Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria
Ryan Holiday • Stillness Is the Key
Ambrose, while he was eminent as a statesman, was, in other respects, merely typical of his age. He wrote, like other ecclesiastical authors, a treatise in praise of virginity, and another deprecating the remarriage of widows. When he had decided on the site for his new cathedral, two skeletons (revealed in a vision, it was said) were conveniently
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Lord, my God, Light of the blind and Strength of
the weak; indeed, also, Light of those who see, and
Strength of the strong: listen to my soul, and hear it
crying out of the depths. Lord, help us to turn and
seek you, for you have not forsaken your creatures the
way we have forsaken you, our Creator. Let us turn
and seek you, for we know you are he... See more
To the Church, Manichaeism was the deadliest of heresies, even worse than Marcionism. It enjoyed widespread popularity, and St Augustine of Hippo was a Listener of the sect for nine years. When the preaching of St Ambrose and an epiphany in a garden in Milan turned Augustine toward Christianity in 386, he denounced Manichaeism in De Manichaeis and
... See moreSean Martin • The Cathars: The Most Successful Heresy of the Middle Ages
“Oh, the twisted roads I walked!” Augustine recalls. “But look, you’re here, freeing us from our unhappy wandering, setting us firmly on your track, comforting us and saying, ‘Run the race! I’ll carry you! I’ll carry you clear to the end, and even at the end, I’ll carry you.’”
James K. A. Smith • On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts
What was influential was the separation of Church and State, with the clear implication that the State could only be part of the City of God by being submissive towards the Church in all religious matters. This has been the doctrine of the Church ever since. All through the Middle Ages, during the gradual rise of the papal power, and throughout the
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
for Augustine the journey inward was an open battle with devils and demons. Augustine’s pastoral practice gave us an inner self, but this self, to use Taylor’s language, was porous.
Andrew Root • The Pastor in a Secular Age (Ministry in a Secular Age Book #2): Ministry to People Who No Longer Need a God
Augustine, himself, always resented travelling: he always associated it with a sense of protracted labour and of the infinite postponement of his dearest wishes; and these associations will colour the most characteristic image of the spiritual life in his middle age.