Saint Augustine was one of those towering figures who so
dominated his age that the age itself bears his name. The Age of
Augustine was a time of transition, and Augustine was a genius of
such stature that, according to Christopher Dawson, "he was, to a
far greater degree than any emperor or general or barbarian
warlord, a maker of history and a builder of the bridge which was
to lead him from the old world to the new." He was the ablest
religious thinker and controversialist at a period when theological
controversy reached a level of intellectual refinement never
achieved before or since. He was a tireless preacher and he wrote
118 treatises, including the most famous spiritual autobiography of
all time, The Confessions. Of all these works, the one most
prized by Augustine was his City of God, a veritable
encyclopedia of information on the lives, thoughts and aspirations
of ancient and early Christian man.
Marcus Dods (1834–1909) was the Principal of New
College in Edinburgh University. He translated Augustine's
writings between 1872 and 1876.
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton (1915–1968) remains one of
the great spiritual figures of our time. He expressed his inner
contemplations through his extensive written works, including
poetry, letters and journals. His writings commonly deal with
issues of social justice and spirituality.
"The human mind can understand truth only by thinking, as is clear
from Augustine."
--Saint Thomas Aquinas
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