Questions tagged [augustine]

Questions on works and thought St. Augustine of Hippo, an early Christian author, philosopher and theologian, and their reflections in doctrine of various denominations.

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Did St. Augustine, as a priest, listen to people's confessions of sin?

Today, in some Christian churches, there is the practice of confession. The penitent – person who feels remorse for sins – goes to a priest, to whom one confesses one's sins, and the priest might ...
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Did St. Augustine Write about the Assumption of the Virgin Mary?

I am currently investigating Catholic/Protestant theological differences. In trying to understand arguments about the immaculate conception of Mary, I began reading St. Thomas Aquinas, when I stumbled ...
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On a Quote of St. Augustine Pertaining to Education

Education is the food of youth, the delight of old age, the ornament of prosperity, the refuge and comfort of adversity, and the provocation to grace in the soul. Does anyone know in which of his ...
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Did St. Augustine warn us about interpreting the Bible in a way which harms science?

Yesterday I came across a quote that was associated with St. Augustine of Hippo which shocked me and I was wondering if this is a real quote by St. Augustine or is it another fake quotation by him? It'...
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Did St. Augustine believe that Ezekiel 44:1-2 is a prophecy of Mary's perpetual virginity?

According to Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians, Ezekiel 44:1-2 And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut. And the ...
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What does Augustine mean by the "hymns and psalms" which were introduced into the liturgy?

I am puzzling over a passage in Augustine's Confessions, where he speaks of himself and his mother in the Church at Milan: We were still cold, untouched by the warmth of your Spirit, but were excited ...
Doubt's user avatar
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St. Augustine's view on transmission of original sin?

What was the St. Augustine's view on transmission of original sin?
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Where can I find the source of Augustine's "Disturbers are to be rebuked" quote?

There is a fairly famous quote that begins "Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted..." It is usually attributed to ...
shoulderstander's user avatar
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Is there Catholic doctrine about "divine ideas"?

Augustine was a staunch advocate of the "doctrine" of divine ideas, which locates Plato's exemplary forms in the mind of God. The theory seems to have been generally adopted by Thomas ...
Doubt's user avatar
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What is the true origin of the quotation, attributed to St Augustine, beginning, 'To fall in love with God is the greatest of romances'?

There is a quotation floating around the internet. There are a few versions floating around, but they all go something like this: To fall in love with God is the greatest of romances, to seek him the ...
Tom Hosker's user avatar
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Why did St. Augustine and St. Thomas endorse ensoulment at 40 or 80 days?

I know the story that they lacked our current biological knowledge. I know the story that they still considered abortion to be a grave evil. These two excuses seem inadequate to me. Regardless, they ...
chris griffin's user avatar
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Contemporary Evangelical human nature positions that are different than St. Augustine

St. Augustine's theology is highly embedded in Western Christian denominations today, including among Evangelicals. But I'm sure his theology is not the only one supported by the Bible. In other ...
GratefulDisciple's user avatar
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Why did St. Monica defer St. Augustine's baptism?

St. Augustine's mother, St. Monica, was very devout, praying for St. Augustine's conversion, even following him to Milan and successfully getting Bishop St. Ambrose to baptize him, Easter 387. But why ...
Geremia's user avatar
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Identifying a source for this C.S. Lewis quote "This also is Thou: neither is this Thou"

In C.S. Lewis's Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer Letter 14 about different ways of conceptualizing God's presence among His creation, balancing between complete otherness and Pantheism. The ...
GratefulDisciple's user avatar
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Where can I find an English translation of St. Augustine's Questions on Heptateuch?

Where can I find an English translation for St. Augustine's Quaestiones in Heptateuchum VII (Seven Questions Concerning the Heptateuch)? The passage I'm interested in has the following Latin: Et ...
TheBigFunnyMan's user avatar
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1 answer
165 views

What is the source of this quote from Augustine about thanking heretics?

I am trying to find the source or reference for the following quote by St. Augustine of Hippo (P. S.: I translated this from Arabic, so the verbatim of the English version must be different): We ...
Mike's user avatar
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Is the quote "there is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future" attributed to St. Augustine?

This quote is often attributed to St. Augustine, but I have not been able to find anything that cites where in his works he writes this, nor have I found any historical account where he says this in a ...
Anthesis's user avatar
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Identifying a source for this C S Lewis quote (reflecting St Augustine and St Paul)

There is a C. S. Lewis quote from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that resembles a famous quote by St Augustine. Here is St. Augustine: The very thing which is now called the Christian religion ...
enoren5's user avatar
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Eschatology: Reformed and Roman Catholic?

I've heard that both Reformed and Roman Catholic eschatologies have Augustine as a major foundation. True?
rick hess's user avatar
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St. Augustine and woman sexuality? [closed]

Did Saint Augustine of Hippo say that "inter urinas et faeces nascimur" (we are born between urine and feces). As I understand this fragment implied the inferiority of female sexuality as something ...
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Does Augustine ever say that Christians in his time identify their Deus [God] with the Roman deity Saturn?

I first encountered this notion on p. 30 of R.S. Sugirtharajah's book The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial and Postcolonial Encounters (2001, Cambridge University Press). In reference ...
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Where does this famous St. Augustine quote about the repentant thief come from?

There is a very famous quote in French Catholic circles that would be translated as something like: No, I had not studied the Scriptures, but Jesus looked at me on the cross and, in his gaze, I ...
daveslab's user avatar
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What work of Augustine is Aquinas Citing Here?

In Summa Theologica I q. 1 a. 10 ("Whether in Holy Scripture a word may have several senses?") ad 1, Aquinas writes: Thus in Holy Writ no confusion results, for all the senses are founded on one -...
Winston Ewert's user avatar
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Reference for this "New is in the Old Concealed" quote that is attributed to Augustine?

I've seen the quote, "The New is in the Old Concealed, the Old is in the New Revealed" (such as a question here or the second answer here) or a variation, "The Old Testament is the New Testament ...
Alex Strasser's user avatar
3 votes
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Calvin on Catholicity of a Doctrine

Calvin writes in chapter 7 of his 'Institutes of the Christian Religion:' ... But he [Augustine] nowhere insinuates that the authority which we give to the Scriptures depends on the definitions or ...
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Was Saint Augustine a Calvinist on divine foreknowledge?

It is my understanding that Calvinism conflates God's passive will with His active will—i.e., the fact that He knows something will occur due to His divine foreknowledge and allows said thing to occur ...
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St. Augustine's views on salvation through coercion

This question goes out to any denomination. Why was St. Augustine okay with using force to convert unbelievers to the faith, which also resulted in the eventual Roman Catholic Church's inspiration ...
Philip's user avatar
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Where did Augustine say that the same fire that tortures the damned purifies the elect?

I've seen it quoted on internet sites that Augustine said that the same fire that tortures the damned purifies the elect. Supposedly he meant by this that the fires of Purgatory and Hell are the same. ...
Joseph Hinkle's user avatar
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Was there a non-Augustinian response to universalism in the early Church?

Most are aware of Augustine's abandonment of his universalism and his later adoption of eternal conscious torment in literal fire. His rejection of universalism is ultimately founded upon a ...
Joseph Hinkle's user avatar
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Where did Augustine say "It is certain that few are saved"?

I've noticed on several sites Augustine is quoted as having said "It is certain that few are saved." Does anybody know the source? I find the quote curious because he ascribes certainty to his ...
Joseph Hinkle's user avatar
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1 answer
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What is the source of this quote from St. Augustine?

In a sermon many years ago a priest (now dead) quoted a phrase from St Augustine : God was drawn down from heaven by the weight of his love. I realise that this is a translation from Latin & ...
Geoffrey Thomas's user avatar
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6 answers
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What did Augustine mean by "The OT is the NT concealed. The NT is the OT revealed."?

I've read this quote by Augustine several times over the years. Can you give me any examples of both parts of the quote to clarify it for me?
Steve's user avatar
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Which doctrine was formalised first: Infant Baptism or Original Sin?

What I mean is something like this : Case A, Original Sin came first because all newly born baby are going to hell if they die in their infant age then let's do Infant Baptism so they don't go to ...
karma's user avatar
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Did St. Augustine think sexual pleasure = concupiscence?

Did St. Augustine think sexual pleasure and concupiscence are identical? If not, why do some people seem to think this? Concupiscence is simply a disorder in which the body rebels against the rational ...
Geremia's user avatar
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Where does Augustine say that Adam and Eve were in Eden for just six hours before sinning?

In Calvin's Commentary on Genesis, he spends some time dealing with the question of how long Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden together before they sinned. He writes: The opinion has been ...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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Missing work of St. Augustine in Latin?

I have been trying to look for a work of St. Augustine in Latin but I have had no luck of finding it. Not only that, I don't think it's been translated to English. It's called "La Fe, Dedicada a Pedro ...
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0 votes
3 answers
993 views

Why would orthodox Christians consider Christian Science unorthodox if it essentially a mix of Augustine and healing?

Why is Christian Science considered unorthodox? How is Mary Baker Eddy's neo-platonism different from Augustine's, Aquinas', Calvin's, Jonathan Edwards', et. al.? How is her understanding of the ...
Ashpenaz's user avatar
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How prominent was "prosperity theology" in the early church?

Prosperity theology, or the "health and wealth gospel," is a recent movement that teaches that God promises material blessings, in this life, to those who have faith in him and who do his will. ...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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What does it really mean [not able not to sin] according to Augustine?

From this link, it is said that a newly born baby in relation to sin enumerated by Augustine of Hippo is [not able not to sin] (non posse non peccare). What I thought from that [not able no to sin] ...
karma's user avatar
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In which writing(s) did Augustine assert that God exists outside of time?

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, on the entry for “Eternity,” §3 (“The Eternalist View”), it is stated, So, beginning with Augustine and Boethius, many thinkers have held the ...
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6 votes
2 answers
120 views

What does "persecute with cups" refer to in Augustine's first homily on 1 John?

Augustine, in his first homily on 1 John has a phrase that reads: ut passiones martyrum imitetur, non eos calcibus persequamur! Online it is translated: that we should imitate the sufferings of ...
למה זה תשאל לשמי's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
466 views

Where does this Augustine quote come from?

"Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent and self-sustained" -Augustine Which work is this from?
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According to Augustine, what's the difference between regenerate life and that before the fall?

In Augustine's four stages of the Christian life, is the Reborn Man in the same state as the Pre-Fall Man? In which state was Christ the man while on earth? [Editor's note: OP refers to the 4 stages ...
Old Geezer's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
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Did any Jesuit opponents of early Jansenism argue that Augustine was wrong on any points?

Cornelius Jansen is known as the intellectual father of Jansenism, a movement not unlike Calvinism in a few respects, like its emphasis on original sin and predestination. Jansen's book, Augustinus (...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
563 views

Who is Augustine arguing against in his Confessions, book 12?

In Augustine's Confessions, book XII, chapters xvi–xvii (23–24), he writes about his disagreements with others over the proper interpretation of the Creation account in Genesis 1. Augustine holds that ...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
609 views

Why did Augustine attempt to stop Christians from walking barefoot?

In The Confessions, Augustine relates the story of an ascetic named Alypius who "tamed his body" to such an extent that "he went barefoot on the icy soil of Italy" (IX.vi). Henry Chadwick notes: ...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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Where does Augustine say that the rapture of the saved soul will "flow over" into the glorified body?

In The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis writes: What would it be to taste at the fountainhead that stream of which even these lower reaches prove so intoxicating? Yet that, I believe, is what lies ...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why doesn't the Orthodox church consider Saint Augustine Doctor and Father?

Saint Augustine (Doctor Gratiae) is considered by Catholic and Anglican churches as: one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. (...
granmirupa's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
505 views

Was Augustine opposed to the death penalty?

In Henry Chadwick's translation of the Confessions, I find him making a surprising claim: Like most of the Church Fathers, Augustine was against capital punishment. (page 21) The context is ...
Nathaniel is protesting's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
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Did Augustine believe in Purgatory?

Purgatory was one of the doctrines the Reformers reacted most strongly against, though many Reformers claimed Augustine of Hippo as being in agreement with their theology. Did Augustine teach a ...
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