Augustine On Christian Worldview

Worldview, philosophy of life or conception of the world, is influenced by world events and personal perception of those events. One of the most influential historical events on worldviews has been Jesus Christ’s time on this earth. In the days of the early Christian church, worldviews were somewhat confused and jumbled by the differing perception of the significance of Jesus Christ. Mixed with the conflicting worldviews of the Romans, early Christians had a difficult time formulating a worldview consistent with their religion and current culture. One early Christian, Augustine, seemed to figure it out. His views are documented in his works, The City of God, On Christian Doctrine and The Confessions. In these works, Augustine articulates the
He realized because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, it is impossible for a human to become perfect without Divine intervention. Since God cannot be associated with imperfection, we must die first to be in his presence. “Let me die so that I may see it (God’s face), for not to see it would be death to me indeed” (The Confessions, 8). Augustine welcomes the thought of death because he will finally be able to meet his creator and purge his earthly imperfection. In his works The City of God and The Confessions, Augustine makes the argument of original sin. When Eve took the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and then offered the fruit to her husband, it damned all humans to a life of sin for eternity. Augustine, obviously, was not without sin. As a young man he succumbed to temptations and desires like lust, greed, and jealousy. Augustine later acknowledged that in his time of great sin he was far from God, and was completely broken without him. “For when I turned away from you, the one God, and pursued a multitude of things, I went to pieces” (The Confessions 8). Augustine’s worldview acknowledged the existence of sin and the inclination to be sinful; however, he realized that a repentant heart and a desire to be close to God is what brings true
In his adolescent years, Augustine pursued the wrong kind of love for the wrong reasons. He valued the love of women and sex, and failed to see that the only love that really mattered was the love commanded by God in the great commandment. “…love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27, ESV). In Augustine’s work On Christian Doctrine he says, “The command to love God and our neighbor included a command to love ourselves” (On Christian Doctrine 83). He explores the concept further in City of God, “For, to love one’s own self is nothing but to wish to be happy, and the standard is union with God. When, therefore, a person who knows how to love himself is bidden to love his neighbor as himself, is he not, in effect, commanded to persuade other, as far as he can, to love God?” (City of God, Ch. 15, goodreads.com). Love of God, love of self and love for neighbors are all