By the middle of the second century, the Church had developed the Apostle's Creed which contained the foundational doctrines, or essential beliefs of the Christian Church. In the 4^th century, the doctrines of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ had been established at the Councils of Nicea in 325 AD, Ephesus in 431 AD, and Chalcedon in 451 AD. The doctrine of soteriology however, or the doctrine of salvation and grace had not been clearly and systematically established until Augustine and the Pelagian controversy in the 5^th century in the West. These doctrines of Salvation and Grace would continue to be debated throughout church history, through the Medieval period, the Reformation, and up to the 20^th century. In contrast to these Augustinian doctrines of sin and grace, the controversial doctrine of Pelagianism would reappear in many forms to challenge these doctrines.

Although the major teachings of God and Christ had been established, what had not been fully established up to this time were the questions "What did Christ accomplish in his life and death?" and "How is this work of God applied to man?" It would not be until the medieval church when the Atonement of Christ was fully developed, but the doctrine of Salvation began to be fully fleshed out with Augustine. It has been said by the great 19^th century Church Historian Philip Schaff, that the history of the Church unfolds much like the writings of systematic theology. The doctrines of God and the person of Christ are built, then the doctrines of man, his condition and relationship to God.

Augustine was born in Thagaste, to African parents of Romanized Berber origins on November 13, 354 AD. He was educated in Carthage, a prominent North African city, and was considered a very great intellectual man in the Western world. He was converted to Christianity in 386 AD after the prayers of a very devout mother and the influence of an intellectual bishop by the name of Ambrose. Before his conversion, he had lived a somewhat reckless and pagan life according to his book Confessions. Augustine's Confessions are not merely his autobiography but also his first theological treatise written five years before the turn of the fifth century.

Because of his great education, Augustine saw the Old Testament scriptures, as did many educated people of this period, as a gathering of myths or "old wives tales." Manicheism rejected the Old Testament and sought reason to define Christianity opposed to revelation, and this made him very susceptible to this group because of his association with reason in general and Platonism in particular. He joined this heretical sect and made several converts during the nine years in which he remained.

After Augustine's move to Milan, he met a Christian intellectual named Ambrose. He would sit under his teaching, learning as much about Christianity as he could. Ambrose convinced him of the soundness of not only the Old Testament, but the truth of the New Testament as well, and Augustine was baptized by the great bishop in 387 AD. He moved back to North Africa after his conversion and the death of his mother Monica, where he was influenced by the people of Hippo to be their bishop.

Next >> Augustine deals with schisms and controversies >>