Aurelius Augustine

1. Aurelius Augustine b. November 13, 354 d. August 28, 430 “Thou hast made us for Thee, and our heart is restlesstill it rests in Thee.”

2. Church History Ca. 30AD 590 AD 1517 AD Ancient Church History Medieval Church History Modern Church History Reformation & Counter Reformation Apostolic Church The First Medieval Pope Apostolic Fathers The Rise of the Holy Roman Empire Rationalism, Revivalism, & Denominationalism The Crusades Church Councils Revivalism, Missions, & Modernism Golden Age of Church Fathers The Papacy in Decline The Pre-Reformers ?

3. “Vagabond Mind” Astrology 12 to 19 Philosophy Paganism Manichaeanism 19 to 31 Neo-Platonism Skepticism Augustine of Hippo 354 - 430 The Cauldron of Conversion 354 - 387 Interiorsearchfor thetruth *Africa Philosophy *Parents *Disposition *Education *Conversion His spiritual pilgrimage & conversion as a clue to, anillustration of, the universal situation of human beingsin relation to God Confessions His Christian Service in the Church 387 - 430 *Polemicist Practicalproblemsof thechurch *Preacher Practice *Episcopal Administrator *Theologian *Philosopher

4. Easter 387 July 386 395 388 391 430 Elected Bishop of Hippo Becomes presbyter Rome to write Dies Converted Baptized by Ambrose 39 years of ministry Returns to Thagaste 3 years of contemplative & literaryretirement Timeline After Conversion retreat

5. Augustine As A Polemicist Augustine’s unconverted life & conversion prepared him for 3 great theological battles Each of these opponents had one thing in common: they each assumed thatpeople could, by their own virtue, set themselves apart as the ones onwhom God particularly smiled. The Fall of Man The Pelagians The Donatists The Nature of the Church The Manichaeans The Nature of Evil

6. Pelagianism The Doctrine of Grace – Its Condition & Development During the Ancient Church Grace - God’s unmerited favor shown to sinful humanity Augustine’s Personal Experience - “A Twice Born Man” July, 386 390, Rome Augustine’s Development of “Augustianism” Pelagius – A British Ascetic ministering in Rome The Worldliness of Church Members He read Augustine’s Confessions “Give me the grace to do what you command, & commandme what you will.”

7. The Main Tenets of Pelagianism Adam was made mortal and would have died whether he had sinned or not sinned Man, as he came from the hand of God, his creator, was upright and perfect. The righteous law which God gave him spoke of life as conditional upon his obedience, and threatened death uponhis disobedience. Chap 6, ¶ 1 The sin of Adam injured himself alone, and not the human race. Their sin involved us all, and by it death appertained to all. All men became deadin sin, and totally polluted in all parts and faculties of both soul and body. Chap 6, ¶ 2 The family of man is rooted in the first human pair. Chap 6, ¶ 3 New-born children are in that state in which Adam was before his fall. The actual sins that men commit are the fruit of the corrupt nature transmitted tothem by our first parents. Chap 6, ¶ 4 Neither by the death and sin of Adam does the whole race die, nor by the resurrection of Christ does the whole race rise. Conceived in sin and by nature children subject to God’s anger, the servants of sin and the subjects ofdeath, all men are now given up to unspeakable miseries, spiritual, temporal and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus Christ sets them free. Chap 6, ¶ 3 The Law leads to the kingdom of heaven as well as the Gospel. So far as the law is a covenant of works under which justification or condemnationis awarded, it has no application to true believers. Chap 19, ¶ 6 Even before the coming of the Lord there were men without sin. Sanctification . . . Extends to every part of man, yet remains incomplete in this life. Chap 13, ¶ 2

8. Posse non peccare = “able (possible) not to sin” Non posse non peccara = “not able (possible) not to sin” Grace dispensed thru the church & its sacraments “It is the church that gives birth to all, baptism therefore is the washing away of all sins . . . And the Eucharist is the food that feeds and nourishes for life.” The Development of Augustine’s Understanding Councils of Carthage in 418 & Ephesus in 431– Condemns Pelagius’ moral teachings & Coelestius 6 propositions Great opposition to Augustine’s teaching on the Fall of Man - Monasteries Synod of Orange in 529 – This synod accepts Augustine’s teachings onThe Fall of Man but rejected his teaching on the Predestination & IrresistibleGrace and Total Depravity – Semi-Pelagianism.

9. Donatism In 312, when Constantine won at the battle of Milvian Bridge, Christianity wouldbecome the official religion of the Roman Empire. The imperial patronage of the Christianity was the cause of many problems. 1. With the arm of the state, Christianity began to deny opponentsreligious freedom. 2. Who was to get the $ that Constantine wanted to return tothe church. 2 claims for the $ going to N. Africa – Caecilian, Bishop of Carthage & the Donatists in 312 Donatists were those who opposed anything like leniency to those who hadweakened in the persecutions, especially by surrendering copies of thescriptures to the authorities. They rejected Caecilian because he had been consecrated by one theyconsidered to be a traitor. ***

10. Manichaeanism A false teaching originating in Persian from a man called Mani. It was anamalgamation of Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Buddhism, & Christianity. Among other teachings, it taught a dualism – a god of goodness and a godof evil, that explains the source of conflict in the world. Manichaeanism offered soothing relief to Augustine. Augustine was not to blame that he felt this way, the Manichees told him, for he was only the pawn of greater forces that could, because Augustine was lucky and clever, be propitiated, by seeking a higher spiritual (non-material) knowledge. Security could be had without sacrifice, and guilt removed without atonement. Augustine rejects mentally this false religion because it provided him no relieffrom his guilt and because it did not satisfy him intellectually. He would not openly disavow Manichaeanism until many years later. Augustine came to see that this false religion couldn’t stand up to his intellectual rigors nor could it solve his struggle with evil.

11. Augustine As A Preacher He lived in the Bishops house, not a monastery because of visitors. Preferred the Monastic life, wore only a layman’s cloak, rejected all invitationsto feasts He was a preacher/pastor to the people in Hippo. Preaching, baptizing,catechizing, visiting the sick and administering the sacraments. His preaching was conversational in style and often elicited vocal response and applause from his congregation. He spoke from rough notes/outlines at most. Often would switch sermonduring the meeting. Augustine described a pastor’s job like this – “Disturbers are to be rebuked,the low spirited to be encouraged, the infirmed to be supported, objectorsconfuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazyaroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved,the evil borne with, and all to be loved.”

12. Augustine As An Episcopal Administrator Much time spent in dealing with church problems within his control.Wayward priest abusing congregations.Roman officials in conflict with local churches. Wrestled with false teaching under his rule. He was a judge-pastor empowered to impose settlements, by arbitration on consenting parties.

13. Augustine As A Theologian& Philosopher The Intellectual head of the church – Schaff Wrote influential works on the Trinity, the nature of man, evil, the nature ofthe Church and church discipline, the sacraments 412, On Faith and Good Works 414, On Nature and Grace 415, On the Perfection of Righteousness 417, On the Proceedings Against Pelagius 418, On the Grace of Christ & Original Sin 421, Against Julian 426, On Grace and Free Choice 428, On the Predestination of the Saints 428, On the Gift of Perseverance 386, Against Skeptics 386, On the Happy Life 386, On the Immortality of the Soul 387, On Music 388, On Free Will 389, On True Religion 394, An Explanation of Galatians 394, An Explanation of Romans 399, The Trinity Wrote a Christian philosophy of history the City of God. Would write aboutgrammar, dialectics, rhetoric, geometry, and arithmetic.

14. Augustine of Hippo 354 - 430 The Cauldron of Conversion 354 - 387 Interiorsearchfor thetruth *Africa Philosophy *Parents *Disposition *Education *Conversion His spiritual pilgrimage & conversion as a clue to, anillustration of, the universal situation of human beingsin relation to God Confessions His Christian Service in the Church 387 - 430 *Polemicist Practicalproblemsof thechurch *Preacher Practice *Episcopal Administrator *Theologian *Philosopher