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Augustine

Augustine of Hippo bridged ancient philosophy and Christian theology. His Confessions remains one of the most intimate spiritual autobiographies ever written, exploring memory, time, and the longing for God.

Episodes

The Problem of Evil: Why Does God Allow Suffering? | Philosophy for Sleep
Philosophy of Religion3:41:16

The Problem of Evil: Why Does God Allow Suffering? | Philosophy for Sleep

An innocent man, a burned fawn, and the hardest question ever asked of God. This episode follows the problem of evil from its oldest telling to its newest defenses. It begins with a man who loses everything in a single afternoon and refuses every easy explanation, then traces the great answers, evil as absence, the best of all possible worlds, and the earthquake and the novel that broke optimism's public standing. From there the argument sharpens into the twentieth century, a charge of outright contradiction, the celebrated defense that answered it, a theodicy of growing souls, and a dying fawn that changed the question from proof to evidence. The second half belongs to skeptical theism, the claim that human minds cannot survey the reasons a God might have, and to the objections that press it, moral paralysis, spreading doubt, horrendous evils, animal pain, and divine silence. The episode ends where the argument now stands, between a rock and a rope. The full episode is on YouTube and Spotify. Please listen only in safe, restful contexts.

Why Does Evil Exist If God Is Good? | Augustine of Hippo | Complete Philosophy
Philosophy of Religion2:44:15

Why Does Evil Exist If God Is Good? | Augustine of Hippo | Complete Philosophy

Augustine of Hippo | Complete Philosophy

Augustine of Hippo asked why we do what we know is wrong, why nothing ever satisfies us, and where evil comes from if God is good. This episode tells the complete story of the philosopher who shaped Western thought more profoundly than almost any other figure. It follows Augustine from his African childhood to the streets of Carthage, through nine years with the Manichaeans, to the garden in Milan where everything changed. The episode explores his revolutionary ideas: evil as the absence of good, the will divided against itself, time existing only in the mind, memory as a palace larger than the world, grace that breaks chains human effort cannot loosen, and the two cities built on two loves that have been at war since the beginning of history. It also confronts the difficult dimensions of his legacy, including his teachings on predestination, original sin, and the endorsement of coercion against religious dissenters. The full episode is on YouTube and Spotify. Please listen only in safe, restful contexts.

Recommended Reading

City of God by Augustine

City of God

Augustine

advanced

Augustine's monumental defense of Christianity against pagan critics, contrasting the earthly city with the heavenly city across the sweep of human history.

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Saint Augustine by Garry Wills

Saint Augustine

Garry Wills

beginner

A brief, elegant portrait of Augustine's life and ideas, written for general readers as part of the Penguin Lives series.

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Augustine of Hippo: A Biography by Peter Brown

Augustine of Hippo: A Biography

Peter Brown

intermediate

The classic biography of Augustine that set the standard for all subsequent studies, placing his thought within the rich context of late Roman Africa.

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Confessions by Augustine

Confessions

Augustine

intermediate

Augustine's deeply personal account of his spiritual journey from youthful excess to Christian faith, widely regarded as the first Western autobiography.

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