(Saint Augustine, Saint Austin, Augustine of Hippo)
Philosophical Christian theologian, Neoplatonist, prolific writer of over 100 books, and strong influence on the evolution of Western philosophy; Augustine fought against slavery and pre-emptive war, supported women’s rights, and encouraged the acceptance of Jews. Although responsible for defining and promoting the concept of original sin, railing against magic, and fighting against paganism; his vision of the “heavenly city” positively influenced Marxism, the Enlightenment, and the environmental movement. Although used as a foundation for dogmatic belief systems, he appreciated doubt and described the search for truth and understanding as a “restless journey.” Channeling the mysticism of Plotinus and influenced by Virgil, Cicero, Stoicism, and Platonism; he became a focus for later philosophers like Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Bertrand Russell, Nietzsche, and Heidegger.
Lineages
Christian
Confessions
Confessions (397-398)
“He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.”
Chapters:
69. No Enemy
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“That which is called the Christian religion existed among the ancients and never did not exist from the beginning of the human race”
Chapters:
6. The Source
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“You must be emptied of that with which you are full, so you may be filled with that whereof you are empty.”
Chapters:
11. Appreciating Emptiness
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“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels”
Chapters:
67. Three Treasures
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“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page... [but] Go not outside; truth dwells in the inner man.”
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“The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.”
Chapters:
2. The Wordless Teachings
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“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature”
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“You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones.”
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“If you say, 'It's enough, I have reached perfection,' all is lost. The task of perfection is to help us see our imperfection.”
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“mists fumed up and overcast my heart, that I could not discern the clear brightness of love, from the fog of lustfulness.”
from Confessions
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“Every disorder in the soul is its own punishment.”
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“St. Augustine, the first intellectual superstar of Christian theology spent his early years 'in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventures' and 'hellish pleasures', and fathered a son with a woman he never married and then abandoned... His formulation of the doctrine of original sin made clear that ever since Adam's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, humankind had been corrupted by the filthy allures of lust.”
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“St. Augustine knew perfectly well that if you asked people about it, most of them would prefer to have sex than pray to god... [ proving ] only that humankind is sinful by nature and easily seduced by Satan. From a Christian viewpoint, the vast majority of people are in more or less the same situation as heroin addicts.”
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“I dreamed I saw St. Augustine alive as you or me
Tearing through these quarters in the utmost misery
Searching for the very souls whom already have been sold”
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