Saint of the Week: Augustine of Hippo

This week the Western Church remembers Augustine of Hippo. If you are a part of the Orthodox church you may remember his feast a couple months ago on June 15th.

Augustine is THE teacher of the West. He was hugely influential on both Catholic theology and the theology of Luther and Calvin. Much of his theological influence came out of his fights against others which led to some strong positions on the nature of Original Sin, and predestination.

Augustine was a convert to Christianity later in life. His journey to faith began after hearing the rhetoric of Ambrose, and reading “The Life of Antony”

One day he heard children singing “take up and read” he opened the scriptures to romans and was convicted of the truth of the Gospel. He was baptized in 387.

Here is what you need to know about Augustine:

1. His works “Confessions” and “City of God” are ‘must read’ Christian classics
2. He fought against Pelagianism – Which taught works-righteousness
3. He is a “Doctor of the Church” for Catholics
4. He has influenced nearly every theologian in the west Catholic AND Protestant
5. He opposed the religion of Manichaeanism, which he was once an adherent of.
6. He argued against the Donatists who were elitist schismatics at his time.