Augustine of Hippo lived between 354 and 430. As the bishop of Hippo Regius, the former Roman province in Africa, his writings about justice, salvation and grace inspired many Christian leaders and theologians, including Martin Luther. Here are seven selections from St. Augustine’s writing that ring just as true for Christians today as when they were written in the fourth or fifth century.
- “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
- “Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.”
- “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.”
- “If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.”
- “Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.”
- “Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”
- “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
