Dead Folk you should know - Augustine
We are not alone in our faith. There are Christians all over the world. And there have been great Christians throughout the two thousand years since Jesus was on earth. ‘Dead folk you should know’ is a little series we’ll dip in to from time to time helping us get to know some of the great ones in Christian history. Today, our very own Colin Reed has kindly contributed an introduction to Augustine from the 4th Century. He writes:
In the first centuries after Jesus some of the greatest Christian thinkers and writers lived in the North of Africa. Perhaps the one who had the most long-lasting influence was Augustine Aurelius and he was born in what is now Algeria in 354 AD, to a Christian mother, Monica, and a pagan father. As a young man he went to the city of Carthage to study philosophy and the art of public debate; later it was said that he could make music with words.
For a while he ‘went wild’, certainly not living a Christian life. Later he went to Rome, and then further north to Milan, to teach. While in a garden one day, Augustine heard the voice of a child saying to him, ‘Take and read it’. He took the Bible and started to read at Romans 13:13. He turned to Jesus and his life was changed.
Augustine returned to North Africa, was ordained in 391 and in 395 became bishop of a place called Hippo (in Algeria). Augustine saw the chief role of the clergy as being that of making clear the meaning of the Bible to their hearers. He made huge contribution to theological understanding and wrote many books, perhaps the most important one being ‘On the Trinity’.
However, there are two books which are still often read today. The first of these is the account of his conversion and his reflections on the grace and love of God, called ‘Confessions’.
The other is ‘The City of God’. To appreciate this book, we need to remember the history of the times. The great Roman Empire was in its last days – in the year 401 people from northern Europe invaded Italy and in 410 the city of Rome fell to them. As a reflection on that momentous event, this book speaks of the Church as the Kingdom of God, visible on earth, part of the invisible eternal Kingdom. As citizens of two kingdoms, earthly and heavenly, where do our chief loyalties lie? Earthly states are usually ruled with a mixture of good and selfish motives and are all impermanent. The Kingdom of God, by contrast, is eternal, unshakeable, ruled by God in love.
Augustine also wrote commentaries on Bible books. Many centuries later, Martin Luther read the Epistle to the Romans, and Augustine’s Commentary on it and the light dawned, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’. The Reformation was born, leading the church back to the good news of free salvation in Jesus as found in the Scriptures.
From Augustine we learn: the primacy of the Bible in evangelism and teaching; the power of testimony; and the priority of the eternal Kingdom of God in our lives.
Thank you Colin! Hebrews 11 lists many great ones from biblical history then says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Let’s listen to the witness of Augustine, that we might fix our eyes better on Jesus.
Grace and Peace,
Mark