Augustinians are Christians shaped by the life and teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo, so their beliefs combine Catholic doctrine with a distinctive spirituality focused on God, grace, and community.

Core Christian Beliefs

Augustinians are fully within the Catholic (or broader Christian) tradition, so they hold:

  • Belief in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the Trinity).
  • Faith in Jesus Christ as true God and true man, whose death and resurrection bring salvation.
  • Acceptance of Scripture and the teaching of the Church as authoritative for faith and morals.
  • Participation in the sacramental life of the Church (especially Eucharist and Baptism).

These are not unique to Augustinians, but they form the foundation on which their particular emphasis is built.

What’s Distinctive Theologically?

When people ask “what do Augustinians believe,” they often mean the theological line that comes from Augustine (sometimes called Augustinianism).

Key points:

  1. Human sin and dependence on grace
    • Humanity is deeply wounded by original sin; we are “unable not to sin” without God’s help.
 * This is often called **total depravity** in later theology: our nature is corrupted, so our will is not truly free in the sense of being morally neutral.

 * We still have a will, but it is **inclined** toward sin and self-love rather than God.
  1. Grace comes first and is effective
    • God’s grace is free, necessary, and prior to any good action we do.
 * We do not earn grace; rather, grace enables our faith and good works in the first place.

 * Grace is often described as **irresistible or effectual** : those who truly receive this grace will indeed come to faith.
  1. Predestination and God’s initiative
    • God predestines some to salvation, not on the basis of foreseen merit but purely out of mercy.
 * Earlier, Augustine thought predestination was based on God’s foreknowledge of our choices, but later he insisted that even our choice of God is itself a work of grace.

 * He still affirms human **free will** , but sees it as healed and moved by grace.
  1. Original sin and wounded freedom
    • Original sin is transmitted through “concupiscence” (disordered desire), leaving humanity as a massa damnata (a “mass of perdition”).
 * Freedom is “enfeebled but not destroyed” – we are responsible, yet deeply in need of God’s inner healing.

Augustinian Spirituality and Values

Beyond doctrine, Augustinians talk a lot about a certain way of living and seeking God.

1. Veritas, Unitas, Caritas

A classic triad for Augustinians is:

  • Veritas (Truth) – Lifelong search for truth in God; Augustine stresses turning inward and upward to find the God who is “more inward to me than my inmost self.”
  • Unitas (Unity) – Deep value on community, reconciliation, and being “of one mind and one heart” with others.
  • Caritas (Charity/Love) – Love of God and neighbor as the organizing principle of the Christian life.

These shape how Augustinians think about family life, politics, social problems, and Church life.

2. Interior journey: “Return to yourself”

Augustine’s famous imperative is: “Return into yourself – Transcend yourself” (redi in te ipsum, transcende te ipsum).

  • First movement: Go inward – pay attention to your heart, desires, and interior life, because you are made as imago Dei (image of God).
  • Second movement: Go beyond yourself – do not get stuck in yourself; go upward to God, the source of truth and happiness.

This “interior turn” is a hallmark of Augustinian spirituality and also influences philosophy about mind, self, and God.

3. Community life and sharing

Augustinians, especially the religious orders, follow the Rule of St. Augustine , which takes inspiration from the early Christian community where “no one claimed any possessions as his own, but they had everything in common.”

So they emphasize:

  • Common life, shared prayer, and shared goods.
  • Mutual correction and encouragement in charity.
  • Serving the Church and society together rather than as isolated individuals.

Moral and Practical Emphases

Augustinians apply their theology and spirituality to real-life issues.

  1. Humility as the starting point
    • Augustine famously says the path to truth is “first, humility; second, humility; third, humility.”
 * Humility means recognizing one’s dependence on God and avoiding pride, which he sees as the root of sin.
  1. Freedom understood through grace
    • True freedom is not simply doing what you want, but being freed from disordered passions and slavery to sin.
 * Christian freedom reaches its fullness in **immortality and inability to sin** – the state of complete union with God.
  1. Engagement with society
    • Modern Augustinian communities highlight working together to address issues like violence, immigration, environmental care, and mass incarceration.
 * The idea is that communities shaped by truth, unity, and love can help build a more just society.

Augustinian Religious Orders Today

When people say “Augustinians,” they may also mean the religious orders that live by Augustine’s Rule.

These communities:

  • Profess vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.
  • Live in common, praying and serving together in parishes, schools, and missions.
  • Aim to make every action of their public life consistent with their faith and values.

Their spirituality is presented not only for monks or friars but for lay people in families, workplaces, and civic life.

Very short TL;DR

Augustinians believe the core teachings of Christianity, but with a special emphasis that: humans are deeply wounded by sin and radically dependent on God’s grace; God’s grace takes the initiative in salvation; and the Christian life is an interior journey toward God lived in community, guided by truth, unity, and love.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.