Augustine of Hippo, St, originally Aurelius Augustinus AD354-430
Numidian Christian, one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church

Born in Tagaste (now Souk-Ahras), Numidia, he was brought up a Christian by his devout mother, Monica (who became St Monica). He went to Carthage to study and had a son, Adeodatus (AD372), by a mistress there. He became deeply involved in Manicheanism, which seemed to offer a solution to the problem of evil, a theme which was to preoccupy him throughout his life. In 383 he moved to teach in Rome, then in Milan, and became influenced by Scepticism and then by Neoplatonism. He finally became converted to Christianity and was baptized (together with his son) by St Ambrose in 387. Ordained a priest in 391, he returned to North Africa and became Bishop of Hippo in 396, where he was a relentless antagonist of the heretical schools of Donatists, Pelagians and Manicheans. He was an unusually productive writer and much of his work is marked by personal spiritual struggle. His Confessions (397) is a classic of world literature and a spiritual autobiography as well as an original work of philosophy (with a famous discussion on the nature of time). De Civitate Dei (413-26, 'The City of God'), a work of 22 books, is an influential and important vindication of Christianity, and De Trinitate ('The Trinity') is a weighty exposition of the doctrine of the Trinity. The central tenets of his creed were the corruption of human nature through the fall of Man, the consequent slavery of the human will, predestination and the perseverance of the Saints. His feast day is 28 August.