St. Augustine of Hippo

Dear Pali Pres,

“You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

The above quotation is just one of many beautiful, powerful reflections from St. Augustine of Hippo. Widely considered the most influential theologian in the history of Christianity (outside of the biblical writers, of course), Augustine was born this week—November 13th to be exact—in 354 in North Africa. Augustine wrote more than 90 books in his lifetime, including Confessions, which is one of the first autobiographies in all of literature.

The theological principle that God’s grace alone, and not human effort, is the root cause of salvation originated with Augustine. His writings continue to have an enormous impact on the universal church, especially in the areas of sin, grace, and forgiveness.

As we celebrate Augustine’s birthday and his great contributions, I thought I’d share some other wonderful thoughts of his. Enjoy!

“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.”

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.”

“Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”

And perhaps one of my favorites:

“O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet.”

Grace and peace,

Pastor Matt