Later, he took on a concubine which bore him a son, Adeodatus (Book 4, Chapter 2) "In those years I lived with a woman who was not bound to me by lawful marriage; she was one who had come my way because of my wandering desires and my lack of considered judgment; nevertheless, I had only this one woman and I was faithful to her" (Book 4, Chapter 2). However, when his concubine was shipped off to Africa so as not to be a hindrance to his planned marriage, he quickly replaced her with another woman despite the fact that his former concubine had pledged a vow of chastity. "I had two years to wait until I could have the girl to whom I was engaged, and I could not bear the delay. So, since I was not so much a lover of marriage as a slave to lust, I found another woman for myself-not of course, as a wife" (Book 6, Chapter 16).
Augustine's first religious involvement was with the Manichees, a heretical Christian sect. They were troubled by an apparent inconsistency in orthodox Christian belief. How, the Manichees wondered, could a good and omnipotent God have created evil? Manichees concluded that God was not omnipotent and that evil was a separate force from God. Thus, sin was not the fault of the sinner, but rather of the evil itself.
Augustine continued with the Manichee faith for nine years of his life. According to his Confessions; however, he did not lead a satisfied life as a Manichee. "On the one hand I and my friends would be hunting after the empty show of popularity-theatrical applause from the audience, verse competitions, contests for crowns of straw, the vanity of the stage, immoderate lusts-and on the other hand we would be trying to get clean of all this filth by carrying food to those people who were called "the elect" and "the holy ones," so that in the factory of their own stomachs they could turn this food into angels and gods, by whose aid we should be liberated" (Book 4, Chapter 1).
Saint Augustine Confessions In the Confessions, Saint Augustine addressed himself articulately and passionately to the persistent questions that stirred the minds and hearts of men since time began. ... According to St. ... Saint Augustine had a choice, to sin or not to sin. ... In Saint Augustine Confessions he states: "What rottenness! ... Saint Augustine found two paths to follow, and in the wo...
St. Augustine's City of God The philosophies of Saint Augustine were remarkable and perhaps revolutionary for his lifetime. ... (Dietrich, St. ... (Dietrich, St. ... (Early Christianity, 186) The final division for all eternity comes at the Last Judgment; this will decide the saints (followers of God) from the sinners (victims of their own pride) and determine their souls forever paths. ...
The Norman church of Ely, and associated monastery was built to honor a group of saints, and one in particular, St. ... (Braughton 2001) The shrines of her sister St Sexburga and her niece St Eormenhilda were placed here as well. ... (Binski 2004) clearly St. ... Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to Britain in 597 where he met and converted the Kentish King Ethelbert and the Christian message was spread. ... St. ...
I was dead to the world until God's time when Junker Tetzel and Doctor Staupitz incited me against the pope."1 Here in this monastery he chose to become an Augustinian monk, in the Order of the Hermits of St Augustine. ... First the sinner must feel genuine sorrow for their sin. ... The power of indulgences came from the merits of the dead saints. ... The merits of all the saints are counted toward the church, and the pope and other bishops can direct them to where they can do the most good. ... Pope Leo X wanted to rebuild St Peters church, which would cost a lot of money. ...
Autobiography of Margery Kempe: Struggles, Trials, Perseverance and Courage The Book of Margery Kempe is the earliest autobiography written in English, being a fifteenth century manuscript, and is a work of Christian mysticism, telling the tale of a medieval mystic, Margery Kempe (ca. 1373-1438), being transformed from sinner to saint. ... Kempe was illiterate, unable to read and write, however, the style in which her spiritual biography is written has ties to St. Augustine (354-430 AD), whose confessions tell the story of his early life and conversion to Christianity (2001). ...
