Questions About Augustine

Augustine is a Christian philosopher from the late fourth and early fifth centuries. He was born in North Africa and had a childhood that was full of mischief and trouble. After being baptized, around the age of thirty-three, his life took off in a different direction. He rose up through the hierarchy of the church culminating in his being appointed bishop of Hippo, a north African town. When Rome was sacked in 410 AD, Augustine eloquently argued as why Christians should remain faithful and not turn their backs on God, even when life turned very bleak and dark. His ideas, expressed in his two famous works, Confessions and City of God, had immense influence on medieval thinking and later Protestantism. Some of his controversial ideas include the doctrine of predestination, based on his interpretations of Paul’s writings, and original sin. Augustine was said to have a foot in both the Classical and medieval worlds. While he lived during the decline of the Roman Empire, his philosophies are often considered part of medieval thinking, and beyond. Why do so many historians, theologians and philosophers refer to Augustine as a transitional figure? What aspects of his life and ideas make him both a Classical and a Medieval figure? How is he both a product of the past, and original in his conclusions?