The Influence Of St Augustine’s Legacy On People

St Augustine of Hippo

The cultivation of St Augustine’s deepening of faith begun during a period of self-understanding along with his peculiar perceptions towards life. These events to which St Augustine adopted new philosophes of his religious beliefs led to his daring faith restructure, which ultimately changed his outlook regarding his beliefs and life as a whole. Further strengthening his faith, Augustine’s deepening of faith subsequently assisted his encounter with the voice of God, telling him to “take up and read”. His holy encounter, like many other saints, allowed him to accept God into his heart. Saint Augustine is responsible for a great amount of the philosophical motives comprised in the church, contributing to many of the texts and theology, as well as being one of the early scholars of the Christian faith. The life of St. Augustine prompts followers to allow God to change themselves so they may better to transform the world.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. (Saint Augustine Quotes, 2019)

Augustine’s pre theological life begun with a family with different views towards their own religion and faith. Augustine’s mother was said to be a devout Christian and his father a pagan, from where it is made obvious where Augustine adopted his faith from, his mother. Augustine was born as Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, in Hippo of North Africa. As a child, he centralized his faith around his mother, understanding and learning about Christianity whilst shunning out his father’s beliefs. He adopted a prospect of reading and philosophy, which lead to the start of Augustine’s strengthening of faith. Reading and writing was viewed as his specialty and he would later write some of the most notorious and none the less renowned pieces of literature and philosophy which is still being used in current age Christianity

For Augustine to gain faith that there is a god, he had to close his eyes and open his heart to allow for The Holy Spirit to be able to pass on a message to him. For one to convert, they must be open to an experience to revert their faith. Augustine’s experience begun when he opened his heart after studying various documents which described God as which allowed God to change him. A valuable lesson that Augustine passed on to humanity through his documents was that one must allow God to change them. 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 fulfill the lusts thereof (Hippo, 2008). Augustine’s teachings assist those who struggle to see a sign to open their hearts and allow their life to prosper under the supervision of the Lord our God. We must prepare to understand that putting Christ before what we want will allow us to receive what we need, rather than what we desire.

Augustine’s valuable and nourishing philosophy developed a new desire for current ideals of doctrines and exegesis’ to assist in the understanding of scripture. Augustine’s exegesis brought upon new interpretations and ideals that sparked an urge to understand the bible in its entirety. Through exegesis, Augustine developed new thoughts for modern and medieval Christianity. “In Roman Catholicism he is formally recognized as a doctor of the church” (O’Donnell, 2019) due to the great popularity of his doctrine. Through producing new and unthought-of of explanations of scripture, Augustine changed the world by developing new awareness and understanding of the scriptures.

As a saint, Augustine has had a long lasting effect on the Catholic Church. During mass’, preists elaborate on scriptures, quoting Augustine interpretations. The writings that Augustine produced are incoporated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) which is published to allow Christians to understand scripture. Augustines rhetoric has transformed The Church through the production of exegesis, allowing all to understand the literature which is in the bible.

Augustine’s extraordinary writings of Confessions (his autobiography which includes explanations of scripture) is an odyssey of his life and interpretation of the bible. It begins with Augustines childhood and ends with his interpretations of the book of Genesis. Augustine produced such a profound text to which many see him as a father of The Christian Church and one of the most significan philosophers of the Churches entirety.

Through allowing God to change St. Augustine, He allowed humankind to be influenced by such a noble and knowledgeable person. St. Augustine changed the world through exegesis, to which allows us to understand Christian scripture with full meaning. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit, one can change the world and allow the world to be aided with prayer and doctrine. The legacy of St Augusstine will influence people to change and allow themselves to change the world for the better.

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.d.)

Citations

1. Saint Augustine Quotes. (2019). Retrieved from Brainy Quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/saint-augustine-quotes
2. Hippo, A. o. (2008). Confessions. New York: Oxford University Press .
3. O’Donnell, J. (2019). St. Augustine, Christian Bishop and Theologian. Retrieved from Britannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine/Life-retold
4. Catechism of the Catholic Church. (n.d.). Retrieved from Catholic Culture: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/catechism/cat_view.cfm?recnum=7199

Additional Bibliography;

1. St Augustine of Hippo. (2019, October 06). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo