That according to his biographer, possidius, augustine wrote more than 1,000 total works, including 242 books. He was born november, 354 in tagaste, numidia and died august 28,430 in hippo regius. Augustine of hippo has 916 books on goodreads with 171483 ratings. Confessions and city of god are augustines most famous works. In one of his commentaries on the gospel of john, he famously wrote. Oct 14, 20 johnnie pasco is living in the midst of history. He is a doctor of the church, a western father of the church, and one of the most distinguished theologians in the history of the church. Towards the end of the year 386, when he converted to christianity, st. That augustine set part of his written campaign against the donatist heresy to verse.
Aug 28, 2012 the article itself will cover what st. Augustines precise motivation for writing his life story at that point is not clear, but there are at least two possible causes. Paul, and theologians, both roman catholic and protestant, look upon him as one of the founders of western theology. For example, the goops is obviously not catholic, but it is very funny and is a wonderfully. He completed for religion in the west what st paul had begun for the faith as a whole. First, his contemporaries were suspicious of him because of his classical, paganinfluenced education. The ten main contributions of augustine to philosophy. While still at carthage, he wrote a short philosophical book aimed at displaying his own. For augustine, confessions is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech.
As full of pride, passion, bitterness, censoriousness, and as foulmouthed to all that contradicted him when augustines passions were heated, his word is not worth a rush. Confessions, autobiography is incidental to the main purpose of the work. Book 1 commencing with the invocation of god, augustine relates in detail the beginning of his life, his infancy and boyhood, up to his fifteenth year. Discover librarianselected research resources on st. Though he was enrolled as a catechumen by his mother when he was a boy, augustines baptism was deferred to a later time in accordance with the prevailing custom. Augustine academy press is to bring you classic books you can trust. He was also a faithful lover and doting father, who famously struggled with sex.
Hence he slandered and abused him, as his manner was, without either. Augustine of hippo also known as saint augustine, was a roman african, manichaean, early. Several times he attempted a commentary on genesis. What st augustine wrote augustine wrote books, letters and sermons, and the size of his literary output is astonishing. Augustines life is unfolded to us in documents of unrivaled richness, and of no great character of ancient times have we information comparable to that contained in the confessions, which relate the touching story of his soul, the retractations, which give the history of his mind, and the life of augustine, written by his friend possidius, telling of the saints apostolate. Maur fill fourteen volumes as they are reprinted in migne, patrologiae cursus completus, series latina vols. For obvious reasons i cannot bring myself to agree with my old teacher, rev. Augustine saint augustine of hippo, also called st. St augustine was one of the greatest catholic saints that ever lived and in his lifetime he wrote 232 books and over 500 sermons. Recently someone asked me what ive been reading during this time of social distancing. A renowned theologian and prolific writer, he was also a skilled preacher and rhetorician. Here are some, based on the standford encyclopedia of philosophys entry on augustine.
Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused christian doctrine with neoplatonism he is famous for being an inimitable catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to western philosophy. Augustines influence on christianity is thought by many to be second only to that of st. The making of books was an expensive as well as laborious and timeconsuming process. Frankly, i cant figure out how he lived long enough to write everything he did. Augustine wrote a number of works, which treat the theme of divine providence either directly or as a consequence of some other arguments, which border around it. Confessiones is the name of an autobiographical work, consisting of books, by saint augustine of hippo, written in latin between 397 and 400 ad. Thomas, augustine wrote voluminously on all aspects of christian theology. The city of god, the enchiridion and on the trinity. Author zora neale hurston wrote from king street home. Augustines writings are full of questions and earnest pleas to god to enlighten his mind and grant him greater understanding.
The work outlines saint augustines sinful youth and his conversion to christianity. He is one of the latin fathers of the church and, in roman catholicism, is formally recognized as a doctor of the church. Augustine intended when he wrote the confessions, what it meant in the context of his world and ministry as a bishop, where else we might find a prototype for the kind of work that he completed in the spiritual classic, what the book can teach us about st. Starting with his infancy, saint augustine reflects on his personal. Of all these works, the one most prized by augustine was his city of god, a veritable encyclopedia of information on the lives, thoughts and aspirations of ancient and early christian man. Every early christian author with extant writings who wrote on the topic prior to augustine of hippo 412 advanced human. How augustine wrote so many books the gospel coalition. Augustine was the bishop of hippo now annaba, algeria from 396 to 430. In the confessions book 11 augustine developed a very provocative concept of time. She brought him up as a christian, but he gave up his religion when he.
Of all these works, the one most prized by augustine was his city of god, a veritable encyclopedia of information on the lives, thoughts and aspirations of. One of the principal costs of augustine s episcopal establishment was the production of his many books. In this book, he explores the question of why he and his. Although autobiographical narrative makes up much of the first 9 of the books of augustines confessiones c.
Paul, namely his confessions, sermons on the gospel and the epistle of john, the the trinity 400416 and what he finished late in life, the the city of god 426, writings that. Therefore, do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe so that you may understand. Saint augustine, the celebrated theologian who served as bishop of hippo from a. He wrote five million words that have come down to us, most of them after he became the bishop of hippo. Jun 25, 2018 confessions and city of god are augustines most famous works. In the voluminous writings of st augustine of hippo, there were a number of. The last books on the analogies which the mystery of the trinity have with our soul are much discussed. Augustine attempted to explain how small children learn and ex. But every once in a while we make a slight exception, and we always try to make sure that this is for a good reason. Augustine of hippo books list of books by author augustine of hippo.
Jun 12, 2018 the making of books was an expensive as well as laborious and timeconsuming process. Augustine probably began work on the confessions around the year 397, when he was 43 years old. He wrote five million words that have come down to us, most of them after he. Aurelius augustinus, 354430, one of the latin fathers of the church and a doctor of the church, bishop of hippo near presentday annaba, algeria, b. He died in the course of the siege of hippo by the vandals. St augustine wrote books, letters and sermons, and the size of his literary output is astonishing. Augustine from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals, magazines. Though he was enrolled as a catechumen by his mother when he was a boy, augustines baptism was deferred to a. Augustine from the pastors desk page 1 ossining, ny. He wrote confessions, a set of books in latin in which he gave an account of his conversion to christianity. Most of the numerous books and letters he wrote in that period were part of these controversies or at least inspired by them, and even those that were not e. Apr 18, 2020 recently someone asked me what ive been reading during this time of social distancing. The encyclopedia of religion and ethics said, luther zwingli and calvin, with.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. A contemporary augustinian scholar estimates it as being equivalent to approximately that of writing a 300page printed book every year for almost 40 years. Augustine wrote books, letters and sermons, and the size of his literary output is astonishing. Augustine of hippo has 916 books on goodreads with 171775 ratings. The confessions of saint augustine image classics paperback august 23, 1960. He wrote from many points of view, in many literary styles, about many topics not all of them traditional philosophical topics.
He was a tireless preacher and he wrote 118 treatises, including the most famous spiritual autobiography of all time, the confessions. St augustine 354430 is the father of western christianity. Augustine serenely wrote his books for a future that was uncertain. The saintly author himself declares that they are only analogous and are farfetched and very. Susan parker books relate closely to current coronavirus. Augustine that inspired the medieval conception of state, empire, and christendom. Augustine and, joining them to the main ideas of the reformation, embody them in the church he organized. Augustines relativistic theory of time church life. Saint augustines books, essays and letters of christian revelation are probably more influential in the history of thought than any other christian writer since st. St augustine wrote books, letters and sermons, and the size of his literary output is. The confessions, on grace and free will, the city of god, on christian doctrine, expositions on the book of psalms. The books are presumed to be written during 397 and 398.
One of the principal costs of augustines episcopal establishment was the production of his many books. Isidore of seville famously said that anyone who claims to have read all of augustine must be a liar. Augustine of hippos most popular book is confessions. Author zora neale hurston wrote from king street home news. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Augustine of hippo, bishop and theologian essay bartleby. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Saint augustine stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Vatican city the catholic news service reported that pope francis said that the path to holiness does not involve wrestling with some abstract boogeyman, but involves a constant struggle against the devil, the prince of evil. Oliver joseph thatcher explains why, in theology he calvin was a close follower of st. In his new apostolic exhortation, gaudete et exsultate rejoice and be glad, released by. He wrote 1 books and treatises, and hundreds of letters and sermons. Soon, their relationship grew, as augustine wrote, and i began to love him, of course, not at the first as. He experienced the reality of christ living in his own soul. No philosopher since augustine had more strings to his bow than soren kierkegaard. Two of his most well known and read books are the confessions and city of god. And each day shes reminded of that fact when she leaves her home at 791 w. The six best books on or by saint augustine the daily idea. He should have written novels or plays, for he turned himself into a different character every time he wrote a new book.