Augustine’s Primer on Providence: God’s Will, Free Will, and Why We Suffer

Augustine’s Primer on Providence: God’s Will, Free Will, and Why We Suffer

Augustine, a convert to Christianity—who had experienced four seconds of providence in 386 AD, who lived during the Fall of Rome in 410, who watched Germanic tribes overrun the western empire and Vandals sweep through Spain into North Africa towards his own diocese of Hippo, who was approaching death in the 420s—was at peace. He knew that the will of God is behind all things, despite disasters, sufferings, and the threat of death. Who has peace …