ABSTRACT
It would be surprising if Augustine, bishop of Hippo, did not have something to say about the power of religion. Religion was his life, he experienced its power over himself and others, and unlike many philosophers he actually had some power: not very much, but some. Defining power is always a problem. Plato’s dialogue Gorgias asked the key question: do people really have power if they do not in fact achieve what they want, especially if, as Plato thought, what they really want to achieve is the real good, not what seems good to them? One recent study of power, by a theologian who has also been a bishop, works with the minimal suggestion that, “to have power is to be able to make a difference in the world.”1 This does not solve the problem, because everything we do makes a difference to the world. But some people have a choice to make a particular difference, and some differences are of more interest to historians because they have more impact on people’s lives.
