Academic literature on the topic 'Augustine, saint, bishop of hippo, 354-430'

In 418, the Italian bishop of Eclanum (Aeclanum: Mirabella-Eclano), Julian (380-454), engaged Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in an extensive debate about three key issues of the Catholic faith, all of which are essentially grounded in sound philosophy and can be proven by reason. These are: the state of nature after sin, the authority of law (legis auctoritate), and the free will of rational beings (libertas arbitrii), the last of which remains vigorously debated today in response to the early concept of determinism. These three issues, in particular, preoccupied Augustine’s thoughts and writings up until his death.

It may appear absurd to link a thinker of Christian antiquity with the peoples of early modern North America. The Bishop of Hippo (354–430) was not particularly interested in evangelization beyond the Mediterranean world. While he encouraged the proselytization of the tribes of North Africa, Augustine rejected the possibility of “New Worlds” as “on no grounds credible” for lack of scriptural warrant. His achievement, some thousand years before Columbus, was to provide the authoritative account of religious conversion as well as the intellectual foundations for Christian spirituality. This legacy was not well suited, however, to deal with problems raised by contact with “new” peoples of the Americas. It had little to say about the “nature” of these “savage” peoples as well as the prospects for their conversion. Augustinian theology emphasizes relations between God and self, in contrast to the approach identified with Thomas Aquinas, which asserts the possibility of finding God in the world and propels inquiry in that direction. Augustine's sense of the corruption of fallen humankind and the powerlessness of nature without God would appear to discourage any but the most morbid interest in New World peoples.

This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the issue of lying from a semiotic perspective and its specific aim is the analysis of the theory of the lie as conceived by Aurelius Augustinus, bishop of Hippo (354–430 A.D.), also known as Augustine or St. Augustine. The latter devoted two short treatises to the issue of lying: De mendacio (On lying) and Contra mendacium (Against lying), written in ca. 395 DC and 420 DC, respectively. The paper will focus on duplicity and intention to deceive as fundamental and necessary features of the lie. Augustine’s chief contribution to the study of human deception was to have severed the assessment of what is a lie from factual falsity. For Augustine, at the kernel of the notion of lying lies the idea of intentionality. Following this line of thought, the paper singles out two types of intentionality, namely the intention to assert a falsehood and the intention to mislead. On the basis of this double nature of intentionality, the present paper seeks to outline a theoretical framework for the study of species of falsehoods. The outcome is a typology of untruthfulness that envisages a fourfold inventory of falsehoods based on the difference between jokes, errors, lies and pretences.

This review article concerns Augustine of Hippo’s (354-430 A.D.) specific and sustained reception of John’s gospel. Here, the author summarizes and evaluates a series of research methods for contextualizing core elements of the bishop of Hippo’s theological points of departure and exegetical practice. Section one identifies the twin theoretical considerations of this retrospective account, including the nature of 4th-century African Christianity and late antique emergence of Pauline commentaries in Latin. Section two then identifies the central advances in methodology of the research, further identifying and reconsidering both textual and theological elements that contribute to Augustine’s Johannine commentary. Section three explores primary results for both theological lines of approach of already completed research: in particular, the author determines aspects of an Augustinian view of Christ and the Church, the ecclesial reality of passing controversy and biblical interpretation, as well as openings for further research on human emotion and eschatology. The result exercises renewed attention toward Augustine’s reading on John and the Johannine corpus, with implications for works of his corpus to include not only the Tractatus in euangelium Iohannis (“Tractates on the Gospel of John”) but also various popular sermons, other biblical commentaries, polemical and doctrinal works.

Abstract: Despite the great esteem for forgiveness in the modern world, recent historical studies have cast doubt on the existence of the practice or even the concept of interpersonal forgiveness in the Greco-Roman world. Classical scholars have noted the prevalence of vengeance in the popular and literary imagination, the scarcity of apology, the subordination of clemency to political power, and the philosophical opposition to forgiveness. The Latin bishop Augustine of Hippo (354–430) surprisingly agreed with this assessment. Augustine, his contemporary Roman critics, and even his congregation understood the church as advocating—even discovering—a novel, difficult practice: unconditional forgiveness. Though Augustine offers no singular treatment of forgiveness, his letters and sermons bear witness to a clearly developed and articulated position: that forgiveness must be preveniently, unconditionally offered but is still necessarily oriented toward the just reform of the offender. Augustine particularly highlights the example of Christ's forgiveness and its union with prayer. Augustine interprets the scandal of unconditional forgiveness in reference to the even greater scandal of love of enemies, which seeks the true good of offenders in accord with justice, rather than satisfaction through a belittling vengeance. Thus, Augustine's view of forgiveness can be best grasped by distinguishing between the offer of forgiveness— forgiving —and the reception of forgiveness— being forgiven . Forgiving is unconditional, but being forgiven occurs through just reform. In this way, the complete arc of forgiveness incorporates both prevenient mercy and justice. In addition to illuminating the place of late antique Christianity in the history of forgiveness, this article shows that Augustine presents a robust account of unconditional forgiveness that is not a passive resignation but rather intrinsic to true justice.

Resumo: Este estudo objetiva identificar a natureza de verdade por Agostinho de Hipona (354-430), segundo as reflexões contidas no VII Livro da obra Confissões (397) que trata da Busca da Verdade. Para isso, é necessário reconhecer quais percursos o bispo de Hipona percorreu em sua vida terrena, bem como sua vivência filosófica. Nesse itinerário em busca da verdade se envolveu com o maniqueísmo, que em certa medida apresentava uma verdade racional e material, perspectiva que se aproximava do pensamento de Agostinho na sua fase de juventude. Conforme foi amadurecendo intelectualmente e buscando compreensões das questões que permeiam a vida humana pode-se depreender o seu projeto de formação cristã, uma vez que, ao criticar o modo como conduzia sua vida pregressa (anterior à conversão) e evidenciar as mudanças em seus atos cotidianos para se adequar à forma de vida de um bom cristão, o autor explicita um projeto de educação e de sociedade que conduza aos bens eternos e imutáveis. A busca e o encontro da verdade ocorrerão mediante ações decorrentes de um ato de escolha particular, livre. Palavras-chave: Agostinho de Hipona; Verdade; Formação Cristã; Vontade. The itinerary of Augustine of Hippo in search of the truth and its Christian formation project Abstract: This study aims to identify the nature of truth by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), according to the reflections contained in the VII Book of the work Confessions (397) which deals with the Search for Truth. For this, it is necessary to recognize which paths the Bishop of Hippo took in his earthly life, as well as his philosophical experience. In this itinerary in search of the truth, he became involved with Manichaeism, which, to a certain extent, presented a rational and material truth, a perspective that was close to the thought of Augustine in his youth. As he matured intellectually and sought understanding of the issues that permeate human life, his project of Christian formation can be inferred, since, by criticizing the way he led his former life (prior to conversion) and highlighting the changes in his acts to adapt to the way of life of a good Christian, the author explains a project of education and society that leads to eternal and immutable goods. The search and finding of the truth will occur through actions resulting from an act of particular, free choice. Keywords: Augustine of Hippo; Truth; Christian Formation; Will. El itinerario de Agustín de Hipona en busca de la verdad y su proyecto de formación Cristiana Resumen: Este estudio tiene como objetivo identificar la naturaleza de la verdad de Agustín de Hipona (354-430), según las reflexiones contenidas en el Libro VII de la obra Confesiones (397) que trata de la Búsqueda de la Verdad. Para ello, es necesario reconocer qué caminos tomó el obispo de Hipona en su vida terrena, así como su experiencia filosófica. En este itinerario en busca de la verdad, se involucra con el maniqueísmo, que, en cierta medida, presenta una verdad racional y material, perspectiva cercana al pensamiento de Agustín en su juventud. De haber madurado intelectualmente y buscado la comprensión de los problemas que impregnan la vida humana, se puede inferir su proyecto de formación cristiana, ya que, al criticar la forma en que llevó su vida anterior (previa a la conversión) y destacando los cambios en sus actos para adaptarse a el modo de vida de un buen cristiano, el autor explica un proyecto de educación y sociedad que conduce a bienes eternos e inmutables. La búsqueda y el hallazgo de la verdad ocurrirán a través de acciones resultantes de un acto de libre elección particular. Palabras clave: Agustín de Hipona; Verdad; Formación Cristiana; Voluntad. Data de registro: 28/11/2022 Data de aceite: 18/10/2023

A theological-philosophical patron of crusades was St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), one of the Fathers of Church, who in his The City of God (De Civitate Dei) assumed that the human mankind could be divided into two categories – the one constituting the civitas Dei, acting in the name of God, and civitas terrena, including disbelievers and Muslims. According to St. Augustine, the coming of Christ would put an end to the history of humanity – at that time believers would be rewarded with eternal happiness whereas disbelievers would be damned. Only when fighting in the name of God, in the defence of the Church, the knights could be useful for the society. This attitude was represented by Pope Gregory VII (1020-1085). A great propagator of the Augustinian doctrine was St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) who reformed it for the sake of crusades. In his famous In Praise of the New Knighthood (De laude novae militae) he established the rule of the order of the Knights Templar. A motif of the martyr’s death could become a sufficient reason to undertake further actions of Christianisation, having the at the same time eschatological and practical dimension. In the context of an overall crusade movement, the martyrdom of St. Adalbert or Five Martyr Brothers as well as St. Bruno, seems to serve as a symbol and pretext for crusades being rather penitence pilgrimages of reconciliation with redemptory valor. There was nothing more convincing to undertake a military action than a penitential mission ensuring eternal salvation. It is presumed that even in the first period the missionary action might have been conducted by the Płock bishop Alexander of Malonne (1129-1156). On 3 March 1217 Pope Honorius III (1150–1227), presumably on the initiative of the then papal legate in Prussia, the Gniezno archbishop Henryk Kietlicz and bishop Chrystian (1180-1245), allowed the knights of Mazovia and Lesser Poland to organize an expedition to Prussia in return for participation in the Palestinian crusade. As the results of converting pagans by means of sword by Polish or Scandinavian expeditions were rather scarce, the orders were entrusted with a defence and development of the mission of Christianisation. They adopted a strategy to shatter the community of tribes – in Prussia by means of attracting the nobility, in Livonia by formenting discord among tribes.

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) was a fourth- and fifth-century monk-bishop who left a great imprint on the spiritual leaders of his day by overseeing the monastery at Hippo Regius and also authoring a significant corpus of letters that were pastoral in nature. What is often overlooked in the study of his pastoral ministry and, thus, the focus of this article, is Augustine’s theological correspondence with 15 different women. Through surveying the themes and issues in these letters, I have endeavoured to show that, though a monk, Augustine did care for women in his pastoral ministry and his letters show that he discussed with women many of the issues of his day (pastoral issues, church matters, monastic ideas, theology, and practical theology) that he also discussed with his male correspondents. In short, Augustine believed that these women were much like his mother Monica – capable of grasping biblical and theological issues – and he valued them as an important part of the church. I conclude the article by summarising Augustine’s approaches to and values for ministering to women.

In ninth century Francia, a rebellious monk named Gottschalk of Orbais (808-868) ardently defended his theory of divine predestination, much to the vexation of the Frankish Church, whose leaders eventually denounced him as heretical and imprisoned him for the remainder of his life. In an effort to disprove Gottschalk, his perhaps most prominent opponent, Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims (806-882), frequently cited elements of ecclesiastical tradition in an attempt to show that western Catholic orthodoxy opposed the theory of predestination that Gottschalk espoused. While most scholars have analyzed Hincmar’s writings by focusing on his citation of the patristic church father Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430), such an approach ignores the problematic nature of Augustine’s stance on predestination, which was largely ambiguous, hence the ability of both Gottschalk and Hincmar to reference his writings as proof of their argument. While Augustine at times limited his stance to merely suggesting that God had bestowed eternal life on some individuals, at other times he was more explicit, defining predestination in terms of a twofold decree of salvation for some and damnation for others. Such ambiguity created a nebulous definition of predestination by the time of the ninth century controversy and allowed Gottschalk to weaken Hincmar’s arguments by likewise citing Augustine to support his own assertions. This in turn forced Hincmar to extend his arsenal of ecclesiastical tradition beyond citation of Augustine in order to refute Gottschalk. This paper reevaluates a sample of Hincmar’s writings in the 840s and 850s to argue that he sought to make explicit what Augustine had left unclear regarding predestination by appealing to common standards of orthodoxy in the forms of additional patristic authors, conciliar judgments, and
 liturgical practices. This analysis reveals both the prominence of ambiguity in ninth-century predestination thought as well as the role of ecclesiastical tradition in forming medieval views on orthodoxy, however fluid such a label remained.

A potencialidade na filosofia da educação antiga e medieval 1
 Resumo: O texto aborda a potencialidade, na filosofia da educação antiga e medieval, como a capacidade de aperfeiçoamento da razão. A noção de paideia conduz essa reflexão, uma vez que perpassa o pensamento educacional desde a antiguidade clássica até a baixa Idade Média. Essa continuidade explicita a tradição da formação integral do homem que considerava os aspectos morais e políticos como uma totalidade indissociável. O encaminhamento teórico segue a concepção de História Social de Braudel (1902-1985), já que o foco é a compreensão da herança teológica e filosófica, que exprime os fundamentos da educação. Para refletir sobre esse legado do conhecimento, três momentos foram estudados: a paideia grega na perspectiva aristotélica e platônica; a patrística, por meio do entendimento de Clemente de Alexandria (150-215 d.C.) e de Agostinho de Hipona (354-430 d.C.); e a escolástica, analisada nas concepções de Hugo de São Vítor (1096-1141) e Tomás de Aquino (1225-1274). Assim, nos autores apresentados, há a permanência da compreensão de que o aperfeiçoamento da razão significava a transformação em ato da potência essencial do homem: a razão. A principal finalidade da educação, portanto, era a formação da consciência de cada pessoa, pois entendia-se que esse era o principal meio para o êxito da vida em comum.
 Palavras-chave: Filosofia da Educação; Potencialidade; Paideia; Patrística; Escolástica.
 Potentiality in the philosophy of ancient and medieval education
 Abstract: The text addresses the potentiality, in the philosophy of ancient and medieval education, as the ability to improve reason. The notion of paideia guides this reflection since it pervades educational thought from classical antiquity to the low Middle Ages. This continuity explains the tradition of the integral formation of man which considered the moral and political aspects as an inseparable totality. The theoretical approach follows Braudel’s conception of Social History since the focus is on understanding the theological and philosophical heritage, which expresses the fundamentals of education. To reflect on this legacy of knowledge, three periods were studied: the Greek paideia in the Aristotelian and Platonic perspective; patristic, through the understanding of Clement of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo; and scholasticism, analysed in the conceptions of Hugh of Saint Victor and Thomas Aquinas. Thus, there is a continuing understanding in the authors presented that the improvement of reason meant the actualization of man's essential potency: reason. The main purpose of education was the formation of the conscience of each person, as it was understood that this was the main means for the success of life in common.
 Key words: Philosophy of education; Potentiality; Paideia; Patristic; Scholastic.
 Potencialidad en la filosofía de la educación antigua y medieval
 Resumen: El texto aborda la potencialidad en la filosofía de la educación antigua y medieval, como capacidad para mejorar la razón. La noción de paideia orienta esta reflexión ya que impregna el pensamiento educativo desde la antigüedad hasta la baja Edad Media. Esta continuidad explica la tradición de la formación integral del hombre que consideraba los aspectos morales y políticos como una totalidad. El enfoque teórico sigue la concepción de Braudel de Historia Social, ya que el enfoque está en la comprensión de la herencia teológica y filosófica, que expresa los fundamentos de la educación. Por tanto, se estudiaron tres períodos: la paideia griega en la perspectiva aristotélica y platónica; la patrística, a través del entendimiento de Clemente de Alejandría y Agustín de Hipona; y escolasticismo, analizado en las concepciones de Hugo de San Víctor y Tomás de Aquino. Por lo tanto, existe un entendimiento continuo en los autores presentados de que la mejora de la razón significó la actualización de lo potencial del hombre: la razón. El propósito principal de la educación era la formación de la conciencia de cada persona, pues se entendía que este era el principal medio para el éxito de la vida comunitaria.
 Palabras-clave: Filosofía de la educación; Potencialidad; Paideia; Patrística; Escolástica.
 Data de registro: 22/04/2021
 Data de aceite: 22/09/2021
 1 Artigo desenvolvido com base na tese Hábito e subjetividade na educação: aproximações entre Aristóteles, Tomás de Aquino e a neurociência, defendida por Lais Boveto, orientada por Terezinha Oliveira. Pesquisa com bolsa doutorado CAPES.

Augustine has had a large influence on the development of western theology, and nowhere is this more obvious that in Martin Luther's understanding of God, humankind and grace. Yet at the same time there are also significant differences in the two churchmen's thought. Sometimes these differences are subtle, such as their views of the state; other times they are not so subtle, such as their positions on free will or their praise of philosophy and its usefulness in sounding the depth of Christianity. In order to best explain these varying views, one must look at Augustine's and Luther's diverging opinions of man's nature where one will see that the dissimilarities are best understood in light of Luther's pessimistic view of humanity.

Abstract Saint, Bishop of Hippo Regius (now Annaba, Algeria), Doctor of the Western Church. His enormous influence on the doctrines of Western Christianity owes much to his skill and perseverance as a philosopher. In the history of philosophy itself he is a secondary figure, partly because he didn’t have the taste or leisure to acquire more than a scrappy knowledge of the 800-year tradition preceding him.

Abstract Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) adapted classical thought to Christian doctrine and in various writings, including De civitate Dei, established the foundations for medieval and modern Christian theology. Born in north Africa, Augustine started out as a teacher, orator, and worldly man. He took a concubine for some years and had a son, Adeodatus. He fell in with the Manicheans, who believed that good and evil, light and darkness, were equal powers in conXict with each other. In 386, two years after taking the prestigious chair in rhetoric at Milan, Augustine experienced the conversion to Christ for which his mother Monica had long and fervently prayed. After giving up his post and his plans for marriage, Augustine became a priest and then bishop of Hippo (in Algeria today) until his death.

Abstract Augustine (354–430) was born in Thagaste (now in Algeria), the son of a pagan father and a devoutly Christian mother. Distinguishing himself as an exceptionally brilliant, questioning intellectual, he first went to Carthage and then to Rome and Milan to study rhetoric. He describes his spiritual struggles and his dramatic conversion to Christianity in his autobiographical work, The Confessions (397–400). Augustine was initially attracted to the Manichean view that the world is a battleground between the forces of good and evil, and that man is a battleground between the claims of the soul and the body. As he tells it, he was liberated from that heresy by reading Plotinus and by the influence of the Neoplatonic circles in Milan. His philosophical and theological work hence-forward concentrated on reconciling—indeed fusing—Christian beliefs with Platonism. Returning to North Africa in 391, he was appointed Bishop of Hippo in 395.