Final answer:
St. Augustine saw language as a means to pursue divine truth, serving the higher purpose of expressing and understanding God's will, secondary to faith and divine influence in the course of human civilization.
Step-by-step explanation:
St. Augustine envisioned the purpose of language as a means to seek truth and express the divine order of God. Language, in his view, had the form of being secondary to the pursuit of faith and understanding of the divine will.
In the context of his work The City of God, Augustine distinguished between the earthly and the heavenly: heavenly wisdom, which comes from faith in God and is eternal, and earthly wisdom, which includes language and is transitory. For Augustine, language was a tool within the material world that, while useful for communication and learning, paled in comparison to faith and divine revelation. It was to be used in service to God and for the grand narrative of Christianity.
As the Western Roman Empire decayed, Augustine's works alternatively provided explanations for contemporary events within the context of a Christian worldview, reassurance of the heavenly kingdom's permanence, and contributed to the Church's emerging role as a unifying force following Roman geopolitical structures.