Augustine of Hippo: Historical Friday

We pause our overview of the history of Christianity to talk about an extremely influential figure, whether we realize it or not. Augustine of Hippo, so called because he lived in the town of Hippo Regius, has had a tremendous amount of influence on Christianity in the western world. Many of the theological conversations we have in our churches today have been directly shaped by this man. Many of the terms and ideas we throw around originated with Augustine. 

Today we are going to look at SOME of the ideas that Augustine has shaped. In reality this man has touched in some way or another every aspect of Christian thought. If I had to choose the most influential people on Christianity outside of Jesus and the Apostles, Augustine might very well be number one alongside Martin Luther. Before we get into the theological ideas, a brief biography is in order.

Brief Biography

Augustine's story is actually very interesting, one I cannot hope to do justice here. If you are interested I recommend reading his book Confessions where he talks about his conversion to Christianity and his early life. This book is actually incredibly popular. 

Augustine was born in 354 in Roman North Africa. His mother was a devout Christian while his father was a pagan who converted on his deathbed. His father wanted him to have a good education, and sent him to the best schools they could afford.

As a young man Augustine left the church and became a Manichean; an religion that sought to meld aspects of all religions. During this time Augustine lived wildly, taking a mistress and fathering a son with her. It was during this time that he uttered the now famous prayer; "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet."

It wasn't until he was 31 that Augustine returned to Christianity. The way he describes it, he was suddenly compelled to read the first book he saw. This happened to be the Bible. He opened it up to Romans 12 and read what Paul had to say about the transformed Christian life. He then was mentored by a church leader named Ambrose, who baptized him. 

Soon after Augustine became a priest, and soon bishop of the small town of Hippo Regius. There he bore witness and engaged in many debates and schisms. Augustine was on the front lines of the Donatist controversy; a divide over who was allowed to perform baptisms. Augustine wrote a lot against Pelagius, a man who preached that God's grace was unnecessary for salvation. These writings, along side many others, have shaped Christian thought all the way to today.

Original Sin

As we look at the ideas that Augustine influenced, we must look at the idea of original sin. Sin is an incredibly important part of any Christian theology. Sin is the problem that Jesus came to solve on the Cross. Sin is the reason we can't live with God the way we should be able to.

So when sin comes up several questions naturally arise. Are we born sinful? Is it possible for a human being, other than Jesus, not to sin?

Any of these questions sound familiar? Well, thank Augustine. He formulated the doctrine of original sin. He did this in response to a man named Pelagius. He taught that it is entirely possible for human beings not to sin. In fact, human beings are actually pretty good. God's grace is nice if you do sin, but since not everyone sins not everyone needs the grace of God.

Augustine could not stand this view. He wrote a lot against Pelagius and his views. Augustine looked to the Scriptures and found many passages that claim that all of humanity is entrenched in sin. He saw that all have fallen short of the glory of God. He also read that Adam's sin affected us all. The conclusion Augustine reached is that we are all born sinful, guilty, and in need of God's grace.

Agree with the doctrine of original sin or not, it has shaped our discussions on sin, grace, and salvation more than almost anything else.

The Church

The second and final idea that we will be looking at today is Augustine's idea of church. Essentially there have been two views of the church throughout history. The first is that the church is holy and pure. In places that held to this view any sin was taken very seriously. The members were expected to live holy lives, called out from the world around them. 

The second view, and the one formulated by Augustine, is the view of the wheat and the tares. Going off Jesus' parable, Augustine thought that the sinful should be allowed in with the saints. Better they be in church than outside of it. This also was a reaction to his time. The Donatists were very strict in their view of the church. Anyone who committed a sin would be cast out until they repented.

One result of Augustine's view, which has become the dominant view even if we don't realize it, is that personal holiness was largely lost as an emphasis in churches. This led to the massive corruption of the Catholic Church in the medieval ages that led to the Reformation. Another result was the Inquisition, since better they be in church than out of it even if they are there by force.

Agree or disagree, this view has shaped our churches. How often do we confront sin in our churches? Rarely since we don't want to chase anyone away. After all, better they be there than somewhere else.

Conclusion

There are many other topics I could have talked about. I could have talked about the Trinity, heaven, grace, faith, and love. Augustine is an incredibly influential figure on Christian thought. Agree with him or not, the conversations we have, assumptions we bring, and questions we ask have been shaped a great deal by Augustine.