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Augustine (St) |
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Born 354; died 430. Controversial leader in early Christianity. He gave
Christianity a "solid philosophical foundation" because of his knowledge of
Plato. His confronting the errors of Pelagianism (that salvation is
attainable by man's efforts and will) evolved his doctrine of
Predestination. His masterpiece, THE CITY OF GOD, was a monumental work
that helped form the basis for the development of the Roman Catholic
hierarchy
and papacy.
CATHOLIC BELIEF
From FUNDAMENTALS OF CATHOLIC DOGMA, Dr. Ludwig Ott, page 2, "St. Thomas
and his school, with Aristotle, recognised the primacy of the intellect, the Franciscan School with St. Augustine, that of the will."
From READ ME OR RUE IT by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan. Imp. Joannes Timotheus,
Archiepiscopus, Cincinnatenesis, 8/22/25. Reprinted 11/2/74 by National
Centre for Padre Pio, 11 N. Whitehall Rd., Norristown, PA 19403.
"St. Augustine teaches that to be purified of their faults previously to
being admitted to Heaven, souls after death are subjected to a fire more
dreadful than anything we can conceive in this life. `Though this fire is
destined to cleanse and purify the soul,' adds the Holy Doctor, `still it
is more acute than anything we could possibly endure on earth.'"
OTHER QUOTES ATTRIBUTED TO HIM
"I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church
did not move me to do so." (CHRISTIANITY VS. FUNDAMENTALISM, p. 127)
"temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others
after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last
and strictest judgment." (THE CITY OF GOD, 21,13)
"Rome has spoken; the case is closed." (SERMONES 131,10)
"The words which the priest says to the sinner, I absolve thee,
are infinitely more powerful than the words by which Almighty God created
the world." (THE CONFESSIONAL, Thomas Burke, O.P., Catholic Truth Society,
p. 9.)
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