Each philosopher can be branched into their own field and what they believe in, and the one out of the list provided that I found most interesting was Saint Augustine. I chose to write a review of his life’s work and biography because I felt a strong connection to his teachings and principles. As a Christian philosopher, he sought to find faith by searching within. This strikes a personal level for me and what he stands for. The article about Augustine is also great for class because it relates to some of the difficulties pertaining to ethics and religion and why the two do not always correspond.
Saint Augustine was not always the renowned Christian theologian people know him as. His story is one many could probably connect to, especially since he spent his early years doing “ungodly” acts (Reynolds). He’s a good example of how everyone has their faults in
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He started a monastery in the city of Hippo in Algeria, later to become a priest and then a bishop (Reynolds). His thoughts and ideas were made known through his letters, sermons, his autobiography called Confessions, and books like The City of God. From his standpoint, God was the heart of every occurrence and happening. Each explanation could be traced back to the Lord, as He was the creator of all. Augustine also believed there were three levels of reality. The first and highest level was God, the second was the human soul, and the third was the human body. According to Augustine, the human soul contained will, memory, and understanding. Also according to him, the human body had a purpose of achieving ethical happiness, but that could only be done through God’s love. Because humans have free will, they can still be tempted by evil, making God the only being capable of freeing them from their desires. One of the greatest things Augustine stressed was how to defeat evil. Whether it was because of someone’s own decision or by the will of God, it was