Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo ( aw-GUST-in, US also AW-gə-steen; Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a Christian theologian and philosopher from Thagaste, Numidia Cirtensis and the Bishop of Hippo Regius. He is generally regarded as one of the most influential philosophers in the history of the Western world, and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period.

In his youth he was drawn to the Manichaean faith, and later to the Hellenistic philosophy of Neoplatonism. After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in 386 by Saint Ambrose, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, making significant contributions in a wide variety of areas. He is known as Doctor Gratiae ("Doctor of Grace") for the vast influence of his views on the necessity of unmerited, prevenient grace, for salvation and the nature of original sin.

Additionally, he made important contributions in ecclesiology, noting the validity of sacraments regardless of the merit of the celebrant against the views of the Donatists. In his book The City of God, Augustine imagined the Church as a spiritual City, distinct from the material Earthly City, against the backdrop of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He is also widely recognized for his contributions to just war theory. His other notable works include On the Trinity, On Christian Doctrine, and the Confessions, the latter of which was the first Western autobiography.