Free Paper Example: Biographical Sketch of Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Augustine Hippo was larger than life catholic devout. Before becoming a Catholic devote, Augustine Hippo passed through various life stages. Thus he adopted heretical theologies like Manichaeism. As a learned and great philosopher, Augustin Hippo applied philosophy in his Christian teachings. Augustine Hippo employed his unique way of teaching Christianity by incorporating philosophy with the intent to defend the Catholic faith for which he was part. He was born in 354 in a region called Thagaste (Finn 752). Thagaste was located in the Roman Province in North Africa. As a newborn in a respectable family, Augustin got an opportunity to earn respect since his father was a senior government official of the city. Augustine of Hippo's biography is concerned with the constraints that his pagan father and Christian mother expected of him.

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Secondary Sources

Annotation 1

Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: a biography. Univ of California Press, 2013.

Brown is an article that outlines the historical events that Augustine Hippo went through since 354 to 430 (Brown 15). The book describes data concerning the African life that Augustine passed through, his education, friends, and success. Additionally, the book has data concerning Augustine's philosophy, confessions, ideas on the lost future, the doctrine of Christianity and the end of Roman Africa. The book's main point is to outline how the Roman Empire transformed the lives of people and influenced their knowledge about the world they lived in. The book offers a countdown of events that Augustine of Hippo passed through. For instance, Augustine listened to the teachings of Mani who was a Persian visionary. Augustine was living in a world that had both Catholics and pagans. The purpose of the book is to outline the effect of the life that Augustine passed through. The article is academically reputable. The information is reliable since it has been structured according to the time factor. The book offers a chance for coming up with relevant data concerning the biography of Augustine. According to Brown (15), the information concerning Augustine's early studies was done in Tagaste. He later spent four years studying literature in Madaure town. It is also helpful in outlining that Augustine started writing the aspects of confessions at 43 years (Brown 16).

Annotation 2

Hollingworth, Miles. Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013. EBSCOhost, www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=578590&site=eds-live.

Hollingworth outlines extensive information about an intellectual biography of Augustine of Hippo with some structured headings. The subsections and the reputable information described in the table of contents proves that the book is reliable. There is information concerning Augustine's remarks on his parents, reflections on infancy, Manichaeism and written information against self-consciousness concerning its effects. The book is helpful since enabled my argument concerning the way Augustine chose to be a Christian yet his father was a pagan. Augustine's mother. Monica is portrayed to have been a Christian.

Since Augustine's father was proud of the success of Augustine in philosophy, the aspect made Augustine incorporate philosophy into religion. Augustine did not get a chance to grab the offer that his father granted him to go for a forensic study career. He later resorted to sinful behavior as he described it in the Confessions. Hollingworth (n. p) outlined that in the Confessions, he Augustine described the sins that made him change and become a devout Catholic. In the year 387, Augustine returned to Milan and was baptized with Adeodatus and Alypius. This information is informative on the critical stage of Augustine's biography.

Annotation 3

Finn, R. D.(Richard Damian). "Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography." The Journal of Theological Studies, vol. 65, no. 2, Oct. 2014, pp. 751-754. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/jts/flu061.

Finn (752) outlines the possible issues that are relevant in describing the biography of Augustine of Hippo. The source is reputable since it explains the possible chapters concerning the life changes of Augustine of Hippo. The objective of the source is efficient in noting down the biography of Augustine of Hippo. Chapter 2 of Finn (752) outlines that the "intellectual milieu' contains the biographical data of how Augustine of Hippo grew up. The article provides grounds for outlining the contents in the Confessions and self-will. Finn (753) outlines that Augustine was betrayed by his father and ended up engaging in sinful deeds. Finn's article portrays relevance in outlining the detailed issues concerning Augustine's life as a sinner and what transpired to his sinful deeds and backsliding from the Christian way of life.

On the other hand, the book is suitable for the argument that Augustine's biography was influenced by his father and the expectations that his father had upon him. It is therefore right to claim that family expectations changed Augustine's sinful nature. However, the fact that Augustine was able to reform in 387 outlines that his philosophy of hating sin rather than hating the sinner was relative to the life that he had lived due to influence.

Primary Sources

Annotation 4

Catholic Faith and Reason. "St. Augustine of Hippo (about 354-430 A.D.)" (n. p.), Retrieved from http://www.catholicfaithandreason.org/st-Augustine-of-Hippo-about-354-430-ad.html

The website is reputable since it has been structured with relevant subsections that result in the access of reliable data. The site's objectives are to name the detailed information concerning Augustine. For instance, the site outlines the specific year and age of Augustine and when he was ordained to be a priest. Augustine is said to have been ordained a priest in 391 A. D. when he was 37 years old. The death of Augustine's father is said to have been 371, and it might have been the reason why he became a fully-fledged Christian in 387. Augustine of Hippo's life was majorly influenced by his mother who was a devout Christian. The information in the article is reliable as it relates with the data provided by Catholic Faith and Reason (n. p.) concerning Augustine and the concept of Christianity with the philosophy of the value of aesthetics. His mother made him focus on the study of the Holy Trinity and the importance of grace. As a newborn in Souk Ahras in Numidia, his father's wants made him fall into temptations of sins before transforming in 387. Since he had converted to Christianity in 386 and happened to engage I sinful life, he outlined that humans should not hate the sinner but hate sin itself as he transformed in 387. The article outlines the required information concerning his transformation to Christianity and the reason why he incorporated the value of aesthetic in religion. The site is efficient since it outlines that "Augustine wrote a letter to Generosus in 400 A.D. concerning apostolic succession" Catholic Faith and Reason n. p.).

Annotation 5

ThoughtCo. "Biography of St. Augustine." Bishop Hippo in North Africa (354-430). Religion and Spirituality. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-st-augustine-700002

ThoughtCo. is a primary source that is reputable and academically sound concerning the biographical data of Augustine of Hippo who lived between 354 and 430 A.D. The reliability of the online source is guaranteed since it relates to the Confessions a book written by Augustine. According to the source, the goal of the writer is to outline the life stages of Augustine since his childhood, what transpired to his backslide from the right way of Christianity and what made him reform and incorporate philosophy in religion. According to ThoughtCo. (n. p.), Augustine's life was influenced and scarred by immorality. The article outlines that the ideas concerning Augustine's immoral way of life are contained in the book Confessions in a title named conversion.

According to ThoughtCo. (n. p.), Augustine engaged in a lousy company that led to his immoral life. Later, Augustine took a satisfied mistress and fathered Adeodatus who later died in 390 A.D. The reason that made Augustine become a Manichean was his hunger for wisdom. Then in 387, Augustine was baptized by Bishop Ambrose and then returned to his birthplace which was Thagaste as an ordained priest. Augustine became the bishop of the city of Hippo but maintained a simple life. The bias of the source is that it does not outline specific dates that Augustine changes that contributed to the formation of his biography.

Annotation 6

Chadwick, Henry. Augustine of Hippo: A Life. OUP Oxford, 2009. EBSCOhost, www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=298998&site=eds-live.

Chadwick's e-book outlines a clear and precise content of Augustine's Christianity, the Christian culture that influenced his life, the elements of the Confessions, the question for simplicity and aesthetic value. Also, the book is reputable since it portrays all the reasons that made Augustine incorporate philosophy into Christian teachings (Chadwick 80). According to Chadwick (2), the article named Confessions enabled Augustine to outline the relevance of hating sin and loving the sinner. The reason is that Augustine was once a sinner before returning to Milan in the year 387 and started a devote life to Christianity. The article enabled me to argue my point that Augustine employed philosophy in religion and his teachings concerning Catholic life. Augustine is portrayed to have been an effective incorporator of the philosophy of aesthetics in Christian teachings.

Conclusion

In summation, Augustine Hippo, a larger than life catholic devout passed through various life influences to become an ordained bishop and priest. It has been found out that Augustine of Hippo was initially affiliated to his hunger for power and focused on becoming a heretical Manichaeism. Since his birth in 354, Augustine was made to learn the Christian way of life but was constrained by the pagan lifestyle of his father. He later became a Christian in 387 by getting baptized to Catholic Christian life. It was also outlined that Augustine Hippo employed his unique way of teaching Christianity by incorporating philosophy with the intent to defend the Catholic faith for which he was part. The fact that Augustine of Hippo's mother was a Christian made him steadfast in Christianity and forsook pagan life that his father was a part.

Works Cited

Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: a biography. Univ of California Press, 2013.

Catholic Faith and Reason. "St. Augustine of Hippo (about 354-430 A.D.)" (n. p.), Retrieved from http://www.catholicfaithandreason.org/st-Augustine-of-Hippo-about-354-430-ad.html

Chadwick, Henry. Augustine of Hippo: A Life. OUP Oxford, 2009. EBSCOhost, www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=298998&site=eds-live.

Finn, R. D. (Richard Damian). "Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography." The Journal of Theological Studies, vol. 65, no. 2, Oct. 2014, pp. 751-754. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/jts/flu061.

Hollingworth, Miles. Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography. Oxford University Press, 2013. EBSCOhost, www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=578590&site=eds-live...