Example of essay on spiritual tradition

Christianity: St. Augustine

St. Augustine is a spiritual tradition that was developed in the ancient times for the Christian faith since Saint Augustine was a theologian and philosopher. His writings have been described to have unrivalled richness, and they have been used to greatly influence and develop the western Christianity and philosophy. The sacred concept from St. Augustine tradition lies on the fact that it has been able to establish a new faith for Christians following through the same tradition. The tradition was developed to adopt different methods and perspectives that would be used by Christians in the preceding years, and they involve the belief of Christians in the grace of Christ being an indispensable factor to their freedom . The tradition has greatly helped to develop the path that can be followed by Christians to enhance their understanding of sin, and the way to facing the challenges of life as Christians continues to maintain their sacred life.
St. Augustine tradition follows the Christian faith which holds the belief that there is an afterlife. The tradition dictates that Christians are meant to follow the teachings of Christ and be able to maintain grace and purity in their lives as a preparation of their life in heaven after their departure from earth. The spiritual tradition therefore indicates the fact that Christians are meant to follow the teachings of Christ through their life on earth because the teachings will act as the getaway towards their afterlife. The concept of the judgment day is also highlighted in the Christian tradition in that everybody will be responsible for the kind of life that they lead while here on earth and that those who will have followed the teachings of Christ will have an opportunity of going to heaven and living with the heavenly father forever. The followers of the spiritual tradition have therefore developed their relation to the faith, and this involves the celebration of St. Augustine day on 28 August which is marked by his death, and this celebration is carried out by both the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. The other Christian community like the Protestants considers St. Augustine to be the theological origin of their reformations as a result of the teachings that he gave concerning the divine grace and the concepts of salvation.
Members of St. Augustine Christian community believe that they can make contact with the sacred being through baptism and conversion into the Christian faith. The moment a person decides to adopt the Christian faith, baptism is carried out on them because it is an indication of the phase when they decide to follow the doctrines of Christ and lead lives without any forms of intentional sins. The conversion is carried out as an indication that a person has committed to following the teachings of Christ which will involve reading and following the teachings from the bible and living through the example of the life of Christ . The sacred being can also be contacted through prayers that are carried out by the followers of the same faith because the prayers are believed to be the communication of the individuals and connection to the supreme being, and this is followed along with the confession that is carried out by the Christians which requires them to talk their sins out as one way that is believed to purify their soul.
There are many people who are currently following St. Augustine tradition and they are committed towards that faith. The tradition has a great following from Christians of the Catholic and Anglican Churches who have continued to celebrate this tradition by marking the occasion with the celebration of St. Augustine day on 28 August. The high number of the people following the tradition also includes the large numbers of community around the world who continue to remember and carry out the work of St. Augustine, and they are marked with the aspects such as development of schools and other institutions under St. Augustine’s name. The number of people in the tradition is also indicated by those who celebrate the feast day on 15 June because this is the day that they get to appreciate and uphold St. Augustine tradition as more people are encouraged to join in the same teachings of faith.

Personal Conclusion

The impact of the Christian doctrines as presented by St. Augustine forms one of the strongest pillars for the current faith of majority of Christians. The teachings that were displayed by St. Augustine in his writings have enabled the current church to highly appreciate the need for upholding purity and grace of hearts as they undergo different challenges in the Christian faith. Upholding of the Christian faith has been seen as a path that leads towards the eternal afterlife, and therefore this has created a need for the members of the Christian community to continue building and strengthening their faith in Christ. Different virtues needs to be upheld by religious humans through life, and it does not matter the kind of spiritual faith being undertaken since the values such as humility, kindness, love and compassion are the common traits that are meant to be upheld by people who are committed towards their given spiritual tradition.

References

Arendt, H. (2009). Love and Saint Augustine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Augustine, S. (2009). The Confessions of St. Augustine. New York: Wiley Press.