St. Augustine (345-430 A.D.)

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Biographical Information:

- Born in North Africa
- Father was a pagan, mother a Christian
- Brilliant student
- debaucherous lifestyle as a young man
- set out to become a lawyer, ended up a teacher
- moved from Carthage to Rome
- Continually changed philosophies & religions (Manichean, Skeptic, Neoplatonist, Christian)

Career Accomplishments:

- Wrote Confessions in his 30s, turned his life around
- Lived life of an ascetic, organized a monastery, became a priest
- Became the Bishop of Hippo (He died as Vandals were sacking the city.)
- Wrote the first Christian philosophy of history (The City of God)
- Created coherent Christian theology derived from other philosophies, especially Neoplatonism; Cornerstone of Christian theology for next 1,000 years

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