How Did Influence Augustine Of Hippo

Influences of Augustine Throughout the semester in the book The Confessions we come across many factors that contributed to the intellectual and spiritual/moral development of Augustine of Hippo. I believe Monica and Ambrose to be the two most influential people in his life. Neo Platonism and Manichaeism also are two philosophical schools of thought that greatly affected Augustine throughout his lifetime and all that he had encountered. Monica was his mother and she is considered to be the number one most influential person in Augustine's life by many and she is talked about a lot throughout his book. Ambrose, who was the bishop of Milan, played the main role in Augustine’s baptism and conversion to Christianity. Neo Platonism during that time was one of the most popular views …show more content…
Being the loving mother she was, she was worried terribly and decided to go to a bishop in order to try and persuade him to talk to her son. Despite her efforts the bishop would not. She would go on to beg and at one point in the book it is mentioned that she was in tears. This is one of many examples of her effort to guide her son in the right direction. Augustine to her was always her most promising child. Because of the fact that she pushed the idea of Christianity onto Augustine from the very beginning, it was always on his mind throughout his religious journey. In the book Augustine mentioned that the book that he read (Hortensius) and its lack of any reference to Christ was something he did not like. He would go on to attribute these feelings about this book to his mother's influence. It is because of this very fact that he would go on to finally take on the Bible. Another part in Augustine’s life that I believe Monica was influential was during his decision to leave the unnamed woman whom he was having a concubine with for 13 years. She played the main role in arranging a more respectable marriage for her son Augustine. This was to be