Today is the feast day for St. Augustine. Augustine is one of the most fascinating figures in the history of the Christian Church. One could make a good argument that Augustine is the most important figure in that history after Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Augustine had a powerful impact on the developing theology of the church and many related aspects of how we understand church, baptism, etc. There are some things I wish he had not said and taught. But about his impact, there can be no doubt.
I’m not sure when I first heard about Augustine. Quaker boys in rural Indiana usually do not run into Catholic saints. So it is likely, it was college. I had a pretty good Christian history class in college and no doubt would have heard of the fourth-fifth century saint at that point. I may even have identified him or used him in an essay on an examination, but I do not remember that. It is funny that I can remember the book we used; it was a classic Church History book. But I have almost no memory of what we studied. Augustine surely would have been on the list.
I know I read him in graduate school. During my seminary days, again I had some very good historical classes. I am sure Augustine was part of the picture. And then in my doctoral program, I focused on the first five Christian centuries and Augustine loomed large in that picture. Finally, I was a teaching assistant one semester with a younger faculty person who taught a seminar on Augustine. That was the point at which I really jumped into the theology of the famous man of the church.
Augustine was born in the middle of the fourth century and died in 430 CE. He was a North African, born of a Roman father and local mother. He was given a good education and became a teacher of rhetoric, which is the art of speech making. Effectively, he was trained to be politically involved and, probably, to be a good government official. Instead, he had aspiration to be a teacher. He moved to Rome, to be at the center of the huge empire.
His early years were anything but saintly living. He was a carouser. He had a mistress with whom he had a child. However, he became dissatisfied with his life and in the 380s he came to know the famous church figure in Milan, northern Italian town, by the name of Ambrose. Ambrose was able to present the Christian message in a way that spoke to the condition of Augustine. He became a Christian, much to the delight of his mother, Monica. He chose to live with some friends in what would have been a semi-monastic fashion.
At some point, however, he found himself back in northern Africa. He became ordained and, soon, chosen to be bishop. He became a spokesperson for the church. He wrestled with theological controversies and with what we would call church politics. His thoughts on the nature of who Jesus was, his views of the sacraments and the nature of the church became the standard by which all would be judged. He was both contentious and popular.
I would like to feature two or three points that Augustine made key for the rest of Christian centuries. No doubt, Augustine was influenced by the Hebrew Bible---the Old Testament. One thing he took from that was that God works in history. To be sure, God is the creator and sustainer of the world. But God also is involved in history. In effect, God is the God of relationships. That what one would expect from a God who is defined primarily as love. A loving God needs an other to be in relationship with. It is you and I.
In fact, Augustine is quite clear that God is a guiding hand in history. God has a will and wants human beings to be in accord with that divine desire. God works in history so that ultimately God’s will reigns supreme. Augustine only had to look at his own life for his best example. For years he resisted and ran away from the God his mother, Monica, wanted him to know and follow. Finally, God and Monica had their way. Augustine engaged the process that would make him a saint---a holy one.
The other aspect of Augustine’s theology that should be lifted up is his view of grace. Of course, this links to the God who works in history. Grace is defined as a gift. Augustine knew that on our own, we probably cannot pull off the relationship God wants with us and that we---ultimately---want from God. We have too much ego involved, too much self-love and selfishness to be good on our own. We need help. And grace is exactly what the help is called.
God is gracious to us in ways we don’t deserve. But that’s the nature of the gift. It comes to us when we didn’t really expect it. I am sure we all have been graced in our lives. I know I have had multiple experiences of this. Jesus modeled this grace giving way of life. Jesus called into relationship people society counseled him not to deal with. The Samaritan woman is a good example. Augustine could look back over his life and know for sure that by God’s grace, he too, had been the recipient of this largesse.
I take this day to reflect on Augustine, give thanks for his witness and try to live more fully into the relationship God wants from me.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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