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| St. Augustine of Hippo |
There is an old saying that “those who do not learn from
history, are doomed to repeat it”. While
this pithy saying is often brushed off as the antiquated thoughts of time long
gone. The truth of the statement is no
less prevalent now than it was when it was first uttered. There has been a shift in the tide of modern
thought and if left unchecked will wreak havoc on our culture. The crisis faced today is not one of war or
barbarians, it is not a fear of communism like the “Red Scare”. In short
today’s crisis does not stem from an external threat but from an internal
one. The threat which is most prevalent
to today’s society is an intellectual one. The rise of rationalism and relativism
has turned mankind’s gaze away form transcendent truths and has allowed him to
settle for comfort and pragmatism. Truth is no longer the object which man
seeks and as a result we no longer live in a culture where personal
accountability is expected but we are all to quick to abdicate responsibility
to the other; it is never my fault, but the governments, the schools or the
environments. What then are we to do to
redirect the course which we are on? If there is anyone who can teach modern
society not only the importance of turning away from popular opinion but also
the fruits which can be born out of a relentless pursuit of the objectively
true, good and, beautiful, it is St. Augustine of Hippo.
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| The small dot in the highlighted area is Thagaste |
St. Augustine of Hippo, was born in
Thagaste in the year 354 A.D. Although
he had been born into a Christian home Augustine himself had not been baptized
until well into his adult life. Even
though Christianity had been introduced to Augustine at a young age, he never
wanted to associate himself with this religion or the pagan religion to which
his father belonged to. After-all, this
young saint to be had more important things to worry about such as his latest
sexual exploits and winning over the admiration of his friends (Confessions Book II, Chapters 1-3). What
Augustine struggles with is something that is common even in today’s society. This
great saint while distant to us in terms of time and history, is not so far
away from the commons struggles of modern man. We seek admiration we seek love
and affection but often times we let these passions rule us and we become
slaves to our own vices. The rise of
infidelity among married couples, the increase in sex trafficking and, the
widespread use of pornography are all testaments that this old problem never
goes away. In spite of all of his flaws
Augustine does not abdicate responsibility towards something or someone else,
in fact he does just the opposite. Augustine when looking back at his actions
sees that the impulses and the desires are not in and of themselves
intrinsically evil, but when man turns a created good into something for
self-gratification that is when an act becomes immoral. The takeaway from Augustine is that what may
be praise worthy in the eyes of our contemporaries is not always right. If the
life of Augustine can tell us anything it is that the moral life is a life well
lived.
While Augustine accentuates the
importance of a moral life, in his eyes this is only a branch of a much larger
tree. Augustine’s life was not that of a
radical conversion like seen with St. Francis of Assis or St. Paul. Augustine’s conversion came gradually and
slowly through his desire to know Truth. St. Augustine was a well-read man. “His
search for truth and wisdom began with his reading at the age of eighteen of a
now lost dialogue by Cicero, the Hortensius. The work made an impact
that Augustine could not forget and that he often mentions in his later
writings. When he recounts the experience in the Confessions (III, 4,
7), written in his forties, he tells us that it was this work that
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| Our Lady of Wisdom |
Wisdom is something which has very much lost
its value in an age of relativism and subjectivity. For wisdom is predicated
upon the existence of immutable and eternal truths, truths which are objective
not the notions of human emotion. Augustine’s pursuit of truth and his literal philosophia (love of wisdom) is one that
lead him towards God and made him one of the most profound writers of late
Roman antiquity[ii]. What then does the pursuit of wisdom have to
do with our modern society, a society obsessed with self-image, self-gratification
and personal success? Everything.
Within the past two years we have
seen the death of several great pop-artists and actors. Whitney Houston, Robin
Williams, Prince and Chester Bennington have all been victims of drug overdose
or suicide. How is it that men and women
who had everything our modern society adores still be so miserable to the point
of taking their own lives or turning to drugs? Now we should not by any means
try to over spiritualize psychological disorders, nor downplay the debilitating
effects of mental illness. However, it
is important to recognize that the people who are named above (and that is just
a short list) had everything which
our society deems as necessary for a successful and happy life; fame, talent,
prestige and power. So how then does
Augustine appeal to the modern reader? What can a holy bishop of an antiquated
church teach us about what is important? The answer lays in Augustine’s
response to all of these things.
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| Restless Heart |
Augustine had an extremely successful
career even before his conversion to Christianity. He was a grammarian, a rhetorician and a
lawyer, “his career as a teacher of rhetoric took him from his native Africa to
Italy, first to Rome and then to Milan”[iii]. He had the esteem of his colleagues and as
stated earlier he was a lady’s man; fame, power, intelligence, good looks and,
prestige and yet Augustine makes a very keen observation, he writes, “inquietum est cor nostrum”[iv] (our hearts are restless).
He had everything a man of our times could want and yet he was still
“restless”. It was not until his conversion that he realized that his heart had
been longing for the ultimate truth, God.
Morality, philosophy virtue, all seem to
be frivolous ideas to a modern audience. How then can we start to shift the
cultural climate away from abdication and pragmatism to accountability and
virtue? The same way in which Augustine
did. We must look at ourselves before turning our gaze to others. It is difficult, but we must encourage each
other to take an honest look at ourselves and ask “what is my heart truly
longing for”? Augustine through his life
and works shows us that while this may be a daunting task it is one that can
bear enormous fruit. Augustine was
fearless in his reproaches to those who were immoral and indecent yet always
offered a loving hand in which to help guide a person back on the straight and
narrow. The Bishop of Hippo extends his hand today to a world that is hurting
and restless and offers his life as an example to help reshape our culture and
society. As Christians we should follow
the example of this great saint, for beauty and truth do not simply exist in
paintings and writings but in how we live our lives. There are no such things
as “bad times” for in the words of St. Augustine of Hippo: “Bad times!
Troublesome times! These men are saying. Let our lives be good; and the times
are good. We make our times; such as we are, such are the times. But what can
we do? We cannot, it may be, convert the mass of men to a good life. But let
the few who do give ear live well”[i]. Live well, pursue good
and follow the example given to us by this ancient answer to our modern world.
[i] R.
A. Markus, St. Augustine Encyclopedia
of Philosophy. Ed. Donald M. Borchert. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Detroit: (Macmillan
2007), 390
[ii]
R.A. Markus, 389
[iii] Ibid
[iv]
St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk I,
par. I
[v] Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6, translated
by R.G. MacMullen, NY: (Christian Literature Publishing Co.), <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/160330.htm>.
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