St. Augustine Research Paper

While Saint Augustine’s lived over sixteen centuries ago, his actions and words are still relevant for today’s world. In fact, his work is widely read because it is tremendously relatable for all humans. The early stages of Saint Augustine’s life portrayed the complete opposite of a “holy” or “virtuous” life - he was notorious for being a rebellious thief and a unfaithful adulterer. Thus, the sinful aspects of his life make it very relevant for today’s world; perfection is not required to reach salvation. HIs teachings and works depict what humans are taught from a young age: we are all sinners, but it is the way we live our lives that determines our fate. In other words, God will not give up on his people, even when we sin and turn away from …show more content…
Relating his crimes to the ideas of original sin, Augustine talks about his story of stealing the pear because of the bad company he was keeping. He began with evil, just as Adam and Eve did in the book of Genesis. In addition, just like all of his writings, the story relates to today’s world because the company we keep can often lead us to making poor decisions; we must recognize that we have original sin. Furthermore, the book speaks about how during his studies, he lost faith in the scriptures and turned to Manichaeism and its influence. Eventually, Bishop Ambrose converted him and Augustine became the bishop, conveying that it is never too late to find God, as long as you are open to accepting his teachings. Augustine’s book, City of God, speaks about the unjust persecution of Christians in response to Romans blaming the fall of the Roman Empire on Christianity. Also, his writings talk about concepts such as the concept of evil and the contrasting differences between free will and divine omniscience. Today, we face all these topics, recognizing where evil exists in today’s world, and how humans have free will, and not everything is predetermined by