{"id":300038,"date":"2021-01-05T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T19:00:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-01-05T11:00:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T19:00:03","slug":"an-author-read-by-popes-rock-stars-and-atheists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/christianity\/history\/an-author-read-by-popes-rock-stars-and-atheists","title":{"rendered":"An Author Read by Popes, Rock Stars, and Atheists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One Christian author in history owns the distinction of having been read by popes, rock stars, and leading atheists. He lived almost 1,600 years ago and was from North Africa. He is the single most prolific author of the ancient world and has influenced countless Protestants\u00a0and Catholics. Named after two Roman emperors, he is known to us as\u00a0St. Augustine of Hippo (354\u2013430).<\/p>\n

After\u00a0a youth<\/a>\u00a0filled with restlessness and rebellion and\u00a0an early career<\/a>\u00a0characterized by the pursuit of pleasure and ambition, Augustine experienced\u00a0a dramatic conversion to Christianity<\/a>\u00a0when he turned from his pagan and skeptical-based beliefs. His classic book\u00a0Confessions<\/em><\/a>\u00a0details his dramatic conversion story and, to this day, remains a perennial bestseller that is read in great books programs as well as by\u00a0famous individuals from diverse worldview perspectives.<\/p>\n

Over his prestigious career Augustine wrote more than five million words. He was a robust theologian, an insightful philosopher, and a tenacious defender of the truth of historic Christianity. Widely considered the greatest of the church fathers, Augustine\u2019s writings shaped aspects of Christian orthodoxy like creation, the Trinity, original sin, and salvation by grace. He is a universal Christian voice within Western Christendom and remains influential among scholars and laypeople alike.<\/p>\n

Let me identify some of the diverse and well\u2013known people who have read and been influenced by Augustine.<\/p>\n

Favored Church Father of Catholic and\u00a0Protestant Thinkers
\nIn his medieval theological masterpiece known as\u00a0Summa Theologiae<\/em><\/a>, the great Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas (1225\u20131274) calls Augustine \u201cThe Theologian\u201d and quotes his writings extensively. Thus, arguably the greatest Catholic thinker in history, Aquinas, was an appreciative student of Augustine.<\/p>\n

In his blockbuster theological work\u00a0Institutes of the Christian Religion<\/em><\/a>, Protestant reformer John Calvin (1509\u20131564) also quotes Augustine extensively and makes a case for Protestants being in the Augustinian theological stream. So arguably Protestantism\u2019s leading systematic theologian, Calvin, was an ardent pupil of Augustine.<\/p>\n

The Augustinian Pope<\/strong>
\nWriting in personal, subjective terms about his life and thought attracts people to Augustine and causes them to reflect upon their own lives.\u00a0The appeal of Augustine\u2019s biography\u00a0Confessions<\/em>\u00a0has extended all the way up to the head of the Catholic church. Pope Benedict XVI (now pope emeritus, born Joseph Ratzinger), is one of the most scholarly popes in recent centuries. Benedict is himself an Augustine scholar and has said that he is more attracted to the theological system of Augustinianism than Thomism.1<\/sup>\u00a0The pope even noted earlier in his career that he developed his basic theology in a dialogue of sorts with Augustine.2<\/sup>\u00a0Ratzinger\u2019s\u00a0doctoral dissertation<\/a>\u00a0was on \u201cThe People and the House of God in Augustine\u2019s Doctrine of the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patron Saint of Wayward Rock Stars<\/strong>
\nIt has been said that Augustine was a great sinner that became a great saint. His early reputation for worldliness appears to attract the attention of some of rock-n-roll\u2019s leading stars and bad boys. He enjoys the\u00a0pop culture distinction of being the only Christian thinker to be mentioned in songs by Bob Dylan (\u201cI Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine<\/a>\u201d), the Rolling Stones (\u201cSaint of Me<\/a>\u201d), and Sting (\u201cSaint Augustine in Hell<\/a>\u201d). Augustine\u2019s candid honesty about sin and his declaration of the absolute need for grace touches people from all walks of life.<\/p>\n

Augustinian Atheists<\/strong>
\nAugustine\u2019s insights have not been lost on Western Civilization\u2019s prominent thinkers, regardless of religious affiliation. Christian philosopher James K. A. Smith,\u00a0author\u00a0of the new book\u00a0On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World<\/em>\u00a0Spirituality for Restless Hearts<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(2019)\u00a0<\/em>has suggested that Augustine may have been the world\u2019s first existentialist philosopher.3<\/sup>\u00a0Not only were existential forerunners and Christian thinkers Blaise Pascal (Catholic) and\u00a0S\u00f8ren\u00a0Kierkegaard (Protestant) serious students of Augustine, but leading atheist thinkers such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Jacques Derrida paid careful attention to Augustine\u2019s writings as well.4<\/sup>\u00a0Augustinian themes of each person having inner longings and experiencing\u00a0angst and estrangement in life while nonetheless seeking personal meaning, no doubt attracted these secular existentialist philosophers.<\/p>\n

What is it that so many different kinds of people find in St. Augustine? I think the answer is that we see ourselves in him and in his descriptions of his life. Some scholars suggest that the\u00a0Confessions<\/em>\u00a0is really about the human pursuit of God.\u00a0Smith states:\u00a0\u201cWhen you really spend time with Augustine he is remarkably vulnerable, humble, and very much imagines himself as a co-pilgrim with people, rather than sitting up on this dais, sort of announcing and denouncing.\u201d5<\/sup><\/p>\n

Augustine\u2019s broad appeal therefore includes theologians, artists, philosophers, and everyday people attempting to make sense of life and the world. If you haven\u2019t, I invite you to take up and read Augustine. Start with the\u00a0Confessions<\/em>. You\u2019ll be reading a classic of both Christianity and Western Civilization.<\/p>\n

Reflections: Your Turn<\/strong>
\nHave you read any of Augustine\u2019s works? Visit\u00a0Reflections<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on WordPress to comment with your response.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n