Introduction to The Quotable Augustine (edited by Dave Armstrong)

[link back to the main book page]
This book will be roughly along the sames lines as my previous quotations books: The Quotable Newman (Sophia Institute Press, 2012) and The Quotable Wesley (Lulu, 2012): with an overwhelming emphasis on theology and exegesis, and much less (if any at all) on spirituality, philosophy, ethics, liturgy, politics, aesthetics or other areas.

That narrows down the already quite daunting task of selection and collection. I'm interested in St. Augustine's theological views and analysis along those lines, and passing these views along to the reader, with the best, most pithy and descriptive quotes I can find.

Not infrequently (to give a “warning”) the citations are not so much “quotable” as they are a documentation of the theological views of St. Augustine: much like works of systematic theology cite various Scriptures in order to establish specific theological tenets. In this sense, the book might function as a handy reference source for those who want to know what Augustine believed on a given topic: with full documentation and the absence of sometimes annoying footnotes.

The difference between this work and my two quotations books mentioned above, however, is its focus on "distinctively Catholic" elements in Augustine's writings (thus adding a certain “polemical” or “apologetic” aspect to this volume).

Our esteemed Protestant brethren (especially Reformed Protestants, or Calvinists) widely and continually assert that St. Augustine's views were closer to theirs than to the present-day Catholic Church. This has become a very widely circulated “historical myth”: repeated so often that it is scarcely questioned (let alone investigated) at all in those circles.

In this they follow the founders of their denominational and theological traditions: Martin Luther and John Calvin; though the “allegiance” of these two men to Augustine – closely examined – is ultimately mixed and highly selective: a “mixed record” at best.

With all due respect, I submit that this (Augustine as a “proto-Protestant”) is simply not true, and this book will demonstrate that with hundreds of citations dealing with St. Augustine’s advocacy of positions that Protestants (most or virtually all) expressly reject, or (conversely) detailing his rejection of views that they espouse. The emphasis (speaking generally of the collection as a whole) is broadly on historic or traditional Protestant views and positions that they mostly (almost universally) reject.

Sometimes, however, the “polemical” or “oppositional” relevance of a category has more limited application. For example, several soteriological topics are particularly (though not exclusively) meant to be counter-evidences to Calvinist positions (whereas they wouldn’t be in opposition to Arminian or Wesleyan Protestants). For example:

Apostasy (Falling Away from the Faith or Salvation)
Grace, Irresistible (Falsity of)
Hardening of the Heart
Synergy: Cooperation with God’s Grace as “Co-Laborers”
Total Depravity (Falsity of); Human Nature

Other topics are cited with opposition to “heterodox” skepticism mostly in mind:

Hell (Eternal Punishment)
Jonah and the Whale
Miracles
Scripture: Inerrant and Infallible
Scripture: Inspiration of

A sub-theme of the same opposition to theological liberalism has to do with the doctrine of God: presently being corrupted in many quarters by the sadly fashionable heretical scourges of “open theism” and “process theology”:

Free Will and God’s Foreknowledge
God: Impeccability of (Impossibility of Sinning)
God: Omniscience of
God: Outside of Time
God, Providence of
God: Sustainer of Creation
Jesus Christ: Supposed “Ignorance” of Certain Matters

The previous two groups of topics are areas where Catholics and evangelical or Reformed Protestants can heartily agree, for the most part, over against those who have chosen to reject doctrines held in common by Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox as well. Othodox Catholics hold these views (hence their relevance to this book), but not by themselves.

Lastly, there are a few topics of particular relevance to our Eastern Orthodox brethren: “Holy Spirit: Procession of (Filioque Dispute)” (where arguably it is simply a semantic misunderstanding with no essential disagreement), and “Theosis; Divinization” (where St. Augustine and Catholics agree -- since this is an explicitly biblical motif --, though this is seemingly not very widely realized by many Orthodox).

Quotations are drawn from 42 separate works of St. Augustine, as well as collections of his letters and sermons, and arranged alphabetically under 157 topics. The translations used are all in the public domain (dating from the 19th century), and freely available online.

As was my custom with earlier such books, the quotations are also arranged chronologically within topics, insofar as that can be determined. This helps to clarify any development or even the rare change in Augustine’s views.

I utilized the dates that appeared in Fitzgerald’s Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia (a 1999 work mentioned in the bibliography). In instances where a book took many years to complete (e.g., City of God; dated 413-427), I used the earliest listed date, for the purpose of chronology.

These dates (as well as abbreviations used) appear in the initial bibliography, but not in the collection of quotations. The only dates listed under quotations are those of letters, or epistles, for obvious reasons.

My own input is kept to an absolute minimum: confined to an occasional bracketed clarification (usually in a contextual matter) or briefly stated fact considered to be crucial to understanding some aspect of the quotation.

This book is devoted to St. Augustine, not the irrelevant opinions of a lay apologist and non-scholar. His words speak loudly for themselves. My contribution consists in the collection and topical and chronological arrangement of, the great father’s thoughts. It was my joy and privilege to do so, and to help pass along a "capsulized version" of his wonderful theology and writing to readers.

Some bias of my own orthodox Catholicism will likely be evident in the collection, but this can hardly be considered all that improper, given the stated emphasis of this work.


*****