the city of god and it
talks about the interplay
of the faith and the church and god's
true religion in the world and society
and an unbelief lack of faith uh
paganism
in the world and society and he says
this is what's going to happen this is
the interplay between the two
and this is going to go on to the end of
the world so that that book city of god
that's that that's foundational for
catholic social doctrine
that it did and that's really so
foundational for a social doctor in
general government
governance uh what's supposed to happen
the right way to do things
right there i also wrote a book on
christian doctrine about
scripture how are we supposed to
understand scripture and he says very
interesting he says god wants us to know
scripture
god has chosen to reveal himself through
scripture
and he gives us the holy ghost to guide
us but that doesn't take away
our possibility of misunderstanding
scripture
how do we know that we haven't made an
error so god god reveals himself through
the scriptures but
but there there's difficulty in
understanding it how are we supposed to
do that
and saint augustine writes a whole book
on christian doctrine
about that uh so i mean
there's there's there's all of these
like i said this this foundational
understanding that augustine gave to not
just
churches theology the church's
philosophy but the world itself the
world's understanding and he would he
would be one of those founders of europe
and western western civilization in
general
which is the foundations of the world we
have today
uh and i would like to to end with some
some quotes by saint augustine
uh that were i think we're familiar with
we may not have known where they've come
from
but here they are they come from
augustine so maybe
we've heard it before pray as though
everything depended on god
works as though everything depended on
you like saint augustine
do you wish to be great think first
about the foundations of humility
the higher your structure is the deeper
must be its foundation
right humility is the foundation of
spiritual life saint augustine
resentment is like drinking poison and
waiting for the other person to die
we've heard that attributed to many many
people over the years saint augustine i
don't even know if he was the first but
but um certainly he would have made it
uh popular
if you believe what you like in the
gospel and reject what you don't like
it's not the gospel in which you believe
but yourself
take that protestants take that lukewarm
catholics right
our hearts were made for you o lord and
they are restless until they rest in you
and that was a famous one when he was
said he also would say that
the man who's knocking on the brothel
door is looking for god
because god is a source of all our
happiness happiness comes from god
happiness we will only find happiness in
god and any other
pleasure on this earth any other goal
any other thing we desire
is is intermediary we really desire god
and we only desire those other things
insofar as he said there's a mistake
there you really with the soul desires
god
uh most of all and he gave this
absolutely beautiful uh he would write
about uh when he would finally convert
when he would finally be able to leave
behind
uh his his um evil way of life his sins
he would finally embrace the church uh
he wrote this this beautiful passage
on the love of god and he writes
late have i loved you beauty ever
ancient and ever new
late have i loved you and see you were
within me
and i was in the external world and i
sought you there and in my unlovely
state
i plunged into those lovely things which
you had made you were with me
but i was not with you those lovely
things you made kept me far
from you though if they did not have
their existence in you
they had no existence at all you called
and cried out loud and shattered my
deafness
you were radiant and resplendent you put
to flight my blindness
you were fragrant and i drew in my
breath and i now pant after you
i tasted you and i feel but hunger and
thirst
for you you touched me and i am set on
fire
to attain that peace which is yours
beautiful words from saint augustine uh
and so let us follow his example let us
not be late
in loving god but prompt all sin
any sin is a result of not loving god
sufficiently enough this is what saint
augustine realized
let us ask every day in our prayers to
for the love of god that deep ardent
burning love of god
of all of his gifts that is the greatest
to be placed within us
uh we're all children of the blessed
virgin and she has wept over us
so let us believe like saint augustine
that we we are the child of so many
tears tears of our blessed mother
let us believe we will not be lost if we
realize
god is the ultimate end of all my
desires he is the only one who can
satisfy me
so to thank god for giving us said
augustine giving us his example of
brilliance
and theology but also for having shown
us his past
and realize that whatever may have
happened in my past there's a future for
me as well
god bless you all in the name of the
father and the son and the holy ghost
[Music]
amen
[Music]
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