Understanding

the Self

Submitted by:

Para Cruz, Jowen D.

Submitted to:

Cuenco, Josefina
St.Augustine
BACKGROUND

St. Augustine, also called Saint Augustine of Hippo, original Latin name Aurelius

Augustinus, (born November 13, 354, Tagaste, Numidia [now Souk Ahras, Algeria]—

died August 28, 430, Hippo Regius [now Annaba, Algeria]; feast day August 28), bishop of

Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and perhaps the most significant

Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine’s adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching

created a theological system of great power and lasting influence.

His numerous written works, the most important of which are Confessions (c. 400) and The City

of God (c. 413–426), shaped the practice of biblical exegesis and helped lay the foundation for

much of medieval and modern Christian thought. In Roman Catholicism he is formally

recognized as a doctor of the church.

Augustine was born in Tagaste, a modest Roman community in a river valley 40 miles (64 km)

from the Mediterranean coast in Africa, near the point where the veneer of Roman civilization

thinned out in the highlands of Numidia. Augustine’s parents were of the respectable class of

Roman society, free to live on the work of others, but their means were sometimes straitened.

They managed, sometimes on borrowed money, to acquire a first-class education for Augustine,

and, although he had at least one brother and one sister, he seems to have been the only child

sent off to be educated. He studied first in Tagaste, then in the nearby university town of

Madauros, and finally at Carthage, the great city of Roman Africa. After a brief stint teaching in

Tagaste, he returned to Carthage to teach rhetoric, the premier science for the Roman gentleman,

and he was evidently very good at it.

CONTRIBUTION

Augustine is remarkable for what he did and extraordinary for what he wrote. If none of his

written works had survived, he would still have been a figure to be reckoned with, but his stature

would have been more nearly that of some of his contemporaries. However, more than five

million words of his writings survive, virtually all displaying the strength and sharpness of his

mind (and some limitations of range and learning) and some possessing the rare power to attract

and hold the attention of readers in both his day and ours. His distinctive theological style shaped

Latin Christianity in a way surpassed only by Scripture itself. His work continues to hold

contemporary relevance, in part because of his membership in a religious group that was

dominant in the West in his time and remains so today.

Intellectually, Augustine represents the most influential adaptation of the

ancient Platonic tradition with Christian ideas that ever occurred in the Latin Christian world.

Augustine received the Platonic past in a far more limited and diluted way than did many of his

Greek-speaking contemporaries, but his writings were so widely read and imitated throughout

Latin Christendom that his particular synthesis of Christian, Roman, and Platonic traditions

defined the terms for much later tradition and debate. Both modern Roman

Catholic and Protestant Christianity owe much to Augustine, though in some ways

each community has at times been embarrassed to own up to that allegiance in the face of

irreconcilable elements in his thought. For example, Augustine has been cited as both a

champion of human freedom and an articulate defender of divine predestination, and his views

on sexuality were humane in intent but have often been received as oppressive in effect.
“The eye see things, but the mind grasps eternal truth”

 Why do you choose him?

St.augustine prove us that whatever u see in physical looks of a things or a person. Don't judge it

for what they look. and also st.augustine prove the quote saying, "Don't judge a book by it’s

cover". Because based on my experience in my high school days. When my friends are having a

problem I make them laugh so that they can able to forget what are the cause of their problem.

One day, I'm having hard time to figure out myself. I don't know what I'm feeling. So in that

they, I approach my friends that I have something to tell them. I want to share them what I feel.

But in that day, when I share my problem they didn't believe me because they think that it's

impossible for me that I have that kind of problem because I'm happy every time they see me.

They think that I’m exaggerating. So I find out that they don't take me seriously every time that i

want to share my problem. I keep that to myself only, every time thatIi struggle to myself I never

tell them.

They judge for what I’m showing to them but not every time it's true. Maybe, smiling can cover

the sadness that I feel.

  What did you learn?

It teach us that whatever you see it's not what it seems. Be open-minded try to ask that person

why she/he act like that. Maybe to hide her/his true feelings or she/he's having a problem that

she/he can't tell to someone because no one's willing to listen

and also st.augustine taught us that is whatever u see is what it seems. Try to think before

reacting to someone attitude towards to another. Example, why does people bully someone?

Maybe, He was the one who's being bully that's why he tries to do what the other person do to

him/her. Always remember the golden rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto

you”, So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the

Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12) "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (Luke

6:31) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love

one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”

(John 13:34-35). It said from the bible. That only means act based on how we want to be treated.

And also don’t judge the book by its cover. That means one shouldn't prejudge the worth or

value of something by its outward appearance alone. For example, "That man may look very

small and insignificant, but don't judge a book by its cover – he's a very powerful man in his

circle.
“Love brings satisfaction and happiness”

Happiness is something to maintain and enjoy, but satisfaction is something to strive for.

Happiness is simply a mixture of chemicals, but satisfaction comes only through positive action.

I'd define satisfaction as a feeling of well being derived through setting worthy goals and

reaching them. They said love is in the air but what if that love will be disordered love?

Disordered love is Augustine explains that sin is “disordered love”. It is love out of order. We

most often think of sin in terms of behavior, bad deeds, actions- but Augustine helps us from

another angle. There is an order to love. He said we should love God, love others, and then love

ourselves. The problem comes when you love something you should love but that you should not

love supremely. That’s when a good thing becomes a God thing. It’s about finding your superior

satisfaction in God alone, and nothing else. If you love someone more than yourself then that

love can be destructive. You should learn to love yourself first. Then, if you love your self you

can love someone else. But loving someone can be destructive also if you love someone more

than he deserve or you treat him/her like your world then that can destruct you, your happiness,

your love, your trust and it can be your life.

RESOURCES:

 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine

 http://tynan.com/satisfaction#targetText=Happiness%20is%20something%20to%20maint

ain,worthy%20goals%20and%20reaching%20them

 http://www.liveforgiven.org/?p=1566#targetText=In%20his%20classic%20work%2C%2

0%E2%80%9CConfessions,others%2C%20and%20then%20love%20ourselves.