St. Augustine and St. Francis

St. Augustine (354-430) was born in Roman North Africa of a and a pagan father. He received his initial schooling mainly in Latin literature, and he earned his living as a teacher in Carthage, Rome, and Milan. He joined the Manichaeans for several years, but was eventually disillusioned by the movement. After a period of skepticism, he was converted to Christianity by St. Ambrose and established a monastic community. In 391, he was ordained a priest at Hippo, becoming bishop there in 395.

Augustine believed in the importance of a single, unified Christian Church. He developed a theory of sin, grace, and predestination that became basic to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. His writings include The Confessions and The City of God.

St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) was born at Bagnorea in Tuscany. He is considered to be the greatest of all the Franciscans and was called the Seraphic Doctor. As a Franciscan, he placed considerable emphasis on faith and less on reason. His writings include A Life of St. Francis of Assisi and The Soul's Journey into God. The latter holds that the direct contemplation of God

is the objective of all the arts and sciences. As a person of learning, however, Bonaventure encouraged the development of studies within the Franciscan Order. Although St. Francis may have stressed the i

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re indicated by the spirit, as the spirit indicates the direction of the method and technique. In order to secure the Christian wisdom of Christocentrism, Bonaventure found it necessary to prefer Augustine to Aristotle and Plato. This, consequently, reveals Augustine's feelings concerning the relationship between morality, philosophy, and theology. Bonaventure's metaphysics is constructed upon divine exemplarism. In a greater or smaller degree every single creature is a reflection of the triune God. Thus, there is a universal analogy existing between the things of the natural order and God. To Bonaventure, all created elements speak of their uncreated First Cause, God. Augustine points out in The Confessions: "So I saw plainly and clearly that you have made all things good, nor are there any substances at all which you have not made. And because you did not make all things equal, therefore they each and all have their existence; because they are good individually, and at the same time they are altogether very good, because our God made all things very good. To you, then, there is no such thing at all as evil. And the same is true not only of you but of your whole creation, since there is nothing outside it to break in
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Approximate Word count = 2467
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)