Confessions Of St. Augustine Of Hippo

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Confessions of St. Augustine of Hippo Aurelius Augustinus, more commonly St. Augustine of Hippo, is one of the crucial advances in the western philosophical tradition which was eventually the widespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. He is, one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy whose authority and thought came to wield a persistent and continuing influence well into the modern period, and even up to the present day, especially among those sympathetic to the religious tradition which he helped to shape. But even for those who do not share this sympathy, there is much in Augustine's thought that is worthy of serious philosophical attention. Augustine is not only one of the major sources whereby classical philosophy in general and Neoplatonism in particular enter into the mainstream of early medieval philosophy, but there are significant offerings of his own that emerge from his amendment of that Greco-Roman legacy. His subtle accounts of belief and authority, his account of knowledge and illumination, his emphasis upon the importance and centrality of the will, and his focus upon a new way of conceptualizing the phenomena of human history, are just a few of his said contributions. Accepted by most scholars to be the most important figure in the ancient Western church, St. Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia in North Africa. "Always a searcher for a firm belief, the young man considered and rejected the Christian faith of his mother, Monica (Lamm 192-193)", and of his father, whom remained a pagan until late in life. After a rather unremarkable childhood, Augustine drifted through several philosophical systems before converting to Christianity at the age of thirty-one. During his youth, "Augustine studied rhetoric at Carthage, a discipline which assisted to gain

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