St. Augustine Of Hippo Research Paper

Saint Augustine of Hippo delved into a life of deep, philosophical thinking, challenging the very way of life to it’s minute existence. He struggled with his inner being after leaving home to pursue intellectualism. He broadened his views after converting from Christianity to Manichaeism, devoting his thought to Neoplatonism. He eventually returned to Catholicism in A.D. 387, when he began to re-establish his
Christian doctrine. As the Western Roman Empire came to a decline, St. Augustine developed his own philosophical and theological approach. In due course, St. Augustine profoundly shaped modern Christian political thinking and contributed his philosophical aspirations to the development of medieval philosophy.

Born to a pagan
“Augustine’s ideas provided the means for people to endure and accept earthly suffering, and concentrate upon the spiritual matters which promised eternity” (Pirie 51)
As he sought to deepen his relationship with God, as exemplified throughout
Confessions, he was given revelation upon revelation. And with his gift of orating and scholarly writing, he tapped into unreached expansions of thought that allows the common man to seek understanding with him. Some more of St. Augustine’s beliefs added new perspectives to the Catholic Church which are still held in high respect.

St. Augustine struggled to find his true identity, yet found God. He wrestled with multiple theological and philosophical ideas, but managed to string together contemplative works of art that manifested himself as one of the most profound
Christian thinkers of all-time. “This framework itself [formed] an important part of the philosophical legacy that Augustine bequeathed to both the medieval and modern periods” (Mendelson 1).

Work Cited
Confessions of St. Augustine. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Project Gutenberg Literary
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Archive Foundation, 2006. Web. 10 Oct.