Augustine of Hippo
by Peter Robert Lamont Brown · first published 1967
23% recommend77% neutral
This classic biography was first published thirty years ago and has since established itself as the standard account of Saint Augustine's life and teaching. The remarkable discovery recently of a considerable number of letters and sermons by Augustine has thrown fresh light on the first and last decades of his experience as a bishop. These circumstantial texts have led Peter Brown to reconsider some of his judgments on Augustine, both as the author of the Confessions and as the elderly bishop preaching and writing in the last years of Roman rule in north Africa. Brown's reflections on the sign
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2019–2026Confessions
Augustine of Hippo
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 42 recommend · 4 mention2 recommend · 42 recommend
2009–2026The City of God
Saint Augustine
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 299 recommend · 29 mention9 recommend · 299 recommend
2007–2025The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Recommended by 23 · mentioned by 3623 recommend · 36 mention23 recommend · 3623 recommend
2007–2026Lila
Robert M. Pirsig
Recommended by 20 · mentioned by 3720 recommend · 37 mention20 recommend · 3720 recommend
2008–2026The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins
Recommended by 41 · mentioned by 10341 recommend · 103 mention41 recommend · 10341 recommend
2011–2026Moonwalking with Einstein
Joshua Foer, Mike Chamberlain (Narrator) Joshua Foer
Recommended by 98 · mentioned by 13798 recommend · 137 mention98 recommend · 13798 recommend
2009–2026The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
Recommended by 128 · mentioned by 260128 recommend · 260 mention128 recommend · 260128 recommend
2007–2026The Intelligent Investor
Benjamin Graham
Recommended by 152 · mentioned by 244152 recommend · 244 mention152 recommend · 244152 recommend
…theology of the church. I moderately well understand this, not through reading Augustine; I have read The Confessions and a smidgen each of On the Trinity and The City of God. But it was Peter Brown's Augustine of Hippo and the first volume of Pelikan's history of Christian doctrine that told me.
on “C.S. Lewis on the Reading of Old Books” ↗…who claims religious people are intellectual inept, I would simply challenge you to read any of the material written by the intellectuals of the tradition. For example, for Christianity they would be: Augustine of Hippo, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas or John Henry Newman and tell me you're dealing with someone who has suspended his critical faculties. You are welcome to disagree with them of course, but to claim…
on “I'm an addict” ↗…subjects. It doesn't hurt that history is also filled with stories as compelling as most fiction. Much of the old stuff also holds up quite well. Meditations by Aurelius is amazing. Also, Confessions by Augustine of Hippo. I have many interests but botany became a big one, and the scientific naming scheme is mostly Latin and Greek, which leads to some interesting word history. "Sativa" means anything "cultivated" (example,…
on “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it” ↗I haven't read the paper yet, but this idea shouldn't be terribly surprising. Augustine of Hippo did a pretty thorough analysis at least of the Greco-Roman gods in the early 400s and wrote about how pagan gods generally aren't moralizing, and how the punishments or favors they give often have little…
on “Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history” ↗…a thing as a "just war": I don't know. I have read Saint Augustine[0] on this topic and am not convinced. I have not personally reached a conclusion on this matter. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo#Just_war
on “8chan goes dark after hardware provider discontinues service” ↗…That's really what defines what books I got something out of reading. I'm probably never going to read Plato again if I have a choice in the matter but I'm currently returning to Cicero and then reading Augustine of Hippo whose major works I read years ago. I've also read the Bible more times than I could count. Thankfully there aren't too many new computer books worth reading or I'd never get around to reading these…
on “The Sad, Beautiful Fact That We're All Going To Miss Almost Everything” ↗…economics before Adam Smith since I knew only about Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas's contributions prior to reading the book. Rothbard's take-down of Marx was both thorough and satisfying. "City of God" by Augustine of Hippo The history lesson here was helpful as was the perspective on how the church should view the state though I should have invested more money in a better version for Kindle. The version I had was filled…
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗Yep, you're right, if you look into the history of the interpretation of Genesis in Christianity, Augustine of Hippo said this: > Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative…
on “Creationism and conspiracism share a common teleological bias” ↗…unrelated topics, but your mind focuses on what matters. In the mixing, topics take a mythological feeling because the characters within them are involved in so many stories. Like fables or comic books. Augustine of Hippo (later Saint Augustine) from 354 AD: And I come to the fields and spacious palaces of my memory, where are the treasures of innumerable images, brought into it from things of all sorts perceived by the…
on “An ultimate guide to memory palaces” ↗> FWIW, the modern Catholic church's official stance is that Genesis should not be taken literally The non-literal interpretation of the Bible is not modern: (Saint) Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) wrote about not taking it literally. * https://spectrummagazine.org/article/news/2010/01/30/augusti... * https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/243740
on “Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?” ↗> I find the response that we’re talking about comes from the more “born again” literal types. Augustine of Hippo wrote a book called The Literal Meaning of Genesis. In which he said that its literal meaning is that the Seven Days were all instantaneous and simultaneous. "Biblical literalism" is fundamentally a…
on “Does fermion doubling make the universe not a computer?” ↗…should expect if Earth orbited around the Sun, something not observed until the 1830s). To clarify the general position of the Church where these subjects are concerned, I offer the following quotes. Augustine of Hippo once wrote "One does not read in the Gospel that the Lord said: I will send you the Paraclete who will teach you about the course of the sun and moon. For He willed to make them Christians, not mathematicians."…
on “Why Catholics Built Astronomical Features into Churches” ↗…claim over her new status if the couple were unable to produce offspring. If a man had no offspring to inherit, the status and resources would end. MORE SOURCES FROM EVEN EARLIER In the 5th century, Augustine of Hippo clearly indicates in his treatise 'On the Good of Marriage' that offspring are one of three benefits of marriage (along with faithfulness and the sacrament of matrimony itself). In the summa, Aquinas…
on “Supreme Court Overturns Roe vs. Wade” ↗…the chaos and disorder of unruly and even disordered appetites and passions, but also those who gladly exploit the appetites of such weak and blind men, herding and using them like mindless beasts. As Augustine of Hippo wrote, "a good man, though a slave, is free; but a wicked man, though a king, is a slave. For he serves, not one man alone, but what is worse, as many masters as he has vices." The relevance to focus…
on “Fragmented thinking is a bigger threat to flow state than interruptions” ↗