Category Archives: Augustine of Hippo

A Burning Passion for Domination

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Matthew Phillips

“There is a clear difference between the desire for glory before men and the desire for domination. There is, to be sure, a slippery slope from the excessive delight in the praise of men to the burning passion for domination; … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, government, Politics, Rome, Sallust | Leave a comment

Imitate the Martyr

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Matthew Phillips

“It is the passion of the most blessed martyr Cyprian that has made this day into a feast for us, and the celebration of his triumph that has brought us together in such a spirit of devotion. But the right … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, Love, martyrdom | Leave a comment

God Crowns His Own Gifts

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Matthew Phillips

One day someone asked Martin Luther whether godly persons should expect merit for their good works that result from their justification.  Luther answered that even the justified were still sinners, who pray for forgiveness and live under grace.  While God … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, justice, Martin Luther | Leave a comment

The Lust For Domination

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Matthew Phillips

“I know how great is the effort needed to convince the proud of the power and excellence of humility, an excellence which makes it soar above all the summits of this world, which sway in their temporal instability, overtopping them … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, community, grace, pride | 2 Comments

One Human Race

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Matthew Phillips

“For the human race is, more than any other species, at once social by nature and quarrelsome by perversion.  And the most salutary warning against this perversion or disharmony is given by the facts of human nature.  We are warned … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, history | Leave a comment

Augustine on Teaching with Eloquence

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Matthew Phillips

“For teaching, of course, true eloquence consists, not in making people like what they disliked, nor in making them do what they shrank from, but in making clear what was obscure; yet if this be done without grace of style, … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, eloquence, teaching | Leave a comment

Pride Takes God from Man

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Matthew Phillips

“Now these are: first, pride; second, envy; third, anger; fourth, despair; fifth, covetousness, sixth, gluttony; seventh, lust.  Of these, three despoil man (hominem); the fourth scourges him when despoiled; the fifth ejects him when scourged; the sixth seduces him when … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, Hugh of St Victor, pride, university, vice | Leave a comment

Memory, Understanding, and Will

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Matthew Phillips

“Now this trinity* of the mind is God’s image, not because the mind remembers, understands and loves itself; but because it has the power also to remember, understand and love its Maker.  And it is in so doing that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, memory, will | Leave a comment

The Interrogation of Mercy

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Matthew Phillips

Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) teaches on John 1:16  “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” “What grace did we, in the first instance, receive?  Faith: walking in faith, we walk in grace.  How have … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, grace | Leave a comment

Humility

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Matthew Phillips

“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 (Douay-Rheims) In my last post we saw how Augustine asserted that pride began as a perverse exaltation of the self above … Continue reading →

Posted in Augustine of Hippo, Bernard of Clairvaux | Tagged , , | Leave a comment