Augustine of Hippo

The Petrarchan sonnet “Hap,” by Thomas Hardy, is an exploration of how life is controlled and can be explained. In the poem’s octave, the speaker envisions a life under the power of a vengeful god who……, but concludes in the sestet that in reality, life is not controlled by higher powers, malicious or not. The speaker searches for an explanation that would give purpose to his pain, but failing to find one, laments the reality of his situation, where suffering can only be explained by chance. In…

Sophocles Concept of Eternal Law and Goods Shown in Antigone and Into the Wild In The Problem of Free Choice, St. Augustine describes two types of laws, temporal and eternal. Augustine believes temporal laws are made by the state and can change overtime. In contrast, eternal laws are laws that came about through reason. They can never be changed. There are also two types of goods, temporal and eternal. Temporal goods are not permanent, but eternal goods are. The concept of eternal law and…

There are many different desires that Augustine seeks throughout his life before he finds the one that is truly “worthwhile”. Each of these desires corresponds with his age at the time, or his “maturity” level. Up until the final desire that he seeks, his other desires only provided him with temporary happiness. Once Augustine realized this, he’d move on to different temporary desires until he finally explored deep within himself. These other different desires occurred when he was a teenager,…

mindset and a godly mindset looks like. Augustine also examined Plato 's idea that humans have lived multiple lives and represents the idea in a way that he deemed more plausible. Augustine 's philosophical statements about mankind resemble Plato 's to a point. He takes some of Plato 's ideas and simply rewrites or expounds on them in his own writings. Augustine and Plato did not, however, see faith and reason in the same light. Unlike his predecessor, Augustine believed reason could not be…

Manichean Texts of the Silk Road Tun-Huang was a major destination along the Silk Road. The caves of the thousand Buddhas contained many important manuscripts and pieces of art which have been used by historians to learn about the cultures of the Silk Road. Among these were three Manichean texts written in Chinese. These are the Hymnscroll, the Compendium of the Doctrines of Mani, and the Traité Pelliot. These are significant because they are some of the only written documents we have of the…

In Saint Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine ponders his worldly experiences and how they prompted him to lead a more spiritual life. Throughout his divine expedition towards God, Augustine is faced with four deaths at varying ages and religious mentalities. The extent of Augustine’s religiousness at the time of each death greatly shaped the way he perceived every loss he faced. From when he reads about Dido’s death in Virgil’s Aeneid to witnessing the death of his mother, Monica, Augustine’s…

Although St. Augustine was born about six hundred years before Plato and Aristotle, he nevertheless encountered the great thinkers through their works. Consequently, a plenitude of themes seen throughout the Ancient Greek philosophers’ books are scattered across saint’s letters and sermons. Because Augustine was a Catholic, however, there exist stark differences between the men’s ideas. Therefore, after naming and briefly describing several of St. Augustine’s writings, I argue that the Christian…

Gamache 1 Melissa Gamache Sonia Zylberberg Sex & Religion November 23rd The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago Catholicism is one of the most know religions around the world. It is meant to “learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church” (Online, Catholic. "Catholic Facts and General Knowledge”), yet people may have different beliefs and views on certain religions like catholicism. Accordingly, living in a…

Robinson Crusoe can be considered a spiritual autobiography, a story of a man’s spiritual pilgrimage, from reprobate through regret and faith to devout man of God. Indeed, it is possible to trace Robinson’s progress from a state of sin to a state of grace, “a rebellion-punishment-repentance-deliverance sequence described from the earliest moment of Christendom as characteristic of fallen men who are accorded God’s grace” (Hunter 252). The spiritual autobiography usually includes some elements…

John Calvin is the reformer that started Calvinism.Calvin was a man who was highly influenced by Luther but then ended up making his own modified version of Luther’s beliefs.The core beliefs of calvinism are predestination, Justification by faith alone and T.U.L.I.P.This paper will outline John Calvin’s thoughts on free will along with other’s thoughts on Calvin’s theory. John Calvin believes in predestination. Calvinism teaches that God alone decides who will be saved and humans have no way to…