354–387

The Conversion and Baptism of Augustine of Hippo

Augustine was born in 354 in Tagaste in North Africa. His mother, Monica, was a Christian and his father a pagan. In his youth in Carthage, reading Cicero's "Hortensius" awakened in him a search for truth. But he failed to find an answer in a literal reading of the Old Testament. He then joined the Manichaeans as a "hearer" for nine years. Eventually he grew disillusioned with the Manichaean bishop Faustus.

Augustine moved via Rome to Milan as a professor of rhetoric. Through the Neoplatonists (Plotinus, Porphyry) he overcame his difficulties with the idea of God's incorporeality and the origin of evil. The preaching of Bishop Ambrose, with its allegorical reading of Scripture, prepared the decisive step. So did Simplicianus's account of the philosopher Victorinus's conversion.

In a garden in August 386, Augustine heard a child's voice say "Take up and read." He opened to Romans 13:13–14 and resolved to devote himself wholly to God.

The following Easter Ambrose baptized him together with his son Adeodatus and his friend Alypius. Soon after, Augustine returned to Africa.