Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia For combination of doctrine and piety, Augustine (354–430) has few peers in the history of Christianity . His writings inform every area of discussion in Christian philosophy , systematic theology, philosophy of history, polemics, rhetoric, and devotion. Though some views support doctrines of intercessory prayer and sacrifices for the dead, purgatory, and transformational justification, Augustine’s mighty doctrines of grace and Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice are given accurate and substantial development in the confessions of Reformed theology . After the fall of Rome , the thousand-year project of rebuilding western civilization on Christian rather than pagan thought proceeded on Augustinian concepts. The Reformation of the sixteenth century rediscovered and built upon neglected elements of Augustine’s doctrine of sin and salvation . Augustine was born in 354 at Tagaste in the Roman Province of Numidia, North Africa. Later observations on infancy and the fa

Image via Wikipedia Who we pal around with can shape our eternal destiny. Alipius found it so. From North Africa , he was a close friend of a teacher named Augustine in the fourth and fifth centuries. Augustine and Alipius sinned together and Alipius followed Augustine when he joined the Manichean religion. Alipius' father did not care for Augustine's influence over his son and told his son to stay away from Augustine. Alipius moved to Rome and became a magistrate there. After a while, Augustine followed his friend to Rome. Augustine, already a notable teacher of rhetoric in Carthage, tried his hand at teaching in Rome, but his students cheated him of his fees. Offered a teaching position in Milan , Augustine accepted. Alipius resigned his own position and the two friends headed north together. Their friendship continued. Milan's Bishop Ambrose was a skilled orator. Augustine went to hear h Image via Wikipedia im and was impressed not only by his power with words