Medieval354–430 CE · Roman North African

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine bridged the ancient and medieval worlds, bringing the rigor of Greek philosophy into Christian theology. After a restless youth, he converted and became bishop of Hippo, writing voluminously on the will, time, evil, history, and the inner life. His ideas on grace, original sin, and the self shaped Western Christianity for over a thousand years.

Schools

Christian NeoplatonismPatristics

Key concepts

Original SinDivine IlluminationThe Two CitiesRestless Heart

Core works

Confessions
c. 397–400 CE
The Confessions is at once an autobiography, a prayer, and a philosophical treatise. Augustine narrates his journey from a sensual, ambitious youth through intellectual detours and into Christian conversion, addressing the whole work to God. He probes his own memory and desires to understand why the human heart is restless until it rests in something beyond itself. The later books leave narrative behind for sustained reflection on memory, time, and creation. His analysis of time — how past and future exist only in the present mind as memory and expectation — remains a landmark in philosophy. The work pioneers the examination of one's inner life as a path to truth.
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Core works

Confessions