Editing Augustine of Hippo (section)

=== Conversion to Christianity and priesthood ===
[[File:Fra angelico - conversion de saint augustin.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The Conversion of St. Augustine'' by [[Fra Angelico]]]]

In late August of 386,{{efn|{{harvnb|Brown|2000|p=64}} places Augustine's garden conversion at the end of August, 386.}} at the age of 31, having heard of Ponticianus's and his friends' first reading of the life of [[Anthony the Great|Anthony of the Desert]], Augustine converted to Christianity. As Augustine later told it, his conversion was prompted by hearing a child's voice say "take up and read" ({{langx|la|tolle, lege}}). Resorting to the ''[[sortes biblicae]]'', he opened a book of St. Paul's writings (''Confessiones'' 8.12.29) at random and read Romans 13:13–14: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof."<ref>{{Cite book| author = Augustine of Hippo | title = Confessions |year= 2008| publisher= Oxford University Press| place = New York | pages =152–153 | others = Chadwick, Henry transl}}</ref>

He later wrote an account of his conversion in his ''[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]'' ({{langx|la|Confessiones}}), which has since become a classic of Christian theology and a key text in the history of [[autobiography]]. This work is an outpouring of thanksgiving and penitence. Although it is written as an account of his life, the ''Confessions'' also talks about the nature of time, causality, free will, and other important philosophical topics.<ref name="justus.anglican.org">[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/50.html Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Theologian]. Justus.anglican.org. Retrieved on 17 June 2015.</ref> The following is taken from that work:

{{blockquote|<poem>Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee. These things kept me far from thee; even though they were not at all unless they were in thee. Thou didst call and cry aloud, and didst force open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and didst chase away my blindness. Thou didst breathe fragrant odours and I drew in my breath; and now I pant for thee. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace.<ref>Augustine, Confessions 10.27.38, tr. Albert C. Outler. https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/augustine/conf.pdf</ref></poem>}}
[[File:Ascanio Luciano – Capriccio with the vision of St. Augustine in a ruined arcade.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The vision of St. Augustine'' by [[Ascanio Luciano]]]]

[[Ambrose]] baptized Augustine and his son Adeodatus, in Milan on [[Easter Vigil]], 24–25 April 387.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=117}} A year later, in 388, Augustine completed his [[Christian apologetics|apology]] ''On the Holiness of the Catholic Church''.{{sfn|Portalié|1907a}} That year, also, Adeodatus and Augustine returned home to Africa.<ref name=EA /> Augustine's mother [[Saint Monica|Monica]] died at [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], Italy, as they prepared to embark for Africa.{{sfn|Pope|1911}} Upon their arrival, they began a life of aristocratic leisure at Augustine's family's property.{{sfn|Possidius|2008|p=|loc=3.1}} Soon after, Adeodatus, too, died.{{sfn|A'Becket|1907}} Augustine then sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor. He only kept the family house, which he converted into a [[monastic]] foundation for himself and a group of friends.<ref name=EA /> Furthermore, while he was known for his major contributions to Christian rhetoric, another major contribution was his preaching style.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Oort|first=Johannes van|date=5 October 2009|title=Augustine, His Sermons, and Their Significance|journal=HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies|volume=65|pages=1–10}}</ref>

After converting to Christianity, Augustine turned against his profession as a rhetoric professor in order to devote more time to preaching.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Tell|first=Dave|date=1 November 2010|title=Augustine and the 'Chair of Lies': Rhetoric in The Confessions|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/rhetorica/article-abstract/28/4/384/82868/Augustine-and-the-Chair-of-Lies-Rhetoric-in-The?redirectedFrom=fulltext|journal=Rhetorica|language=en|volume=28|issue=4|pages=384–407|doi=10.1525/RH.2010.28.4.384|issn=0734-8584|hdl=1808/9182|s2cid=146646045 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> In 391 Augustine was [[ordination|ordained]] a [[priest]] in [[Hippo Regius]] (now Annaba), in Algeria. He was especially interested in discovering how his previous rhetorical training in Italian schools would help the Christian Church achieve its objective of discovering and teaching the different scriptures in the Bible.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Herrick|first=James|title=The History and Theory of Rhetoric|publisher=Pearson|year=2008|isbn=978-0-205-56673-0|location=New York|edition=4th}}</ref> He became a famous [[preacher]] (more than 350 preserved sermons are believed to be authentic), and was noted for combating the [[Manichaeism|Manichaean religion]], to which he had formerly adhered.{{sfn|Portalié|1907a}} He preached around 6,000 to 10,000 sermons when he was alive; however, there are only around 500 sermons that are accessible today.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sypert|first=John|date=1 May 2015|title=Redeeming Rhetoric: Augustine's Use of Rhetoric in His Preaching Ministry|url=https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol4/iss1/3|journal=Eleutheria|volume=4|issue=1|issn=2159-8088}}</ref> When Augustine preached his sermons, they were recorded by stenographers.<ref name=":4" /> Some of his sermons would last over one hour and he would preach multiple times throughout a given week.<ref name=":2" /> When talking to his audience, he would stand on an elevated platform; however, he would walk towards the audience during his sermons.<ref name=":2" /> When he was preaching, he used a variety of rhetorical devices that included [[Analogy|analogies]], word pictures, [[simile]]s, [[metaphor]]s, [[Repetition (rhetorical device)|repetition]], and [[antithesis]] when trying to explain more about the Bible.<ref name=":2" /> In addition, he used questions and rhymes when talking about the differences between people's life on Earth and Heaven as seen in one of his sermons that was preached in 412 AD.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Conybeare|first=Catherine|editor1-first=Michael J|editor1-last=MacDonald|date=30 November 2017|title=Augustine's Rhetoric in Theory and Practice|url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199731596.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199731596-e-025|access-date=8 March 2021|website=The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199731596.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-973159-6}}</ref> Augustine believed that the preachers' ultimate goal is to ensure the salvation of their audience.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Farrell|first=James|date=1 January 2008|title=The Rhetoric(s) of St. Augustine's Confessions|url=https://scholars.unh.edu/comm_facpub/3|journal=Augustinian Studies|volume=39|issue=2|pages=265–291|doi=10.5840/augstudies200839224}}</ref>

In 395, he was made [[coadjutor Bishop]] of Hippo and became full Bishop shortly thereafter,{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=}} hence the name "Augustine of Hippo"; and he gave his property to the church of Thagaste.<ref>Augustine, ''ep''.126.1</ref> He remained in that position until his death in 430. Bishops were the only individuals allowed to preach when he was alive and he scheduled time to preach after being ordained despite a busy schedule made up of preparing sermons and preaching at other churches besides his own.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanlon |first=Peter T. |title=Augustine's Theology of Preaching |publisher=Fortress Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4514-8278-2 |location=Philadelphia |pages=}}</ref> When serving as the Bishop of Hippo, his goal was to minister to individuals in his congregation and he would choose the passages that the church planned to read every week.<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal |last=Oort |first=Johannes van |date=5 October 2009 |title=Augustine, His Sermons, and Their Significance |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |volume=65 |pages=1–10}}</ref> As bishop, he believed that it was his job to interpret the work of the Bible.<ref name=":42" /> He wrote his autobiographical ''[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]'' in 397–398. His work ''The City of God'' was written to console his fellow Christians shortly after the [[Visigoths]] had [[Sack of Rome (410)|sacked Rome in 410]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Donnell |first=James J. |title=Augustine |publisher=Twayne Publishers |year=1985 |isbn=0-8057-6609-X |location=Boston |page=12}}</ref> Augustine worked tirelessly to convince the people of Hippo to convert to Christianity. Though he had left his monastery, he continued to lead a monastic life in the episcopal residence.{{sfn|Portalié|1907b}}

Much of Augustine's later life was recorded by his friend [[Possidius]], bishop of [[Calama (Numidia)|Calama]] (present-day [[Guelma]], Algeria), in his ''Sancti Augustini Vita''. During this latter part of Augustine's life, he helped lead a large community of Christians against different political and religious factors which had a major influence on his writings.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wagner|first=Nathan|date=1 May 2018|title=Rhetorical Distinctions in Augustine's Early and Later Writing|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/rhetorica/article-abstract/36/2/105/83045/Rhetorical-Distinctions-in-Augustine-s-Early-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext|journal=Rhetorica|language=en|volume=36|issue=2|pages=105–131|doi=10.1525/rh.2018.36.2.105|s2cid=172122521 |issn=0734-8584}}</ref> Possidius admired Augustine as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against its detractors. Possidius also described Augustine's personal traits in detail, drawing a portrait of a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his see.{{sfn|Possidius|2008|p=}}