124-509: San Agustín is the Spanish-language name for St. Augustine . San Agustín may also refer to: Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( / ɔː ˈ ɡ ʌ s t ɪ n / aw- GUST -in , US also / ˈ ɔː ɡ ə s t iː n / AW -gə-steen ; Latin : Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine , was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and
248-679: A Latin term meaning "and from the Son", was added to the original Nicene Creed , and has been the subject of great controversy between Eastern and Western Christianity . The term refers to the Son, Jesus Christ , with the Father, as the one shared origin of the Holy Spirit . It is not in the original text of the Creed, attributed to the First Council of Constantinople (381), which says that
372-462: A heuristic device , Augustine thought the actual event of creation would be incomprehensible by humans and therefore needed to be translated. Augustine also does not envision original sin as causing structural changes in the universe, and even suggests that the bodies of Adam and Eve were already created mortal before the Fall . Apart from his specific views, Augustine recognized that interpreting
496-538: A busy schedule made up of preparing sermons and preaching at other churches besides his own. When serving as the Bishop of Hippo, his goal was to minister to individuals in his congregation and he would choose the passages that the church planned to read every week. As bishop, he believed that it was his job to interpret the work of the Bible. He wrote his autobiographical Confessions in 397–398. His work The City of God
620-521: A classic of Christian theology and a key text in the history of autobiography . This work is an outpouring of thanksgiving and penitence. Although it is written as an account of his life, the Confessions also talks about the nature of time, causality, free will, and other important philosophical topics. The following is taken from that work: Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I
744-604: A different faith [ ], nor to write, nor to put together, nor to excogitate, nor to teach it to others. [Those who] either [ ] put together another faith, or [ ] bring forward or [ ] teach or [ ] deliver a different Creed [ ] to [those who] wish to be converted [ ] from the Gentiles, or Jews or any heresy whatever, if they be Bishops or clerics let them be deposed, [ ] but if they be monks or laics: let them be anathematized. [ ] Some scholars claim that
868-736: A disappointing meeting with the Manichaean bishop, Faustus of Mileve , a key exponent of Manichaean theology, started Augustine's scepticism of Manichaeanism. In Rome, he reportedly turned away from Manichaeanism, embracing the scepticism of the New Academy movement. Because of his education, Augustine had great rhetorical prowess and was very knowledgeable of the philosophies behind many faiths. At Milan, his mother's religiosity, Augustine's own studies in Neoplatonism , and his friend Simplicianus all urged him towards Christianity. This
992-415: A greater good. Eventually, Augustine concludes that it was the good of the "companionship" between him and his accomplices that allowed him to delight in this theft. At the age of 17, through the generosity of his fellow citizen Romanianus, Augustine went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric , though it was above the financial means of his family. Despite the good warnings of his mother, as
1116-437: A large community of Christians against different political and religious factors which had a major influence on his writings. Possidius admired Augustine as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against its detractors. Possidius also described Augustine's personal traits in detail, drawing a portrait of a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned
1240-537: A literal 1,000-year kingdom prior to the general resurrection , but later rejected the belief, viewing it as carnal. During the medieval period, the Catholic Church built its system of eschatology on Augustinian amillennialism , where Christ rules the earth spiritually through his triumphant church. During the Reformation , theologians such as John Calvin accepted amillennialism. Augustine taught that
1364-538: A rhetoric professor. Augustine won the job and headed north to take his position in Milan in late 384. Thirty years old, he had won the most visible academic position in the Latin world at a time when such posts gave ready access to political careers. Although Augustine spent ten years as a Manichaean, he was never an initiate or "elect", but an "auditor", the lowest level in this religion's hierarchy. While still at Carthage
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#17327651226461488-429: A small Numidian city about 31 kilometres (19 miles) south of Thagaste. There he became familiar with Latin literature , as well as pagan beliefs and practices. His first insight into the nature of sin occurred when he and a number of friends stole pears from a neighbourhood garden. He tells this story in his autobiography, Confessions . He realises that the pears were "tempting neither for its colour nor its flavour" - he
1612-443: A teenage heiress. By the time he was able to marry her, however, he had decided to become a Christian priest and the marriage did not happen. Augustine was, from the beginning, a brilliant student, with an eager intellectual curiosity, but he never mastered Greek – his first Greek teacher was a brutal man who constantly beat his students, and Augustine rebelled and refused to study. By the time he realized he needed to know Greek, it
1736-524: A villa outside of Milan where he gathered with his followers, and described it as Christianae vitae otium – the leisure of Christian life. In late August of 386, at the age of 31, having heard of Ponticianus's and his friends' first reading of the life of Anthony of the Desert , Augustine converted to Christianity. As Augustine later told it, his conversion was prompted by hearing a child's voice say "take up and read" ( Latin : tolle, lege ). Resorting to
1860-551: A young woman in Carthage. Though his mother wanted him to marry a person of his class, the woman remained his lover. He was warned by his mother to avoid fornication (sex outside marriage), but Augustine persisted in the relationship for over fifteen years, and the woman gave birth to his son Adeodatus (372–388), which means "Gift from God", who was viewed as extremely intelligent by his contemporaries. In 385, Augustine ended his relationship with his lover in order to prepare to marry
1984-421: A youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associating with young men who boasted of their sexual exploits. The need to gain their acceptance encouraged inexperienced boys like Augustine to seek or make up stories about sexual experiences. Despite multiple claims to the contrary, it has been suggested that Augustine's actual sexual experiences were likely with members of the opposite sex only. It
2108-401: Is a three-dimensional object composed of the four elements, whereas the soul has no spatial dimensions. Soul is a kind of substance, participating in reason, fit for ruling the body. Augustine was not preoccupied, as Plato and Descartes were, in detailed efforts to explain the metaphysics of the soul-body union. It sufficed for him to admit they are metaphysically distinct: to be a human
2232-561: Is central to the majority of Christian churches. For some, the term implies a serious underestimation of God the Father 's role in the Trinity; for others, its denial implies a serious underestimation of the role of God the Son in the Trinity. The term has been an ongoing source of difference between Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity, formally divided since the East–West Schism of 1054. There have been attempts at resolving
2356-580: Is from the Father and the Son") does not contain any mention of the term "procession" or any of the other particular terms that would describe relations between Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the previously mentioned claim for the "earliest use" of Filioque clause is not universally accepted by scholars . Furthermore, another recension that is preserved in the East Syriac sources of the Church of
2480-596: Is known by various cognomens throughout the many denominations of the Christian world, including Blessed Augustine and the Doctor of Grace ( Latin : Doctor gratiae ). Hippo Regius , where Augustine was the bishop , was in modern-day Annaba , Algeria . Augustine was born in 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras , Algeria ) in the Roman province of Numidia . His mother, Monica or Monnica,
2604-576: Is produced by procession, is not preceded by Those from Whom He proceeded. We shall then behold openly how both The One [God] is divisibly Three [Persons] and the Three [Persons] indivisibly One [God]." Later in his Dialogues , Gregory I took the Filioque doctrine for granted when he quoted John 16:7, and asked: if "it is certain that the Paraclete Spirit always proceeds from the Father and
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#17327651226462728-755: Is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Lutheran churches , and the Anglican Communion . He is also a preeminent Catholic Doctor of the Church and the patron of the Augustinians . His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses. His thoughts profoundly influenced
2852-423: Is to be a composite of soul and body, with the soul superior to the body. The latter statement is grounded in his hierarchical classification of things into those that merely exist, those that exist and live, and those that exist, live, and have intelligence or reason. Like other Church Fathers such as Athenagoras , Tertullian , Clement of Alexandria and Basil of Caesarea , Augustine "vigorously condemned
2976-613: Is unlawful [ ] to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different [ ] Faith as a rival to that established by the [ ] Fathers assembled [ ] in Nicæa. [ ] those who [ ] compose a different faith, or to introduce or offer it to persons desiring to turn to the acknowledgment of the truth, whether from Heathenism or from Judaism, or from any heresy whatsoever, shall be deposed, if they be bishops or clergymen; [ ] and if they be laymen, they shall be anathematized. [ ] Ephesus I canon 7
3100-512: Is used of Jesus' originating from God in John 8:42, although at that time Greek ἐκπορεύεσθαι was already beginning to designate the Holy Spirit's manner of originating from the Father as opposed to that of the Son ( γέννησις — being born). The third Ecumenical council, Ephesus I (431), quoted the creed in its 325 form, not in that of 381, decreed in Ephesus I canon 7 that: [ ] it
3224-511: The sortes biblicae , he opened a book of St. Paul's writings (codex apostoli, 8.12.29) at random and read Romans 13: 13–14: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." He later wrote an account of his conversion in his Confessions ( Latin : Confessiones ), which has since become
3348-493: The Edict of Caracalla in 212. Augustine's family had been Roman, from a legal standpoint, for at least a century when he was born. It is assumed that his mother, Monica, was of Berber origin, on the basis of her name, but as his family were honestiores , an upper class of citizens known as honorable men, Augustine's first language was likely Latin. At the age of 11, Augustine was sent to school at Madaurus (now M'Daourouch ),
3472-660: The Ever-Virgin Mary as the Mother of God , believing her to be "full of grace" (following earlier Latin writers such as Jerome ) on account of her sexual integrity and innocence. Likewise, he affirmed that the Virgin Mary "conceived as virgin, gave birth as virgin and stayed virgin forever". Filioque Filioque ( / ˌ f ɪ l i ˈ oʊ k w i , - k w eɪ / FIL -ee- OH -kwee, -kway ; Ecclesiastical Latin : [filiˈokwe] ),
3596-473: The Filioque as just another weapon in the power struggle between Rome and Constantinople and although this was occasionally the case, for many involved in the dispute, the theological issues outweighed by far the ecclesiological concerns. According to Siecienski, the deeper question was perhaps whether Eastern and Western Christianity had wound up developing "differing and ultimately incompatible teachings about
3720-480: The Filioque question hinges on fundamental issues of dogma and cannot be dismissed as simply one of different theologoumena . Many in the "rigorist" camp consider the Filioque to have resulted in the role of the Holy Spirit being underestimated by the Western Church and thus leading to serious doctrinal error. In a similar vein, Siecienski comments that, although it was common in the 20th century to view
3844-429: The Filioque , a "liberal" view and a "rigorist" view. The "liberal" view sees the controversy as being largely a matter of mutual miscommunication and misunderstanding. In this view, both East and West are at fault for failing to allow for a "plurality of theologies". Each side went astray in considering its theological framework as the only one that was doctrinally valid and applicable. Thus, neither side would accept that
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3968-633: The Holy Spirit proceeds "from the Father " ( Greek : τὸ έκ του Πατρὸς έκπορευόμενον ) without the addition "and the Son ". In the late 6th century, some Latin Churches added the words "and from the Son" ( Filioque ) to the description of the procession of the Holy Spirit, in what many Eastern Orthodox Christians have at a later stage argued is a violation of Canon VII of the Council of Ephesus , since
4092-534: The Manichaean religion , to which he had formerly adhered. He preached around 6,000 to 10,000 sermons when he was alive; however, there are only around 500 sermons that are accessible today. When Augustine preached his sermons, they were recorded by stenographers. Some of his sermons would last over one hour and he would preach multiple times throughout a given week. When talking to his audience, he would stand on an elevated platform; however, he would walk towards
4216-517: The Moralia (xxx.iv.17), St. Gregory writes of the procession of the Holy Spirit from Father and Son while defending their co-equality. Thus, he wrote, "[The Son] shews both how He springs from the Father not unequal to Himself, and how the Spirit of Both proceeds coeternal with Both. For we shall then openly behold, how That Which Is by an origin, is not subsequent to Him from Whom It springs; how He Who
4340-465: The true church . He was strongly influenced by the Platonist belief that true reality is invisible and that, if the visible reflects the invisible, it does so only partially and imperfectly (see Theory of Forms ). Others question whether Augustine really held to some form of an "invisible true Church" concept. Augustine originally believed in premillennialism , namely that Christ would establish
4464-531: The 150 saintly fathers assembled in Constantinople" in its acts. It was cited at Chalcedon I on instructions from the representative of the Emperor who chaired the meeting and who may have wished to present it as "a precedent for drawing up new creeds and definitions to supplement the Creed of Nicaea, as a way of getting round the ban on new creeds in" Ephesus I canon 7. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed
4588-644: The Augustinian Eremites . In the East , his teachings are more disputed and were notably attacked by John Romanides , but other theologians and figures of the Eastern Orthodox Church have shown significant approbation of his writings, chiefly Georges Florovsky . The most controversial doctrine associated with him, the filioque , was rejected by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Other disputed teachings include his views on original sin,
4712-665: The Augustinians guardians of the tomb of Augustine (called Arca ), which was remade in 1362 and elaborately carved with bas-reliefs of scenes from Augustine's life, created by Giovanni di Balduccio . In October 1695, some workmen in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia discovered a marble box containing human bones (including part of a skull). A dispute arose between the Augustinian hermits (Order of Saint Augustine) and
4836-667: The Cappadocian and later Byzantine tradition. The original Nicene Creed – composed in Greek and adopted by the first ecumenical council , Nicaea I (325) – ended with the words "and in the Holy Spirit" without defining the procession of the Holy Spirit. The procession of the Holy Spirit was defined in what is also called the Nicene Creed, or more accurately the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed , which
4960-520: The Church are the successors of the Apostles , and their authority in the Church is God-given. The concept of Church invisible was advocated by Augustine as part of his refutation of the Donatist sect, though he, as other Church Fathers before him, saw the invisible Church and visible Church as one and the same thing, unlike the later Protestant reformers who did not identify the Catholic Church as
5084-469: The Church in 1298 by Pope Boniface VIII . His feast day is 28 August, the day on which he died. He is considered the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and a number of cities and dioceses. He is invoked against sore eyes. Augustine is remembered in the Church of England 's calendar of saints with a lesser festival on 28 August. According to Bede 's True Martyrology , Augustine's body
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5208-473: The Church, who are either dead, sinful members or elect predestined for Heaven). The former is the institutional body established by Christ on earth which proclaims salvation and administers the sacraments, while the latter is the invisible body of the elect, made up of genuine believers from all ages, who are known only to God. The Church, which is visible and societal, will be made up of "wheat" and "tares", that is, good and wicked people (as per Mat. 13:30), until
5332-504: The Dead, section 5 (420) he exhorted respect for the body on the grounds it belonged to the very nature of the human person . Augustine's favourite figure to describe body-soul unity is marriage: caro tua, coniunx tua – your body is your wife . Initially, the two elements were in perfect harmony. After the fall of humanity they are now experiencing dramatic combat with one another. They are two categorically different things. The body
5456-567: The East and the West. The West used the more generic Latin term procedere (to move forward; to come forth) which is more synonymous with the Greek term προϊέναι ( proienai ) than the more specific Greek term ἐκπορεύεσθαι ( ekporeuesthai , "to issue forth as from an origin"). The West traditionally used one term and the East traditionally used two terms to convey arguably equivalent and complementary meaning, that is, ekporeuesthai from
5580-455: The East contains only the phrase "and in the Holy Spirit". Various professions of faith confessed the doctrine during the patristic age. The Fides Damasi (380 or 5th century), a profession of faith attributed to Pseudo-Damasus or Jerome , includes a formula of the doctrine. The Symbolum Toletanum I (400), a profession of faith legislated by the Toledo I synod , includes a formula of
5704-470: The Father and proienai from the Son. Moreover, the more generic Latin term, procedere , does not have "the added implication of the starting-point of that movement; thus it is used to translate a number of other Greek theological terms." It is used as the Latin equivalent, in the Vulgate , of not only ἐκπορεύεσθαι , but also ἔρχεσθαι, προέρχεσθαι, προσέρχεσθαι , and προβαίνω (four times) and
5828-423: The Father and the Son and was thus a form of crypto- Arianism . In the East, the interpolation of the Filioque seemed to many to be an indication that the West was teaching a "substantially different faith". Siecienski asserts that, as much as power and authority were central issues in the debate, the strength of emotion rising even to the level of hatred can be ascribed to a belief that the other side had "destroyed
5952-405: The Father and the Son, the Spirit never leaves ( numquam recedit ) the Son by this eternal procession. Yves Congar commented, "The walls of separation do not reach as high as heaven." And Aidan Nichols remarked that "the Filioque controversy is, in fact, a casualty of the theological pluralism of the patristic Church", on the one hand the Latin and Alexandrian tradition, on the other
6076-464: The Holiness of the Catholic Church . That year, also, Adeodatus and Augustine returned home to Africa. Augustine's mother Monica died at Ostia , Italy, as they prepared to embark for Africa. Upon their arrival, they began a life of aristocratic leisure at Augustine's family's property. Soon after, Adeodatus, too, died. Augustine then sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor. He only kept
6200-422: The Holy Spirit and another about the Church, baptism, and resurrection of the dead. For the full text of both creeds, see Comparison between Creed of 325 and Creed of 381 . The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed article professes: It speaks of the Holy Spirit "proceeding from the Father" – a phrase based on John 15:26. The Greek word ἐκπορευόμενον ( ekporeuomenon ) refers to the ultimate source from which
6324-488: The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, out of the Father and the Son, from the Father and out of the Son, from Both, from one and the same essence as the Father and the Son, and so on". Bulgakov concludes: "The patristic teaching of the fourth century lacks that exclusivity which came to characterize Orthodox theology after Photius under the influence of repulsion from the Filioque doctrine. Although we do not here find
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#17327651226466448-642: The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son ( ex Patre et Filio procedentem ). The degree to which this teaching was compatible with, or contradictory to, the emerging Greek tradition remains, sixteen centuries later, subject to debate." Before the creed of 381 became known in the West and even before it was adopted by the First Council of Constantinople, Christian writers in the West, of whom Tertullian ( c. 160 – c. 220 ), Jerome (347–420), Ambrose ( c. 338–397 ) and Augustine (354–430) are representatives, spoke of
6572-764: The Man Christ Jesus, in all things has Him (the Holy Spirit) both always and continually present. For the same Spirit even in substance is brought forth from Him ( quia et ex illo isdem Spiritus per substantiam profertur .) And thus, though He (the Spirit) abides in the holy Preachers, He is justly said to abide in the Mediator in a special manner, for that in them He abides of grace for a particular object, but in Him He abides substantially for all ends." Later in
6696-528: The New Testament that shaped later Trinitarian theology, and particular texts that both Latins and Greeks exploited to support their respective positions vis-à-vis the Filioque ". In contrast, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen says that Eastern Orthodox believe that the absence of an explicit mention of the double procession of the Holy Spirit is a strong indication that the Filioque is a theologically erroneous doctrine. Basil of Caesarea wrote: "Through
6820-511: The Nicene Creed of 325 and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed , were read, the former at the request of a bishop, the latter, against the protests of the bishops, on the initiative of the emperor's representative, "doubtless motivated by the need to find a precedent for drawing up new creeds and definitions to supplement the Creed of Nicaea, as a way of getting round the ban on new creeds in" Ephesus I canon 7. The acts of Chalcedon I defined that: [ ] no one shall [ ] bring forward
6944-499: The Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381 includes the section: The controversy arises from the insertion of the word Filioque ("and the Son") in the line: The controversy referring to the term Filioque involves four separate disagreements: Although the disagreement about the doctrine preceded the disagreement about the insertion into the Creed, the two disagreements became linked to
7068-562: The Septuagint. His view was based on the Aristotelian distinction "between the fetus before and after its supposed 'vivification ' ". Therefore, he did not classify as murder the abortion of an "unformed" fetus since he thought it could not be known with certainty the fetus had received a soul. Augustine held that "the timing of the infusion of the soul was a mystery known to God alone". However, he considered procreation as "one of
7192-414: The Son both protects His distinction as Only-begotten and does not exclude the Spirit from His natural relation to the Father. Cyril of Alexandria provides "a host of quotations that seemingly speak of the Spirit's 'procession' from both the Father and the Son". In these passages he uses the Greek verbs προϊέναι (like the Latin procedere ) and προχεῖσθαι (flow from), not the verb ἐκπορεύεσθαι ,
7316-463: The Son is the same thing as to proceed from the Father". In the late 4th century, Ambrose of Milan asserted that the Spirit "proceeds from ( procedit a ) the Father and the Son", without ever being separated from either. Ambrose adds, "[W]ith You, Almighty God, Your Son is the Fount of Life, that is, the Fount of the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit is life ..." "None of these writers, however, makes
7440-449: The Son" ( Filioque ). Strictly speaking, Ephesus I canon 7 applies "only to the formula to be used in the reception of converts." Philippe Labbe remarked that Ephesus I canons 7 and 8 are omitted in some collections of canons and that the collection of Dionysius Exiguus omitted all the Ephesus I canons, apparently considered that they did not concern the Church as a whole. At the fourth ecumenical council, Chalcedon I (451), both
7564-454: The Son, why does the Son say that He is about to leave so that [the Spirit] who never leaves the Son might come?" The text proposes an eternal procession from both Father and the Son by the use of the word "always" ( semper ). Gregory I's use of recessurum and recedit is also significant for the divine procession because although the Spirit always proceeds ( semper procedat ) from
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#17327651226467688-413: The Spirit "coming forth from the Father" and being "sent by the Son"; as being "from the Father through the Son"; and as "having the Father and the Son as his source"; in another passage, Hilary points to John 16:15 (where Jesus says: "All things that the Father has are mine; therefore I said that [the Spirit] shall take from what is mine and declare it to you"), and wonders aloud whether "to receive from
7812-459: The Spirit "proceeds substantially from both" the Father and the Son. Other texts that have been used include Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:9, Philippians 1:19, where the Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit of the Son", "the Spirit of Christ", "the Spirit of Jesus Christ", and texts in the Gospel of John on the sending of the Holy Spirit by Jesus, and John 16:7. Revelation 22:1 states that the river of
7936-412: The Spirit as coming from the Father and the Son, while the expression "from the Father through the Son" is also found among them. In the early 3rd century Roman province of Africa , Tertullian emphasises that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all share a single divine substance, quality and power, which he conceives of as flowing forth from the Father and being transmitted by the Son to the Spirit. Using
8060-465: The Spirit is said to be "sent" by the Son from the Father both as to an eternal procession and a temporal mission. "The sending of the Spirit is that procession by which It proceeds from the Father and the Son." In his Moralia in Iob , initially composed while he was apocrisarius at the imperial court of Constantinople and later edited while Pope of Rome, Gregory wrote, "But the Mediator of God and men,
8184-466: The Spirit's mode of origin the object of special reflection; all are concerned, rather, to emphasize the equality of status of all three divine persons as God, and all acknowledge that the Father alone is the source of God's eternal being." Pope Gregory I , in Gospel Homily 26, notes that the Son is "sent" by the Father both in the sense of an eternal generation and a temporal Incarnation. Thus,
8308-590: The Water of Life in Heaven is "flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ", which may be interpreted as the Holy Spirit proceeding from both the Father and the Son. Tension can be seen in comparing these two passages: Siecienski asserts that "the New Testament does not explicitly address the procession of the Holy Spirit as later theology would understand the doctrine", although there are "certain principles established in
8432-428: The addition of Filioque to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed , In any case, while Ephesus I canon 7 forbade setting up a different creed as a rival to that of Nicaea I, it was the creed attributed to Constantinople I that was adopted liturgically in the East and later a Latin variant was adopted in the West. The form of this creed that the West adopted had two additions: "God from God" ( Deum de Deo ) and "and
8556-526: The ancient Faith". In his youth he was drawn to the Manichaean faith , and later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism . After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin and made significant contributions to
8680-442: The audience during his sermons. When he was preaching, he used a variety of rhetorical devices that included analogies , word pictures, similes , metaphors , repetition , and antithesis when trying to explain more about the Bible. In addition, he used questions and rhymes when talking about the differences between people's life on Earth and Heaven as seen in one of his sermons that was preached in 412 AD. Augustine believed that
8804-485: The best and brightest rhetoricians practised, in 383. However, Augustine was disappointed with the apathetic reception. It was the custom for students to pay their fees to the professor on the last day of the term, and many students attended faithfully all term, and then did not pay. Manichaean friends introduced him to the prefect of the City of Rome, Symmachus , who had been asked by the imperial court at Milan to provide
8928-638: The bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia , Roman North Africa . His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosophy and Western Christianity , and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period . His many important works include The City of God , On Christian Doctrine , and Confessions . According to his contemporary, Jerome of Stridon , Augustine "established anew
9052-573: The catholic faith, but to the error of [ Manichaeism ]. Gregory of Nyssa stated: The one (i.e. the Son) is directly from the First and the other (i.e., the Spirit) is through the one who is directly from the First ( τὸ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ προσεχῶς ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου ) with the result that the Only-begotten remains the Son and does not negate the Spirit's being from the Father since the middle position of
9176-541: The conflict. Among the early attempts at harmonization are the works of Maximus the Confessor , who notably was canonized independently by both Eastern and Western churches. Differences over this and other doctrines, and mainly the question of the disputed papal primacy , have been and remain the primary causes of the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Western churches. The Nicene Creed as amended by
9300-439: The consciousness of his African heritage, at least geographically and perhaps ethnically. For example, he refers to Apuleius as "the most notorious of us Africans," to Ponticianus as "a country man of ours, insofar as being African," and to Faustus of Mileve as "an African Gentleman ". Augustine's family name, Aurelius, suggests his father's ancestors were freedmen of the gens Aurelia given full Roman citizenship by
9424-514: The contemporary ideas of ages (such as those of certain Greeks and Egyptians) that differed from the Church's sacred writings. In The Literal Interpretation of Genesis , Augustine argued that God had created everything in the universe simultaneously and not over a period of six days. He argued the six-day structure of creation presented in the Book of Genesis represents a logical framework , rather than
9548-543: The creation story was difficult, and remarked that interpretations could change should new information come up. Augustine developed his doctrine of the Church principally in reaction to the Donatist sect. He taught there is one Church, but within this Church there are two realities, namely, the visible aspect (the institutional hierarchy , the Catholic sacraments , and the laity ) and the invisible (the souls of those in
9672-533: The development of just war theory . When the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City of God , distinct from the material Earthly City. The segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustine's On the Trinity . Augustine
9796-551: The dispute was not so much about conflicting dogmas as it was about different theologoumena or theological perspectives. While all Christians must be in agreement on questions of dogma , there is room for diversity in theological approaches. This view is vehemently opposed by those in Eastern Orthodox Church whom Cunliffe-Jones identifies as holding a "rigorist" view. According to the standard Eastern Orthodox position, as pronounced by Photius , Mark of Ephesus and 20th century Eastern Orthodox theologians such as Vladimir Lossky ,
9920-685: The doctrine of grace, and predestination . Though considered to be mistaken on some points, he is still considered a saint and has influenced some Eastern Church Fathers, most notably Gregory Palamas . In the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches , his feast day is celebrated on 15 June. The historian Diarmaid MacCulloch has written: "Augustine's impact on Western Christian thought can hardly be overstated; only his beloved example, Paul of Tarsus , has been more influential, and Westerners have generally seen Paul through Augustine's eyes." Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine or Saint Austin ,
10044-673: The earliest example of the Filioque clause in the East is contained in the West Syriac recension of the profession of faith of the Church of the East formulated at the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in Persia in 410. This council was held some twenty years before the Nestorian Schism that caused the later split between the Church of the East and the Church in the Roman Empire. Since wording of that recension ("who
10168-625: The end of time. This concept countered the Donatist claim that only those in a state of grace were the "true" or "pure" church on earth, and that priests and bishops who were not in a state of grace had no authority or ability to confect the sacraments. Augustine's ecclesiology was more fully developed in City of God . There he conceives of the church as a heavenly city or kingdom, ruled by love, which will ultimately triumph over all earthly empires which are self-indulgent and ruled by pride. Augustine followed Cyprian in teaching that bishops and priests of
10292-412: The eternal fate of the soul is determined at death, and that purgatorial fires of the intermediate state purify only those who died in communion with the Church. His teaching provided fuel for later theology. Although Augustine did not develop an independent Mariology , his statements on Mary surpass in number and depth those of other early writers. Even before the Council of Ephesus , he defended
10416-414: The experience eventually produced a decreased sensitivity to pain. Augustine eventually broke off his engagement to his eleven-year-old fiancée but never renewed his relationship with either of his concubines. Alypius of Thagaste steered Augustine away from marriage, saying they could not live a life together in the love of wisdom if he married. Augustine looked back years later on the life at Cassiciacum ,
10540-399: The family house, which he converted into a monastic foundation for himself and a group of friends. Furthermore, while he was known for his major contributions to Christian rhetoric, another major contribution was his preaching style. After converting to Christianity, Augustine turned against his profession as a rhetoric professor in order to devote more time to preaching. In 391 Augustine
10664-405: The goods of marriage; abortion figured as a means, along with drugs which cause sterility, of frustrating this good. It lay along a continuum which included infanticide as an instance of 'lustful cruelty' or 'cruel lust.' Augustine called the use of means to avoid the birth of a child an 'evil work:' a reference to either abortion or contraception or both." In City of God , Augustine rejected both
10788-690: The individuality of the Holy Spirit: they predicate Him to be the Gift of God, [and they infer] God not to give a gift inferior to Himself. [From that, they] predicate the Holy Spirit neither as begotten, like the Son, of the Father; [ ] nor [ ] of the Son, [ and] they do not affirm Him to owe that which He is to no one, [except] to the Father, [ ] lest we should establish two Beginnings without beginning [ ] which would be an assertion at once [ ] false and [ ] absurd, and one proper not to
10912-550: The inherently soteriological thrust of his work". Gregory of Nazianzus distinguished the coming forth ( προϊεον ) of the Spirit from the Father from that of the Son from the Father by saying that the latter is by generation, but that of the Spirit by procession ( ἐκπρόρευσις ), a matter on which there is no dispute between East and West, as shown also by the Latin Father Augustine of Hippo , who wrote that although biblical exegetes had not adequately discussed
11036-508: The library of the church in Hippo and all the books therein should be carefully preserved. He died on 28 August 430. Shortly after his death, the Vandals lifted the siege of Hippo, but they returned soon after and burned the city. They destroyed all but Augustine's cathedral and library, which they left untouched. Augustine was canonized by popular acclaim, and later recognized as a Doctor of
11160-582: The medieval worldview. Many Protestants , especially Calvinists and Lutherans , consider him one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and divine grace . Protestant Reformers generally, and Martin Luther in particular, held Augustine in preeminence among early Church Fathers . From 1505 to 1521, Luther was a member of the Order of
11284-423: The metaphor the root, the shoot, and the fruit; the spring, the river, and the stream; and the sun, the ray, and point of light for the unity with distinction in the Trinity, he adds, "The Spirit, then, is third from God and the Son, ..." In his arguments against Arianism , Marius Victorinus ( c. 280–365 ) strongly connected the Son and the Spirit. In the mid-4th century, Hilary of Poitiers wrote of
11408-474: The nature of God". Moreover, Siecienski asserts that the question of whether the teachings of East and West were truly incompatible became almost secondary to the fact that, starting around the 8th or 9th century, Christians on both sides of the dispute began to believe that the differences were irreconcilable. From the view of the West, the Eastern rejection of the Filioque denied the consubstantiality of
11532-528: The one Son [the Holy Spirit] is joined to the Father". He also said that the "natural goodness, inherent holiness, and royal dignity reaches from the Father through the only-begotten ( διὰ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ) to the Spirit". However, Siecienski comments that "there are passages in Basil that are certainly capable of being read as advocating something like the Filioque , but to do so would be to misunderstand
11656-471: The passage of time in a physical way – it would bear a spiritual, rather than physical, meaning, which is no less literal. One reason for this interpretation is the passage in Sirach 18:1, creavit omnia simul ("He created all things at once"), which Augustine took as proof that the days of Genesis 1 had to be taken non-literalistically. As additional support for describing the six days of creation as
11780-527: The practice of induced abortion ", and although he disapproved of abortion during any stage of pregnancy, he made a distinction between early and later abortions. He acknowledged the distinction between "formed" and "unformed" fetuses mentioned in the Septuagint translation of Exodus 21:22–23, which incorrectly translates the word "harm" (from the original Hebrew text) as "form" in the Koine Greek of
11904-443: The preachers' ultimate goal is to ensure the salvation of their audience. In 395, he was made coadjutor Bishop of Hippo and became full Bishop shortly thereafter, hence the name "Augustine of Hippo"; and he gave his property to the church of Thagaste. He remained in that position until his death in 430. Bishops were the only individuals allowed to preach when he was alive and he scheduled time to preach after being ordained despite
12028-415: The proceeding occurs, but the Latin verb procedere (and the corresponding terms used to translate it into other languages) can apply also to proceeding through a mediate channel. Frederick Bauerschmidt notes that what Medieval theologians disregarded as minor objections about ambiguous terms, was in fact an "insufficient understanding of the semantic difference" between the Greek and Latin terms in both
12152-472: The procession of the Spirit from the Son. However, they did enunciate important principles later invoked in support of one theology or the other. These included the insistence on the unique hypostatic properties of each Divine Person, in particular the Father's property of being, within the Trinity, the one cause, while they also recognized that the Persons, though distinct, cannot be separated, and that not only
12276-493: The pure Filioque that Catholic theologians find, we also do not find that opposition to the Filioque that became something of an Orthodox or, rather, anti-Catholic dogma." Regarding the Greek Fathers, whether Cappadocian or Alexandrian, there is, according to Siecienski, no citable basis for the claim historically made by both sides, that they explicitly either supported or denied the later theologies concerning
12400-490: The purity of the faith and refused to accept the clear teachings of the fathers on the Spirit's procession". It is argued that in the relations between the persons of the Trinity , one person cannot "take" or "receive" ( λήμψεται ) anything from either of the others except by way of procession. Biblical texts such as John 20:22, were seen by Fathers of the Church, especially Athanasius of Alexandria , Cyril of Alexandria and Epiphanius of Salamis as grounds for saying that
12524-528: The regular canons ( Canons Regular of Saint Augustine ) as to whether these were the bones of Augustine. The hermits did not believe so; the canons affirmed they were. Eventually Pope Benedict XIII (1724–1730) directed the Bishop of Pavia, Monsignor Pertusati, to make a determination. The bishop declared that, in his opinion, the bones were those of Augustine. The Augustinians were expelled from Pavia in 1785, Augustine's ark and relics were brought to Pavia Cathedral in 1799. San Pietro fell into disrepair but
12648-463: The saint. Augustine's large contribution of writings covered diverse fields including theology, philosophy and sociology. Along with John Chrysostom , Augustine was among the most prolific scholars of the early church by quantity. Augustine was one of the first Christian ancient Latin authors with a very clear vision of theological anthropology . He saw the human being as a perfect unity of soul and body. In his late treatise On Care to Be Had for
12772-429: The sending of the Spirit to creatures but also the Spirit's eternal flowing forth ( προϊέναι ) from the Father within the Trinity is "through the Son" ( διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ). Siecienski remarked that, "while the Greek fathers were still striving to find language capable of expressing the mysterious nature of the Son's relationship to the Spirit, Latin theologians, even during Cyril's lifetime, had already found their answer –
12896-401: The siege. Augustine has been cited to have excommunicated himself upon the approach of his death in an act of public penance and solidarity with sinners. Spending his final days in prayer and repentance, he requested the penitential Psalms of David be hung on his walls so he could read them and upon which led him to "[weep] freely and constantly" according to Possidius' biography. He directed
13020-484: The temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his see. Shortly before Augustine's death, the Vandals , a Germanic tribe that had converted to Arianism , invaded Roman Africa . The Vandals besieged Hippo in the spring of 430 when Augustine entered his final illness. According to Possidius, one of the few miracles attributed to Augustine, the healing of an ill man, took place during
13144-495: The third when the pope approved insertion of the term into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, in the 11th century. Anthony Siecienski writes that "Ultimately what was at stake was not only God's trinitarian nature, but also the nature of the Church, its teaching authority and the distribution of power among its leaders." Hubert Cunliffe-Jones identifies two opposing Eastern Orthodox opinions about
13268-407: The verb that appears in the Greek text of the Nicene Creed. Since the Holy Spirit when he is in us effects our being conformed to God, and he actually proceeds from the Father and Son, it is abundantly clear that he is of the divine essence, in it in essence and proceeding from it Epiphanius of Salamis is stated by Bulgakov to present in his writings "a whole series of expressions to the effect that
13392-417: The words were not included in the text by either the First Council of Nicaea or that of Constantinople. The inclusion was incorporated into the liturgical practice of Rome in 1014, but was rejected by Eastern Christianity. Whether that term Filioque is included, as well as how it is translated and understood, can have important implications for how one understands the doctrine of the Trinity , which
13516-650: Was ordained a priest in Hippo Regius (now Annaba), in Algeria. He was especially interested in discovering how his previous rhetorical training in Italian schools would help the Christian Church achieve its objective of discovering and teaching the different scriptures in the Bible. He became a famous preacher (more than 350 preserved sermons are believed to be authentic), and was noted for combating
13640-487: Was a devout Christian; his father Patricius was a pagan who converted to Christianity on his deathbed. He had a brother named Navigius and a sister whose name is lost but is conventionally remembered as Perpetua . Scholars generally agree that Augustine and his family were Berbers , an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa, but were heavily Romanized, speaking only Latin at home as a matter of pride and dignity. In his writings, Augustine leaves some information as to
13764-462: Was also composed in Greek. Traditionally, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is attributed to the First Council of Constantinople of 381, whose participants, primarily Eastern bishops, met, decided issues (legates of Pope Damasus I were present). The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is not documented earlier than the Council of Chalcedon (451), which referred to it as "the creed [...] of
13888-536: Was cited at the Second Council of Ephesus (449) and at the Council of Chalcedon (451), and was echoed in the Chalcedon definition. This account in the 2005 publication concerning the citing by Eutyches of Ephesus I canon 7 in his defence was confirmed by Stephen H. Webb in his 2011 book Jesus Christ, Eternal God . Ephesus I canon 7, against additions to the Creed of Nicaea, is used as a polemic against
14012-482: Was finally restored in the 1870s, under the urging of Agostino Gaetano Riboldi , and reconsecrated in 1896 when the relics of Augustine and the shrine were once again reinstalled. In 1842, a portion of Augustine's right arm (cubitus) was secured from Pavia and returned to Annaba. It now rests in the Saint Augustin Basilica within a glass tube inserted into the arm of a life-size marble statue of
14136-424: Was forever changed. Augustine arrived in Milan and visited Ambrose, having heard of his reputation as an orator. Like Augustine, Ambrose was a master of rhetoric, but older and more experienced. Soon, their relationship grew, as Augustine wrote, "And I began to love him, of course, not at the first as a teacher of the truth, for I had entirely despaired of finding that in thy Church—but as a friendly man." Augustine
14260-569: Was later translated or moved to Cagliari , Sardinia , by the Catholic bishops expelled from North Africa by Huneric . Around 720, his remains were transported again by Peter, bishop of Pavia and uncle of the Lombard king Liutprand , to the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia, to save them from frequent coastal raids by Saracens . In January 1327, Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Veneranda Santorum Patrum , in which he appointed
14384-407: Was neither hungry nor poor, and he had enough of fruit which were "much better". Over the next few chapters, Augustine agonises over this past sin of his, recognising that one does not desire evil for evil's sake. Rather, "through an inordinate preference for these goods of a lower kind, the better and higher are neglected". In other words, man is drawn to sin when grossly choosing the lesser good over
14508-530: Was racked, and wounded, and bleeding." Augustine confessed he had not been a lover of wedlock so much as a slave of lust, so he procured another concubine since he had to wait two years until his fiancée came of age. However, his emotional wound was not healed. It was during this period that he uttered his famously insincere prayer, "Grant me chastity and continence , but not yet." There is evidence Augustine may have considered this former relationship to be equivalent to marriage. In his Confessions , he admitted
14632-486: Was recognized and received by Leo I at Chalcedon I. Scholars do not agree on the connection between Constantinople I and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, which was not simply an expansion of the Creed of Nicaea, and was probably based on another traditional creed independent of the one from Nicaea. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is roughly equivalent to the Nicene Creed plus two additional articles: one on
14756-470: Was shortly after the Roman emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity to be the only legitimate religion for the Roman Empire on 27 February 380 by the Edict of Thessalonica and then issued a decree of death for all Manichaean monks in 382. Initially, Augustine was not strongly influenced by Christianity and its ideologies, but after coming in contact with Ambrose of Milan, Augustine reevaluated himself and
14880-469: Was too late; and although he acquired a smattering of the language, he was never eloquent with it. He did, however, become a master of Latin. Augustine taught grammar at Thagaste during 373 and 374. The following year he moved to Carthage to conduct a school of rhetoric and remained there for the next nine years. Disturbed by unruly students in Carthage, he moved to establish a school in Rome, where he believed
15004-623: Was very much influenced by Ambrose, even more than by his own mother and others he admired. In his Confessions , Augustine states, "That man of God received me as a father would, and welcomed my coming as a good bishop should." Ambrose adopted Augustine as a spiritual son after the death of Augustine's father. Augustine's mother had followed him to Milan and arranged a respectable marriage for him. Although Augustine acquiesced, he had to dismiss his concubine and grieved for having forsaken his lover. He wrote, "My mistress being torn from my side as an impediment to my marriage, my heart, which clave to her,
15128-418: Was while he was a student in Carthage that he read Cicero 's dialogue Hortensius (now lost), which he described as leaving a lasting impression, enkindling in his heart the love of wisdom and a great thirst for truth. It started his interest in philosophy. Although raised Christian, Augustine became a Manichaean , much to his mother's chagrin. At about the age of 17, Augustine began a relationship with
15252-712: Was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were in thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odours and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace. Ambrose baptized Augustine and his son Adeodatus, in Milan on Easter Vigil , 24–25 April 387. A year later, in 388, Augustine completed his apology On
15376-562: Was written to console his fellow Christians shortly after the Visigoths had sacked Rome in 410 . Augustine worked tirelessly to convince the people of Hippo to convert to Christianity. Though he had left his monastery, he continued to lead a monastic life in the episcopal residence. Much of Augustine's later life was recorded by his friend Possidius , bishop of Calama (present-day Guelma , Algeria), in his Sancti Augustini Vita . During this latter part of Augustine's life, he helped lead
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