Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable. -- SIR FRANCIS BACON

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. -- C.S. LEWIS

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Aurelius Augustinus



Today, November 13 is St. Augustine's birthday, or so tradition holds. He was born in the year 354 in North Africa--present day Algeria.

Augustine's mother, Monica, was a strong Christian and wanted her son, above all things, to become a Christian. The young Augustine, however, was quite the opposite: he was an accomplished thief, liar, and eventually, an adulterer--as he took up a mistress whom he fathered a son with.

Despite rejecting Christianity at an early age, Augustine nonetheless contained a copy of Paul's epistles. Augustine was a student of rhetoric and philosophy and, thus, he was attracted to Paul's writings for such reasons, and not their spiritual content.

One day a man named Pontitian, a Christan who was an officer of the imperial household, visited Augustine, and Augustine's life, nor the world, would ever be the same.

As the story goes, Pontitian picked up a book off of Augustine's table and, seeing that it contained Paul's epistles, Pontitian related how Christ had changed his life and the lives of his friends. Two of his friends specifically decided to join a monastery and dedicate themselves to virginity. Such talk of sexual purity pierced at the very core of Augustine.

After Pontitian left, Augustine ran outside and threw himself on the ground beneath a fig tree, overcome by conviction. Suddenly, Augustine heard the words of a strange young girl singing simply "Take up and read." Augustine was convinced these were the very words of God. Augustine grabbed the epistles of Paul and his eyes fell upon Romans 13:13-14: "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Augustine immediately went into his house and told his mother that her prayers had finally been answered. Augustine would later write that "instantly as I reached the end of this sentence, it was as if the light of peace was poured into my heart, and all the shades of doubt faded away."

Augustine went on to become the bishop of Hippo in North Africa and one of the greatest and most influential theologians the world has ever seen.


Soli Deo Gloria.

3 comments:

austen_n_burney said...

Have you ever read Confessions or another work by Augustine?

Unus Veritas said...

I have read Confessions and City of God, and some of his work targeted against the heresies of the Arians.

You?

austen_n_burney said...

Only Confessions. It was great and convicting.