St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) was a Catholic bishop, priest, and theologian. Born in Thagaste within Roman Africa to St. Monica and Patricius, Augustine traveled to Carthage as a young man to study rhetoric. From here his career advanced quickly, and he taught successively in Carthage, Rome, and Milan. During his studies, he left his Catholic faith for Manicheanism, but over time his Neo-Platonism and his dissatisfaction with Manicheanism led him back to Catholicism. After a dramatic conversion, he eventually returned to Africa, became a priest, and served as bishop of Hippo for 35 years. During his long career, he engaged in various exchanges with Donatists and Pelagians, and his writings touch upon many of the most important topics with Christianity: the Trinity, Biblical exegesis and commentary, nature and grace, the Creed, and the relationship between religion and politics. Widely considered to be the greatest Western Church Father, St. Augustine is respected by Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants. The Catholic Church has named him a Doctor of the Church.
In this video, Dr. Joseph Wysocki, Provost of Belmont Abbey College, interviews Dr. Michael Foley, Professor of Patristics and Assistant Director of University Scholars at Baylor University, about St. Augustine’s political realism.
Preferred Translations
Augustine, City of God, trans. Henry Bettenson (New York: Penguin, 2003).
Augustine, Confessions, trans. F.J. Sheed (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006).
Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, trans. Edmund Hill (Hyde Park: New City Press, 1996).
Augustine, Enchiridion, trans. J.F. Shaw (Washington D.C.: Gateway, 1996).
Augustine, Essential Sermons, trans. Edmund Hill (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2007).
Augustine, On Free Choice of the Will, trans. Thomas Williams (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993).
Insightful Secondary Literature
Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (Berkeley: University of California, 2013).
Etienne Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St. Augustine (Providence: Cluny Media, 2020).
Romano Guardini, The Conversion of Augustine (Providence: Cluny Media, 2020).
Useful External Links
Augustinian Studies: The Journal of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University
Catholic Thing Courses: St. Augustine’s Confessions