St. Augustine and Western Civilization
Augustine has been a central figure both on Christianity as well as western civilization. In this paper, I shall seek to examine the life of this profligate professor with a view to understanding his conversion to Christianity, the effect of his earlier attachment with Platonist and Machinean philosophy and his views on salvation among others. It is the object of this paper to explore the views of Augustine on a number of issues especially revolving around human nature, God and evil and his enormous influence on western civilization. In a bid to achieve the purport of his study, I shall look into the life of Augustine as espoused by Henry Chadwick in his book, Augustine of Hippo. A Life.
Augustine, was born in 354 in Tagaste (modern day Algeria) to a devout Christian mother, Monica and a pagan father, Patricius. He toyed with different philosophical teachings and finally settling on Christianity at the age of thirty one and went to become a Bishop of the Hippo and significantly influence western civilization. More so, his influence on Christianity is regarded as only second to that of St.Paul.in his earlier life, he was never into Christianity despite the insistence from his mother Monica who was a devout Christian. At the age of ninenteen, Augustine immersed himself into philosophy that he found intellectually stimulating. He later took on a mistress and sired a son with her. Augustine had difficulties being chaste while in his youth. He also learnt rhetoric at Carthage which involves persuasive speech and became a good orator even gaining paid employment while teaching rhetoric. To Augustine in his youth, Christianity did not provide the truth that he believed was life’s purpose as learnt from Cicero’s works as he deemed it for the simple-minded.
Augustine’s conversion to Christianity came while at Milan where he occasionally went to teach rhetoric. There he met Bishop Ambrose who impressed him intellectually by providing answers to questions that had hitherto vexed him. This proved a good religion for the young Augustine who had earlier become disillusioned by the ability of the Manichean teacher, the religion of the day, to answer to his questions. He learnt from Ambrose about saints who had been able to overcome their sexual desires by surrendering to God. The influence of his mother also cannot be downplayed for facilitating his conversion. However, the actual factor that caused his ultimate conversion was a moment that occurred in the late summer of 386 as he sat on a garden in Milan. He heard the voice of a child singing, “Take it and read it; take it and read it.” He then took up whatever was near him and it was Paul’s letter to the Romans which exhorts decent living free of sexual immorality and devoted to Christ. Struggling with sexual lust, the promise of the Gospel and the intellectual appeal of Bishop Ambrose, all these succeeded in effecting the conversion of Augustine. He was later baptized by Bishop Ambrose in the Easter eve of 387 and then went back to home for a time of retreat and study of the scriptures.
After converting to Christianity and following his earlier promiscuous life, he put away his mistress and became a monk. This he did while back at his home. Augustine would later come on to be ordained a priest, though reluctantly, and then take over as bishop of Hippo. Whilst visiting a church in Hippo, he went to church listening to a sermon where the bishop unexpectedly decried the shortage of priests in the church and made clear the intention to ordain Augustine. The people dragged Augustine to the bishop and the council of priests who laid their hands on him and ordained him into priesthood. Augustine had felt that it was too early to become a priest as he had not learnt enough of the Scriptures. A while later, in 391, after the death of the Bishop of Hippo, Augustine replaced him at the helm. As a bishop he fought against the Donatists and Pelagian heresies as he sought to defend the Christian faith. The Donatists believed that no one outside their faith was holy enough to administer sacrament and called for a rebaptising before they could do so. They argued that others had betrayed the faith during the time of persecution by Emperor Constantine. As a result of this, the unity of the church was seriously threatened. Augustine, in a quest to mend fences maintained that baptism existed inside and outside the church while its efficiency was only possible inside the church. Consequently, the others need be allowed into the church without rebaptising and emphasized the importance of unity and love. When the Donatists became overzealous in their quest, he recommended the use of force to bring them back into the church.
Another problem that faced Augustine as a bishop was wrought by Pelagians. The Pelagians emphasized on the ability of man to be righteous without the grace of God, they were of the view that man chooses to do good or evil and that all had been accorded grace. Their leader, Pelagius decried what he saw as the decline in holiness among Christians. In addition, the Pelagians never believed in original sin, a fact that put it at logger heads with the church. Augustine therefore had to counter this tonsure the unity of the church was not compromised on doctrinal grounds.
Augustine believed that original sin committed by Adam affects all mankind since the whole essence of human nature found their origin in Adam. He was of the view that all human were guilty of Adam’s sin. In contrast, the Pelagians believed none of this.
On issues of salvation, Augustine fully believed in salvation by grace. Given his belief that man was affected by original sin, he proffered that man’s free will is enslaved and requires liberation which can only occur by the grace of God. In addition, he said that only operating grace could enable a man to lead a righteous life, a strict departure from Pelagians who believed that man could attain holiness through his own effort.
In accordance with the doctrine of grace, Augustine developed the doctrine of predestination where he held that God chooses his elect, without any merit on their part, and that the number was predestined even before the foundation of the world. It would seem that Augustine contradicted his doctrine of free will and predestination, but he made it clear by attaining that divine knowledge enables one understand that God predestines to save those who he foreknows will choose to be saved through their free wills.
Owing to the influence of Platonic philosophy, Augustine believed evil to be non-existent. He argued that God being good created all things and since evil is not a thing, he could not have created evil. He cites evil as the absence of good, the same way the absence of health results to disease. To him, evil is no positive reality but a privation of good. He is of the view that the will determines a man’s actions but could not explain what determines the will. His view was influenced by Platonist philosophy especially by the works of Plotinus. However, he disagreed with the Platonists in that reason determines the action of humanity rather insisting on the will as the determinant.
Throughout history of Western civilisation, Augustine has emerged not only as a central figure but also a controversial one. Due to his theological views influenced greatly by Platonist philosophy, he remained a controversial figure even in the church. The theological traditions of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism were influenced by his teachings and works. Further, his views about original sin, need for God’s grace for salvation, and the doctrine of predestination had a profound effect on the doctrines formulated by Protestants.
His view on evil as non-existent and a privation of good and the doctrine of free will has continued to draw controversy in the church until this very day. In effect, the views of Augustine have heavily influenced Western civilization.
Bibliography
Chadwick, Henry. Augustine of Hippo:A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
