Thursday, November 13, 2025

It is the 13th of November 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

We recently did a mailbag show from the students at Cornerstone Christian school in Emo, Ontario- two things: we have a few extra questions which we will engage with tomorrow, but it was the question: who is the most important theologian in church history that I answered, and it has continued to rumble around in my brain. And lucky us, it’s the 13th of November, which I have decided to deem, on the Christian History Almanac- Augustine Day- for the 13th of November is the birthday of the great bishop of Hippo, and we could do a lot worse than give the man his own show once a year. Is he the most important theologian? Maybe. Is he my favorite? Maybe.  

SO- what is it about the man born on this, the 13th of November in 354 in the town of Thagaste in what is today Algeria in Northern Africa. Because it is brought up occasionally- if Augustine was from Algeria, what did he look like? Thagaste was a Roman city ruled by Patricians, one of whom was called “Patricius,” who was Augustine’s Father (his mother, of course, was the famous St. Monica). Patricius was a Numidian- a group of Berbers, semi-nomadic people that were neither black nor European. Augustine was, according to one biographer, “tall and long limbed, thin chested, with sloping shoulders. He had a long nose, a high forehead, thick lips, and tremendous eyes, and he did not walk so much as take large, loping strides. His skin was a kind of dark bronze; his eyes were black”. 

It is his conversion which usually gets the headlines- a rowdy childhood gave way to his ambition to be a famous orator, all the while flirting with the Dualistic Manichees and the fashionable Neo-platonism of his day. He found himself yearning for the truth about the world and himself, and something that could answer his questions about the reality of evil and the evil within.

He eventually finds his way to Milan, where his conversion and baptism by Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, are key elements of his “Confessions”.

Another story that has resonated through the ages, told in his Confessions, is that of his famous “pears”. Augustine’s Pears is not only a pretty cool band name, but also a story about him stealing pears despite not being hungry, which helped him understand the deep-rooted sinfulness that could only be overcome with a radical grace.

He is the Bishop of Hippo (also in modern Algeria) from 396 to his death in 430. This puts him in the era of the church defining orthodoxy, and the end of his life sees the conquering Vandals sacking Rome and the beginning of their sacking of Hippo. Outside of his confessions (published in 400) was his work “The City of God”- a giant of a work that is well worth it, as it took him 13 years to process and write. He was writing to answer the claim that it was the introduction of Christianity to the empire that caused it to fall. In it, he distinguishes between the “City of God” and “City of Man”- this is no simple “separation of church and state” or defense of Christendom, but a look at the creation of these spheres and what they love. Love is a central theme in Augustine’s thought that is sometimes overlooked by those rushing to his doctrines of Grace or election.

But it is his doctrines of Grace which have made him a perennial favorite- as an interpreter of Paul, he was central to the Reformers. Luther said that the church had “no better teacher,” and Calvin, answering a charge that he was an innovator, claimed that he was just saying what Augustine said.

Augustine’s doctrines of Grace, as well as his doctrine of the church- whereby it is a mixed bag until the judgement- wheat and tares, and not a perfect institution- have resonated through the centuries. But he is also “foreign” enough that one can read and disagree with him- he is at home in both Catholic and Protestant circles and thus critical readings of him are necessary.

Check out his confessions- the first Christian autobiography of sorts and still very readable. You can also check the unofficial transcript of this show at 1517.org for a link (https://www.1517.org/podcast-overview/2023-07-01) to a weekend edition interview I did a few years back with a friend of mine, the Rev. Dr. Daryl Ellis, who worked on Augustine for his PhD at Vanderbilt.

Happy Augustine day- heck, say Aug-uh-steen, if you wish… we have a thing about the breadth of pronunciation on this show if you haven’t heard. Made one of the doctors of the church- the “Dr of Grace” he is known as, born on this, the 13th of November in 354.

  

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary from Isaiah 57:

And it will be said:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road!
    Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”

For this is what the high and exalted One says—

    he who lives forever, whose name is holy:


“I live in a high and holy place,

    but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,


to revive the spirit of the lowly

    and to revive the heart of the contrite.

I will not accuse them forever,

    nor will I always be angry,


for then they would faint away because of me—

    the very people I have created.

I was enraged by their sinful greed;

    I punished them, and hid my face in anger,

    yet they kept on in their willful ways.

I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;

    I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
    creating praise on their lips.


Peace, peace, to those far and near,”

    says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 13th of November 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wonders why Bob Dylan dreamed he saw St. Augusteen- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who wonders what Augustine would have thought about that song Sting sang about him… hmmm.. I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.