St. Augustine was a Latin philosopher, theologian, and bishop in the 4th-5th centuries who was highly influential in the development of Western Christianity. He developed the concept of the Catholic Church as distinct from earthly authority. He believed the human mind needs divine illumination to understand truth. While his writings influenced medieval thought, he also had extreme views on sexuality that blamed women and led him to advocate controlling them to limit tempting men.

1. St. Augustine

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St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis
November 13, 354 – August 28, 430
Bishop of Hippo Regius present-day Annaba, Algeria
Latin philosopher and theologian from the Africa
Province of the Roman Empire
• One of the greatest Christian thinkers of all times
• His writings were very influential in the development
of Western Christianity.

4. • When the Western Roman Empire was
starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed
the concept of the Catholic Church as a
spiritual City of God (in a book of the same
name), distinct from the material Earthly City.
His thoughts profoundly influenced the
medieval worldview. Augustine's City of
God was closely identified with the Church,
the community that worshiped the Trinity.

6. • Illuminationism is
a doctrine in theology according to which the
process of human thought needs to be aided
by God. It is the oldest and most influential
alternative to naturalism in the theory of
mind and epistemology. It was an important
feature of ancient Greek
philosophy, Neoplatonism, medieval philosophy,
and in particular, the Illuminationist school
of Persian Islamic philosophy.

8. • "The mind needs to be enlightened by light
from outside itself, so that it can participate in
truth, because it is not itself the nature of
truth. You will light my lamp, Lord and "You
hear nothing true from me which you have
not first told me”.

9. • Augustine's version of illuminationism is not
that God gives us certain information, but
rather gives us insight into the truth of the
information we received for ourselves

10. Sexuality and Saint Augustine
• Augustine's view of sexual feelings as sinful
impacted his view of women. His beliefs on this
issue were so extreme that he considered a man’s
erection to be sinful because it did not take place
under his conscious control. Rather than resolve
his internal struggle with his own sexuality, he
blamed women for being "stimulating." His
solution was to place controls on women to limit
their ability to influence men: “Thus the woman,
but not the man, should veil herself to prevent
her from causing this sinful response in the
male.”

11. Saint Augustine Quotes
• Pray as though everything depended on God.
Work as though everything depended on you.
• The World is a book, and those who do not
travel read only a page.
• Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You
plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay
first the foundation of humility.

12. The concept of time and Saint
Augustine’s Philosophy
• Homework!
• Listen to the song “Tempo perdido”, from
Legião Urbana, and compare the lyrics with
the notion of PRESENT developed by
Augustine.