Chapter 34 prodigal augustine

As the saying goes, if a prodigal son returns, he will never change his money.Augustine (Augustine) is a rare prodigal son. On November 13, 354 AD, Augustine was born in the city of Tagaste in North Africa (now Suq Ahras, Algeria).His mother was a devout Christian, and his father, a Roman official, was not a Christian and was baptized shortly before his death.Augustine began to receive education at the age of 7. He showed extraordinary talent in his youth and acquired a profound knowledge of Latin literature. It is said that Augustine was stubborn by nature and did not keep his duty. He did many bad things in his youth, such as playing truant from school, getting into fights, ganging up on stealing pears and so on. At the age of 17, he went to Carthage for further studies, where he was infected with the habit of indulgence, found a mistress, and gave birth to an illegitimate child.During this period, he read the works of Cicero and began to think about philosophical issues. At the age of 19, he began to believe in Manichaeism.But in the next 9 years, because Manichaeism could not solve some of his difficult problems, he gradually lost interest in Manichaeism.Then he studied the philosophy of skepticism and Neo-Platonism, and was deeply influenced by Neo-Platonism. In 383 Augustine came to Rome, and soon to Milan, where he served as professor of rhetoric.Later, under the persuasion of his mother, he abandoned his mistress who had been living with him for more than 10 years and got engaged to another young woman.However, the fiancée would not be of marriageable age for two years, and Augustine fell in love with another mistress.

At that time, the bishop of Milan was St. Ambrose. Augustine was deeply moved by his sermons, and with his mother's persuasion, he gradually inclined to Christianity. One day in 386, Augustine suddenly repented in a garden and got the guidance of the Lord. After a fierce and deep inner struggle, the 32-year-old prodigal son resolutely abandoned his professorship, lover and fiancee, and converted to Christianity.The following year, Augustine was baptized by Ambrose and joined the Christian Church. Augustine then threw himself into campaigns against paganism, and his fame grew with the intensity of his attacks on paganism.Although he was physically weak, he wrote a large number of religious works with the help of stenographers.There are about 500 sermons and more than 200 letters by him that survive today. His three most famous and influential works are "City of God" and "On the Trinity".Because of his brilliance, Augustine soon became one of the most respected leaders in Christendom.

On August 28, 430 AD, the 76-year-old Augustine died in the city of Hippo, which was besieged by the Vandals.A few months later, the barbarian tribe captured the city of Hippo, and they burned almost the whole city to ashes, but the Augustinian library and cathedral remained safe. Augustine has a very deep background in Latin culture and Greek philosophy. He made full use of these philosophical resources to serve his Christian theology. " and other basic teachings of Christianity, which perfectly combine faith and reason.Therefore, Augustine was not only a great Christian theologian, who basically maintained the core position of Christian doctrine throughout the Middle Ages; he was also a great philosopher, who introduced some aspects of Greek philosophy to Europe in the Middle Ages, and brought ancient Greek and Roman philosophy to a new level. new form.

Augustine has made great contributions to opposing paganism and heresy, maintaining the orthodox position of Christianity, and building the organization of the Christian church, becoming the veritable "father of Christianity" and the greatest philosopher of the church father.Augustine is regarded by the church as the "Saint" and "Doctor of Grace" after the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ.