Augustine

From Philosopedia

Saint Augustine, of Canterbury

Augustine of Canterbury (? - 604)

The first Archbishop of Canterbury, Augustine probably was born in Rome, where he had been a prior of the Benedictine monastery of St. Andrew. In 596 with 40 other monks, he was sent by Pope Gregory I to convert the Anglo Saxons to Christianity. Ethelbert, King of Kent, whose wife already was a Christian, received him kindly and gave him a church in Canterbury. The conversion and baptism of the king helped greatly in the pursuit of Augustine's goal.

In 597 Augustine went to Arles, where he was consecrated Bishop of the English.

The Pope instructed him to purify pagan temples and he consecrated twelve other bishops.

Augustine was not able to unify his churches with the Celtic churches of North Wales.

Saint Augustine, of Hippo

Aurelius Augustinus (354 - 430)

Born in Roman North Africa, Augustine adopted Manichaeism, later teaching rhetoric in Carthage, where he fathered a son.

Moving to Milan, he was converted to Christianity and was baptized in 387. He then returned to Africa and in 396 became bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria), a post he held until his death.

Confessions, an autobiographical meditation on what he described as God's grace, was followed by The City of God, which described how he placed Christianity in history. His On Christian Doctrine and On the Trinity are central works in Catholic theology.

He was influenced by Neoplatonism and debated with the proponents of Manichaeism, Donatism, and Pelagianism. Augustine's views on predestination influenced John Calvin.