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Augustine of Hippo: He being dead, yet speaketh. A Guest Post by Joshua Lake

By Anita Mathias

 Why should you care about St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, born in the 4th century and dead in the 5th? What can a dead white guy from ancient Africa have to teach you today?

After all, you and I live in the age of the Internet. The age of YouTube and The Office. You can Google John 3:16 in approximately 4.2 seconds, so why do you need to read Augustine’s reflections on that verse?
I’ll reveal my hand right here at the beginning: I treasure Augustine’s writings. I first picked them up when I was eighteen, and I later studied them in college. Last month I reread his famous Confessions, and I benefited anew from Augustine’s wisdom.
With that personal confession, I’ll give you at least two reasons I think you should know about Augustine.
Why Should You Care About Augustine?
First, it is wise to acquaint yourself with Christian writers from previous generations. Explaining the importance of knowing historic figures, G. K. Chesterton famously referred to tradition as the democracy of the dead. In Orthodoxy, Chesterton explained, “Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.”
For that reason, I highly recommend that you read books written before your time. Recommend that you read old books. Books by dead authors. Reading old books, particularly books on Christianity, will safeguard you against falling into error. It will ground you in historic Christianity, and it will remind you of what the Church has always held to be true.
Second, I recommend Augustine in particular, because of how beautifully he combines brilliant, intellectual theology with deeply heartfelt, emotional love for Christ. Modern Christianity tends to slide off into one of those two extremes: seeking ever-fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit, manifested in exuberant emotion, or pursuing pure, undefiled, brainy systematic theologies with no connection to life. Augustine stands as our proof that Christians can have both: they can love Christ passionately while knowing him rightly.
Augustine’s Background
You probably know Augustine’s name, but here’s what you may not know about him. Augustine was born to a believing mother and a pagan father. In Confessions, Augustine recalls that his mother spent every day in tearful prayer, begging that God would save her husband and her son.
Augustine deeply adored his mother, and he praises her for her faith and love. He writes that she endured abuse, drunkenness, and infidelity from her husband, all the while respectfully submitting to him and praying for his salvation. In the end, God did save her husband, and their marriage was redeemed.
For more than thirty years, Augustine lived as an unbeliever, scorning his mother’s faith. He lived life to the hilt, tasting pleasure and seeking wisdom. Augustine excelled at rhetoric and grammar, because he loved the attention he received from public speaking. In short, Augustine was a man of the world–he pursued pleasure wherever it could be found.
But God was not content to let him go. God heard the prayers of Augustine’s mother, and He would not let Augustine go. At some point, the world lost its luster, and he saw it for what it was. “I could not find relief,” he confessed, “in quiet forests, nor in loud games and music, nor in fragrant spots, nor in parties, nor in sexual pleasures, nor even in books and poetry.” As he put it later, “You [God] melt the defenses erected aginst You by a glance from Your will. … Nothing can escape Your heat.” God broke down Augustine’s defenses and swept in with new life.
Immediately, without looking back, Augustine gave up his sensuous pursuit of pleasure and turned to God. He sold everything he owned, gave the money to the poor, and opened a monastic community in northern Africa. Within four years of conversion, Augustine became a priest, and within four more years he was named bishop of Hippo, in what is today called Algeria. He held that position for more than thirty years, until his death.
Important Parts of Augustine’s Work
I’ve already mentioned Confessions, a memoir written as a series of prayers to God. In it, Augustine details the ways in which God moved in his life, both before and after salvation. Augustine’s language is stirring, and emotion drips off the pages in many passages like this one:
Happy is the one who loves You.
He looks to You for friendship.
He makes enemies only to protect Your honor.
The one fixed in You sees his earthly loves as beloved in You.
You alone cannot be lost; You only are certain.
Our God are You who made heaven and earth.
You fill them with works of Your creation.
– Confessions, page 59 (Modern English Version, Baker Book House: 2005).
In Confessions Augustine writes about his mother and his wild early years, and it is the most deeply personal of all his writings. There, he also presages C. S. Lewis’s idea that our desires are not too strong but too weak, saying, “Their human will does not have a strong enough desire to make them able to want real happiness.”
Augustine spent thirteen years writing City of God, where he creates the idea now known as “Two Kingdoms” theology. Augustine explains that Christ’s kingly rule places Him over all creation, but it is not fully manifest yet. While on this earth, we are all citizens of two kingdoms: one heavenly and the other earthly. So our attitude toward life should not be an anxious grasping, in the words of one historian. Instead, it should be an attitude of relaxed playfulness, knowing that our eternal fate is secure in Christ.
Our politics on earth should, as Christians, be free of messianic pretensions but also void of all hopelessness and despair. “If Augustine is a thorn in the side of those who would cure the universe once and for all,” Philosopher Jean Bethke Elshtain wrote, “he similarly torments critics who disdain any project of human community, or justice, or possibility.”
In lesser known works, Augustine covers a wide range of topics. On the Trinity is arguably his deepest book, in which Augustine became the first theologian to attempt a comprehensive explanation of the Trinity. Many sermons have also survived, where we can read Augustine’s words as a preacher. Finally, Augustine wrote a number of apologetic works, in which he dismantles a variety of heretical views threatening the Church.
Where Should You Start?
I started by highly praising Augustine’s writing, and I want to echo that sentiment here. I encourage you to make a point of reading at least one of his books before this year ends. With that said, I will issue a word of caution: Augustine wrote in an age far different from ours, and his words can be difficult to understand. If you have experience reading philosophy or ancient texts, fear not; but for the rest of us, Augustine–even translated into modern English–can be a difficult author to understand.
For that reason, I recommend picking up a modern English version of Augustine’s Confessions. This particular translation makes Augustine much easier to understand while retaining his beautiful style. American readers can pick up a copy of Augustine’s Confessions at Amazon (as I’m writing this it’s selling for only $5.99). British readers can get it for Kindle or in paperback at Amazon (currently £3.11 for Kindle, and £9.99 for paperback).
With that final recommendation, I’ll leave you with the words of Augustine:
You awake in us a delight at praising You. You made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds its place of rest in You. 

Josh, your guest writer

Josh is a twenty-something American, married to a wonderful wife and just finished with law school. This fall, Lord willing, he will begin work as an attorney.
When not working or studying, Josh enjoys spending time with his wife, reading, and writing. At his blog, Quieted Waters, Josh writes to help young Christians meditate on how to honor God in their faith, their jobs, and their marriages.
Tired of writing in third person, let me just say that I would love to hear from you! You can stop by Quieted Waters and say hello or find me on Twitter at @QuietedWaters or on Facebook.
Finally, thank you Anita for the privilege of writing this guest post. Best wishes!
   

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Anita Mathias: About Me

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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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The Story of Dirk Willems

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Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
  • On Yoga and Following Jesus
  • Silver and Gold Linings in the Storm Clouds of Coronavirus
  • Trust: A Message of Christmas
  • Life- Changing Journaling: A Gratitude Journal, and Habit-Tracker, with Food and Exercise Logs, Time Sheets, a Bullet Journal, Goal Sheets and a Planner
  • On Loving That Which Love You Back
  • “An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  
  • Shining Faith in Action: Dirk Willems on the Ice
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Childhood, Youth, Dependency: The Copenhagen Trilogy
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
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Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
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Opened Ground: Poems, 1966-96
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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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