Saint Augustine

Although debated, some believe Saint Augustine may just be the church’s greatest theologian. From Manichaean to Christian, his conversion chronicled in Confessions has proven to be a classic. But Augustine also was an apologist, defending Christianity in City of God when Christians were blamed for the fall of civilization around them. Yet Augustine was also a philosopher, engaging the perennial philosophy of Platonism, which was instrumental in his own conversion, moving his eyes away from a materialistic outlook of divinity and upward towards divine transcendence. In addition, he is called the doctor of grace, refuting Pelagianism which threatened the doctrine of original sin and with it, the biblical story itself. He could also be called the doctor of the church, warning the people of God against the extreme purity of the Donatists. We could go on and mention the profundity of his biblical commentaries, but clearly Augustine is one of the true pillars of the church. For good reason Christians have returned to him again and again over the centuries. In this issue of Credo Magazine, we retrieve Augustine’s thought so that we may live faithfully in our own day.