Augustine: Student of Ambrose – the City of God -Bishop of Hippo

By John Mench

Augustine was the son of wealthy parents and born in Northern Africa.

He was educated in Africa and sought a teaching career in Rome. Eventually he relocated to Milan and met his mentor and great friend Ambrose. After his mother and son died, he returned to Africa, donated much of his inheritance to the church, and worked as a priest. He was named the Bishop of Hippo and wrote many theses that influenced the direction of the growth of the Christian Church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Apr 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781489728920

John Mench

The author served in the U.S. Navy and then went to college. After graduating with an engineering degree, he enjoyed careers (50+ yrs.) as an engineer, businessman, and professor. He is now retired but writes novels. While reading the New Testament for over sixty years and teaching Sunday School Bible classes for twenty years, Fellow, John Mench, Ph.D., has been conflicted by the lack of personality within the testament. He endeavors to add perspective to the message of the testament by creating lives for those who wrote and developed Jesus’ message. My series of books – The First Four Hundred Years includes: Story One - Paul - (The Unique Trio - John the Baptist,Jesus, and Paul) Story Two - John Mark – (Born in Africa – Martyred in Africa) Story Three - John - (John the Youngest – John the Oldest) Story Four - Polycarp – (A Student of John) Story Five – Irenaeus – (A Student of Polycarp) Story Six - Hippolytus – (The First Antipope) Story Seven – Lucian – (Excommunicated – Reconciled – Commemorated as a Saint) Story Eight - Constantine – (Helena – Nicaea – Dead Sea Scrolls) Story Nine – Augustine – (Student of Ambrose – The City of God – Bishop of Hippo)

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Copyright © 2020 John Mench.

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This work is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Interior Graphics/Art Credit: Trina Jang

Interior Drawing Credit: Ruth West

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright @ 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Versions are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2893-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2892-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020907331

LifeRich Publishing rev. date:  04/27/2020

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my wives.

First: Rose who guided me during the education, family, and engineering phase of my life. She focused my life on Christ, and after thirty-four years of marriage, she died of cancer.

Second: Ann who guided me during the travel, consultant, and professor phase of my life. She focused my life around church, and after twenty years of marriage, she died of cancer.

Third: Ruth who is guiding me through the writing, publishing, and older age time of my life. We have morning devotions together, she helps me with my books, and has promised to outlive me.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge the support and consideration of my family during all phases of my life.

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1     Born in Africa

Chapter 2     Educated in Africa

Chapter 3     Rome

Chapter 4     Milan

Chapter 5     Augustine and Ambrose in Milan

Chapter 6     Augustine Returned to Africa

Chapter 7     Ordained a Priest in Hippo

Chapter 8     Bishop of Hippo

Chapter 9     Augustine – The Last Years

Chapter 10   The Death of Augustine

Chapter 11   The Beginning and End of the Western Roman Empire

INTRODUCTION TO

THE FIRST FOUR

HUNDRED YEARS

In an effort to stimulate your imagination, I have written a series of books that link the Roman Empire with the Pagan Religion, Jewish Religion, and the formation of the Christian Religion. Our understanding of Christianity was probably formed when we attended Sunday school, and hopefully, what we learned was based on the principles of the Bible. The Bible’s New Testament provides us with a disjointed series of stories about Jesus. The incomplete stories have caused me to be concerned about the incidents not preserved within the New Testament. Some will say they are a figment of my imagination, but I think of the people in the testament as real people with real lives. The lived in history and helped to mold it. After reading the books, I encourage you to form and record your imagination about the unrecorded events. My series of books are written as fiction related to the Bible and history. In my opinion, history concerning any specific topic in ancient times is fiction. The amount of written history that is accurate is pure speculation. The amount of fiction that is contained in written history is based on several items:

1. elapsed time (from the event to now)

2. government influence (the winners of war write history)

3. greed (writing to make money)

4. perspective (being human)

When you read a history book, you are reading a written perspective that has been deemed acceptable by your generation and your environment. Most history books are the perspective of well-paid victors.

My series of books contains nine books.

Story One is the book Paul.

This story begins in Tarsus about 6 B.C.E. It involves three families and their joys and struggles with birth, love, travel, religion, and death. The first family is that of Omar and his wife Ruth. They have four children; Aaron, their oldest son, was followed by his brother Hezekiah. Yona was their only daughter, and Paul was the youngest child. The second family is Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth. They have one son, John. The third family is that of Joseph and his wife Mary. They have a large family. Jesus was their first born. James was their second son, and then twins Salome and Thomas were born. The twins were followed by Simon and finally Judah. My story reveals how these three families were involved in the formation and dissemination of the Christian religion. It is a story loosely based on the stories of the Bible. My intent is to entertain you and hopefully stimulate your thought process, about Bible stories, by providing the human interactions among these three families.

Story two is John Mark.

John Mark was born John and became the Christian Mark. He was related to several early Christians including Barnabas and Peter. He traveled on missions with both and recorded Peter’s lessons concerning Jesus. He was educated and lived in Jerusalem where as a young man he saw Jesus on several occasions. After Jesus was crucified, he met with the resurrected Christ and became a dedicated missionary and teacher. He was a scribe for Paul and became known as the author of the second gospel which is a record of Peter’s lessons and memories of Jesus. He spent his last years in Alexandria teaching Jesus’ message and expanding the influence of the Christian Church in Africa.

Story three is John.

John’s father was Zebedee. The family lived on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, and he and his older brother James were friends of Jonahs’ sons Peter

and Andrew. Both families made their livings as fishermen, but Peter and his family worked as fishermen on someone else’s boat while John and his family owned their own boats and employed people to help them fish. They owned a large piece of land and owned many servants. The families lived different lifestyles, but their sons became interested in the same itinerant teacher. At a very young age, John, as a result of his brother’s urging, decided to travel with the teacher. He didn’t know anything about the teacher, but he knew he didn’t want to work in the family business for the remainder of his life. He wanted to be involved with the Jewish religion like his brother James. When John was twelve, he joined James and traveled with John the Baptist and then with Jesus. He was Jesus’ youngest disciple. After Jesus was killed, he and James became very involved with the early church. After the Jewish nation rebelled against the Romans, the Jewish nation and their temple in Jerusalem were destroyed. Many of Jesus’ disciples were never heard from again. John was the exception; he was captured by the Romans. After many years in Rome, he was exiled to Patmos. Two years later, he was freed and spent the remainder of his life in Ephesus.

Story four is Polycarp.

Polycarp’s story begins in Philippi during the middle of the first century and concludes after the middle of the second century. The story involves birth, love, travel, religion, and death. Polycarp’s father Augustus was killed while serving in the Roman Army. His mother, Dianna, was a strong-willed woman and didn’t remarry. She and her attendant, Rachael, raised Polycarp and his three sisters. Polycarp became a priest and a professor. He was a student of John’s and spent time with him, in Ephesus, and later analyzed his writings. He moved to Smyrna and became The Bishop of Smyrna. He lived an exciting life performing research and teaching. He emphasized apostolic succession and the correctness of the scriptures. He died a martyr.

Story Five is Irenaeus.

Saint Irenaeus lived from one hundred thirty CE to two hundred and two CE and is remembered for his profound faith in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He spent much of his time determining what should be included in the New Testament.

He was born and raised in Smyrna, studied with Polycarp at the university in Smyrna, and was eventually sent to Gaul. After being assigned to the church in Lugdunum for a long time, he was elevated to bishop after a disturbance during which time the current bishop was killed, and then he established a great school at the church. He was supported by the local boatman and became their supporter and friend.

Story six is Hippolytus.

Hippolytus was a student of Irenaeus and spent his entire life trying to understand the meaning of the words written by those who knew Jesus. He thought he knew Jesus’ purpose and read many of the ancient scrolls with great concern. He was not afraid to challenge the decrees of the Pope. For many years, he disagreed with the leniency of the church and challenged several Popes concerning absolution granted to those who committed adultery or murder. He and the other pope in Rome were exiled by the Roman government. My story includes his escape from exile and later life. Eventually, he became known as the first Antipope.

Story seven is Lucian.

My story about Lucian begins on a farm in the beautiful upper Euphrates River valley during the middle of the third century. It is a story about three priests, Paul, Eusebius, and Lucian. The story concerns birth, love, travel, religious fraud, and death. Lucian’s home, the farm, was owned by Thomas, his father, and his mother, Mary. They had many children, but Lucian was their youngest child. He lived in Samosata with his sister, Ruth, and her husband, Doctor Luke, so he could receive a formal education. Lucian is noted for his critical review of many early New Testament scriptures and his review of Old Testament translations. It is a story concerning the formation of the New Testament, and the problems within the church following the destruction of Antioch by the Persians. Lucian is caught in the cleansing of the church in Antioch, but eventually, he is reinstated and becomes a great priest and teacher.

Story eight is Constantine.

This story is centered during the third and fourth century when The Roman Empire grew by taking control of land in adjacent areas. The politics and economy of the empire required it to continue to grow, so it was usually fighting with its neighbors. The story starts in Britain. The Roman Empire had a large contingent of troops fighting in Britain. Constantine’s father, Constantius Chlorus, was a great warrior in the Roman army. He was a career soldier and very proud of his military position. His service took him to the eastern part of the empire where he met Helena. Constantine was a son of this marriage. Much of the action of this story occurs around the area of Nicomedia and Constantinople, the new eastern capital of the empire. After being baptized by Lucian, Constantine became the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire, and he tried very diligently to please his mother by building her churches and granting the people of the empire freedom of religion. She collected Christian relics for the great church in Constantinople which included the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

Story nine is Augustine.

This story that is the last of my series, the first four hundred years, and takes place during the fourth and fifth centuries. The Roman Empire during the year three hundred eighty declared Christianity its state religion. It was a turbulent period for the empire primarily within the western region, and it was a difficult time for Christianity. My story begins in Gaul. Ambrose, Augustine’s friend, was born into a political family and became the governor of Liguria. His devotion to orthodox Christianity led him to become the Bishop of Milan. While in Milan, Ambrose met and worked closely with Augustine who was the son of wealthy parents and born in Northern Africa. Augustine was educated in Africa and sought a teaching career in Rome and then Milan. After his mother and son died, he returned to Africa, donated much of his inheritance to the church, created a retirement home for older priests, and worked as a priest. He was named the Bishop of Hippo and wrote many theses that influenced the direction and growth of the Christian Church.

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CHAPTER ONE

BORN IN AFRICA

During the year three hundred fifty-four, Constantius II, the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, fought the invaders along the Danube River. He successfully arranged a peace agreement and then traveled to Milan. Gallus, the emperor of the eastern region, had married Constantius II’s sister, but wasn’t a popular emperor and spent much of his time trying to become popular. Constantius II began to doubt his cousins worth and reduced the number of troops reporting to him. Gallus was angered by the situation, and when Constantius II sent Doimitianus to help him, he had him arrested and eventually sent to trail. Doimitianus was killed by order of Gallus. Constantius II was informed of the trial in Antioch and summoned Gallus and Constantina to Milan. Constantina died during the journey and Gallus never went to Milan, so Constantius II went to him. Gallus blamed Constantius II’s sister for his problems in the east.

I understand what the situation involves and would handle it if it were not for my wife, he said. My ability is severely hindered because she is related to Constantius II.

When Constantius II heard Gallus’ excuses, he was furious because of his acquasations against his sister, so he spoke to his army aide.

My sister isn’t the reason Gallus is an incompetent leader, Constantius II said. He doesn’t understand what is needed and underestimates my power.

His aide looked at him and smiled.

We shall explain things so that he will understand, would you like for me to send him a message? the aide asked.

Constantius II didn’t hesitate, No, I want him killed. He will not blame my sister any longer.

The emperor’s guards found Gallus and his son, Volusianus, with their troops. The guards encouraged the troops to desert, and then they executed Gallus and his son. When they reported to Constantius II, he rewarded them.

I will ensure that each of you receive a special bonus, he said. That was a job well done.

Constantius II sought peace by consulting with his advisor, Acacius of Caesarea, the voice of the Arian branch of Christianity.

The following year, Silvanus, who had surrendered to Constantius II after being defeated at the Battle of Murse, caused problems and revolted. He was severely censured by the emperor. Julian, a member of the family, married Constantius II’s sister and was named Caesar. Julian attempted to restore a pagan religion to the people of the empire and removed many privileges that Christian priests and churches had enjoyed since Constantine. He granted privileges to pagans, demoted many Christian administrators, exiled many priests, and encouraged the growth of non-Orthodox churches, but Paganism was overrun by those proclaiming Jesus’ divinity and soon became a minor religion in the empire.

A great amount of pressure was applied against the emperor to support Liberius, the new Pope. Constantius II tried to convince the new pope that the views of Arian were good for the church, but he was not able to change Liberius’ orthodox stance. Constantius II exiled the pope to Thrace for about two years before he relented to political pressure and allowed Liberius to return to Rome. The Roman people sided with Liberius and the interim Pope Felix, an Arian, was expelled.

During the year three hundred fifty-four, Ambrose, a future friend of Augustine, studied law and rhetoric in Rome, and Augustine was born in Thagaste, North Africa. The Numidia city of Thagaste, south of Hippo, was inhabited by immigrant Romans but primarily was home to native Romanized Berbers. Augustine’s father, Patricius, was a pagan and a freedman probably due to the Edit of Caracalla in the year two hundred and twelve. Monica, his mother, was a Christian and attended church on a regular basis. Monica tolerated Patricius being a pagan, but deeply lover her Christian God. Patricius didn’t understand Monica’s religion and often mocked her prayers and deeds. Monica’s parents weren’t extremely wealthy, spoke Latin, and owned a small tract of farm land. Patricius held an official position with the Roman government. He collected taxes and was responsible for collecting a budgeted amount of money. During good years, the family prospered and purchased additional land. During very poor years, when he didn’t collect enough taxes to meet the budget, they had to pay back some of their money to the government. Eventually after many years, Patricius and Monica lived the privileged life of land owners. Unknown to him, Augustine was born into this grand lifestyle.

One Sabbath, after Monica returned from church, she located Patricius asleep in his favorite chair on the porch of their large farmhouse. It was normal for Patricius to be asleep on the porch when the family returned home from church, and Monica didn’t want to startle him, so she moved close to him and said in a voice just loud enough to awaken him, I have been praying for a child, and I believe my prayers have been answered.

Patricius realized that his wife had spoken to him and noted the smile on Monica’s face, but wasn’t exactly certain what she had said, so he looked at her and smiled. Monica took his hand and kissed it, but Patricius never responded. Monica sensed a lack of understanding concerning true love between her and Patricius, so she walked away shaking her head.

After a few months, she became very large, and Patricius finally was forced to acknowledge the situation.

You look like we are going to be parents, he proudly said.

I wondered how long it would take you to understand what I have been saying, Monica responded.

I think you should have the doctor check you, Patricius said. You seem to be getting larger.

Monica looked at Patricius, rubbed her extended stomach, and nodded.

You are correct, please send for the doctor, she said.

When the doctor checked Monica, he became very concerned.

The last time I tended a lady as extended as you, she delivered two babies, he said.

Monica was surprised by the doctor’s comment and looked at him.

That is concerning, do you think it will be the same for us? she asked.

The doctor thought but didn’t answer the question. Monica and her aide prepared the house for a child. Patricius was at another farm when Monica was ready to deliver the babies, so a slave went for the doctor. When the doctor arrived, he found Monica troubled and writhed with pain. The doctor began to work with her, and much to his dismay, the doctor soon saw two feet.

He looked at Monica’s aide, Maxine, and said, This isn’t good. The baby is backwards.

Monica screamed at that moment as the doctor pulled a lifeless baby from her.

Suddenly Monica screamed again, and a second child was born.

It is a boy, the doctor said as he handed the second baby to his assistant. He is doing fine.

Monica was exhausted and quickly went to sleep. The doctor walked to the midwife.

The baby girl is dead, but the boy baby seems fine, she whispered. I am waiting for you to check him before I swaddle him.

Later Monica awoke, and the doctor explained the first-born baby was dead. She placed her hands on her head, and large tears flowed down her sad face. Maxine moved close to Monica, grasp her hand, and said, Everything will be fine. You have a son, and I am here to help both of you.

Monica gently squeezed Maxine’s hand and smiled at her. Soon, the doctor instructed a slave to sit with Monica, and he returned to his home.

Monica’s priest visited to see how she was doing. Maxine answered the door and talked with the priest.

May I visit with her, the priest asked. We have missed her in church the last several Sabbath.

I will tell her you are here, Maxine said.

Maxine returned and escorted the priest to Monica’s room. She was holding her son in her arms. The priest talked to Monica and looked at her baby.

I am sorry for your loss, but your son looks like he is doing well, he said.

Monica smiled at the priest.

Yes, he is well, she said. The doctor has been very helpful.

May I pray for you, he asked.

The priest knelt and prayed, Lord, please comfort your faithful follower in her time of grief. Be with her and hold her close to your heart as you become closer to her heart.

After he prayed, he stayed with Monica and talked until she went to sleep. Maxine escorted him to the door.

A month later when Patricius returned home, Monica