Augustine ← Julian Freeman

The Cesspit and the Perfume

Nov

2012

You don’t have to spend too much time with me before you’ll find out that one of my heroes in the faith is Aurelius Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo. He is a brilliant thinker, a captivating writer, and a theologian who stirs souls as well as minds. A couple of weeks ago he would have ...

How to React to the Fall of Rome – Part 2

Jul

2007

In the previous post we saw that the ancient church’s view of a historical phenomenon (namely, the Roman Empire) shifted dramatically within the space of a few generations, on account of their particular experiences with that empire. I would suggest that we have seen something somewhat similar take place over the past few generations up ...

How to React to the Fall of Rome – Part 1

Jul

2007

Looking over my notes today from my early church history course, I noticed something interesting. It’s nothing new or profound, but it caught my attention anyway. The church’s response to the fall of Rome was weird, in many ways. I think it’s necessary to lay some background before we move on. From the founding of ...

God’s Grace in Augustine’s Theology

Mar

2007

The following excerpt is taken from the full article, available here. In order to understand Augustine’s theology of God’s sovereign saving grace, one must first understand Augustine’s view of the will. According to Augustine (and all the ‘catholic’ church after him) the will was free, but only insofar as it would choose what it desired.13 ...

Augustine’s Love for God

Feb

2007

My love of you, O Lord, is not some vague feeling: it is positive and certain. Your word struck into my heart and from that moment I loved you. Besides this, all about me, heaven and earth and all that they contain proclaim that I should love you, and their message never ceases to sound ...

On the ‘Inadequacy’ of Language

Jan

2007

I’ve often come across (and myself even flirted with) several forms of the notion that language is entirely ‘inadequate’ to describe God. In fact, I still in many ways find this to be true. No language can exhaustively declare the reality, the beauty, the holiness of our Triune God. What is unfortunate, however, is how ...

A Few Thoughts on Friendship

Sep

2006

Friendship is a wonderful thing. Christian friendship is infinitely better. In fact, I think it would be correct to say that only Christians can experience true friendship. From a biblical standpoint, one’s will and affections are ultimately rooted in his heart. If the heart of an individual is unregenerate, his only love is self-love; he ...