Jerome and Augustine were the last church fathers in the 3rd century AD. Both of them were either skeptical of Christianity or were very sinful in their life before they became a church father.
St. Jerome was born in 347 AD in Stridon. He moved to Rome to study Latin. At first when he heard about Christianity he wasn’t sure about it and just moved on with his studies. During his journey he fell deathly ill and had a vision that made him commit hes life to studying the Bible. He started living alone as a hermit and adopted an ascetic lifestyle. In his years studying the Bible he wrote his own version in Latin called ‘’ The Vulgate’’. He wrote many other letters and commentaries on Scriptures that can still be seen today. Jerome died in 420 AD after spending time in prison for writing these great works. His legacy still lives on today.
St. Augustine was born in 354 AD in Africa with a Pagan dad and a Christian mom. He grew up in the church with his mother who lived a very honest lifestyle. Once he left home he turned his back on Christianity and lived his life in sin for many years. His mother was very sorry for him and prayed that somehow he would convert back to Christianity and honest living. Augustine was still very sinful but he started to listen to priests and eventually converted back to Christianity. After he converted he wrote a book called ‘’Confessions’’ about his years of sin and rebellion. This was very different from the other church fathers because they never wrote autobiography and Augustine was the first. Augustine was baptized in 387 AD. Augustine moved back to North Africa because his mother had died. He established a monastery there. He became Bishop of Hippo in 385 AD and wrote, ‘’The City of God’’, before he died in 430 AD.
St. Augustine and Jerome were the last and most important church fathers of the 3rd century.
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