My book notes

A short time ago, I read Peter Brown's biography on Augustine of Hippo and decided to write up some notes. They won't be excessively long, but enough to just breeze over the main points.

There is not much known about his father. He died shortly after saving enough money to send Augustine off to Carthage for education. Throughout his years growing up, he was eager to study "higher" and more knowledgeable things then the rest of the people. We can see this throughout his life. He did not dabble with lowly or meager issues or subjects. He was always advancing toward more higher and educating subjects. As a young boy in a simple town with peasants and farmers, he felt trapped and secluded from the real world. His mother, Monica, was a devote Christian and always sought to make a strong Christian out of him, but he wouldn't have any of it. At age 28, he snuck off to Rome to avoid having to have his mother cling to him and beg him not to go. It is very evident that Monica loved her son very much all throughout his life although he was known for sneaking off to places without letting her know on purpose. His father was known to be hot-tempered but hard-working. Augustine was very fascinated and held captive by the thought of wisdom. He always sought it out. He looked to the Bible to find Wisdom, but turned away disappointed. Soon enough, he found Manichaeism and found his long-sought out Wisdom. I think I've already explained Manichaeism, but if you don't remember I will revisit it real quick. Any Manichaenist believed that there was always a struggle between the good and spiritual world of light and the evil, dark side of the world. Throughout the course of life, light is increasingly taken out of this world to be returned to the real world of light. God is the ruler of the good and spiritual light world. Augustine often struggled with the trouble of sexual sin himself. Because of this, he focused on this within the surrounding areas. Back then, it was considered normal for a man to have concubines or mistresses. It was, however, considered wrong for a woman to have numerous husbands or relationships with men. He was deeply involved in the debate between the Catholic Church and the Donatists. He said that drunkenness was a compulsive force of habit. People couldn't help becoming drunk because it was just a habit that they couldn't stop. An interesting fact was that he ruled that it was alright for men in the church to wear earrings. He eventually rose to be the bishop of Hippo with great power. He was one to speak fear and the terrors of hell into the hearts of his congregation. His mother kicked him out of the house when she discovered that Augustine had turned to Manicheanism. He lived his life as "Populus Dei". He acted as a judge to the people in his community. During the later years of his life, he had physical disabilities and couldn't travel well. He was opposed to the death penalty saying that in such a case there was "no chance for repentance". He was also violently opposed to gossip. Within the course of 15 years, he wrote 33 books. He loved the Psalms and used "Psalm language" in writing the Confessions. Augustine greatly emphasized spouse faithfulness, family life, and education. He also set a solid foundation for Catholicism. One of his books, The City of God, has also been referred to as his magnum opus. Augustine did believe in demons. He fled to Rome to escape the Donatist's persecutions while at the same time Pelagianism.