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The Classics of Western Spirituality
Selected Writings
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is one of the most influential figures in the history of the Church. A bishop, philosopher, and doctor of the Church whose thought has molded the Western tradition, Augustine was deeply spiritual, and his writings emphasize the soul's experience of God in its depths. This book features selections from his writings, including Confessions and The City of God, and is the perfect introduction to his influential spiritual life and teachings.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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About the author
Augustine of Hippo
3,338 books2,018 followersEarly church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical
Confessions
in 397 and the voluminous
City of God
from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.
People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."
The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."
Santo Agostinho
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 7, 2015
Augustine of Hippo is a seminal figure not just in the development of Christian theology, but also in the shaping of the Western mind. In this volume, excerpts from his homilies and some of his most famous books are presented. The introductions are incredibly well written and well reasoned. Particularly excellent is the introduction to the selections from “City of God” in which Augustine presents his philosophy of history under God’s direction. I will not attempt criticism of this volume, other than to say that it deserves careful reading and reflection. Below are my favorite passages in a book that will remain on my shelf, to be pulled down from time to time, and sampled deeply.
From “The Happy Life” – “You have truly gained the mastery of the very stronghold of philosophy, Mother. For without doubt only for lack of words you did not elaborate on this subject as did Tullius [Cicero], whose words will follow. For in the Hortensius, the book he wrote on the praise and defense of philosophy, he said: ‘But see, surely not the philosophers but all given to argument say that those who live just as they wish are happy.’ This is definitely false; for to want what is not appropriate is the worst of all miseries. It is not so miserable not to get what you want as to want to get what you ought not. Wickedness of will brings to everyone greater evil than good fortune brings good.” (174)
From “The Happy Life” – “Hence to be happy is nothing but not to be in need, that is, to be wise. But if you seek what wisdom is, reason has already explained and declared this as far as presently possible. For wisdom is nothing but the measure of the soul, that is, that by which the mind is liberated so that it neither runs over into too much nor falls short of fullness. For there is a running over into luxuries, tyrannies, acts of pride, and other such things whereby the souls of unrestrained and unhappy men think they get for themselves pleasure and power. But there is a falling short of fullness through baseness, fear, sorrow, passion, and other things, of whatever kind, whereby unhappy men even admit that they are unhappy.” (191)
From “The Happy Life” – “This, therefore, is the complete satisfaction of souls, that is, the happy life: to know precisely and perfectly Him through whom you are led into the truth, the nature of the truth you enjoy, and the bond that connects you with the Supreme Measure! These three show to those who understand the one God, the one Substance, excluding the variety of all vain and superstitious images.” (193)
From his homily “Psalm 119: The Ascents of the Christian” – Augustine ponders on the crucifixion into the valley of tears. “What is a valley of tears? He was scourged, covered with spittle, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross. From this valley of tears you must ascend. But ascend where? ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God‘ (Jn 1:1). For He Himself, the ‘Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ Abiding in Himself, He descended to you. He descended to you so as to become for you a valley of tears; He abode in Himself so as to be for you a mountain of ascent. And ‘In the days to come,’ said Isaiah, ‘the mountain of the Lord shall tower above the hills’ (Is 2:2). It is there we must ascend.” (200)
From his homily “Psalm 120: Our Confidence in the Lord” – But in their turn, before the hour comes, let them listen also to what the Apostle says to them: ‘You were once darkness, and now youa re light in the Lord’ (Eph 5:8). Let them awaken according to the admonition of our Psalm. Already the mountains are lightened, why then sleep? ‘Let them lift their eyes toward the mountains whence help will come to them’ (Ps 120:1). What does it mean to say that the mountains are already lightened? Already there has arisen the Sun of Justice, already the Apostles have preached the Gospel, preached the Holy Scriptures, all the Mysteries have been laid open, the veil has been rent, the secret of the temple has been revealed; let them finally lift their eyes toward the mountain whence help will come to them.” (215)
From his homily “Psalm 121: The Ecstasy of Love” – “It is indeed a song of steps. And as I have often said to you, these steps are not made to descend but to ascend. The questioner wishes then to ascend; and where does he wish to ascend if not to heaven? What does this mean—to ascend to heaven? Does he wish to ascend so as to be in the heavens with the sun, the moon, and the stars? Far from that! But there is in heaven an eternal Jerusalem where the angels, our co-citizens, are. From these co-citizens we on earth are estranged. In this exile we sigh; in the city we shall have joy.” (232)
From his homily “Psalm 121: The Ecstasy of Love” – “The throne of wisdom is the soul of the righteous, that is, wisdom sits on the soul of the righteous as on her chair, as on her throne, and there judges whatever she judges.” (242)
From his Eleventh Homily on the Gospel of St. John – “But perhaps there are insensitive hearts, still incapable of receiving this Light because the weight of their sins prevents them from seeing it. Let them not imagine that they Light is absent because they do not see it, for on account of their sins they are in darkness. ‘And the Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness understood it not’ (Jn 1:5). Therefore, Brothers, like the blind man exposed to the sun, the sun being present to him but he being absent from the sun, so the insensitive one, the sinner, the impious has a blind heart.” (280)
From Treatise Seven of “Homily on the First Epistle of Saint John” – “But if you do not wish to die of thirst in the desert, drink charity. This is the fountain the Lord has willed to place here, lest we faint on the way, and we shall drink it more abundantly when we come to the Fatherland.” (299)
From Treatise Seven of “Homily on the First Epistle of Saint John” – “Therefore once for all this short command is given to you: ‘Love and do what you will.’ If you keep silent, keep silent by love, if you speak, speak by love; if you correct, correct by love; if you pardon, pardon by love: let love be rooted in you, and from this root nothing but good can grow.” (305)
From “On Seeing God” – “Hence, you see your faith, you see your doubt, you see your desire and will to learn, and when you are induced by divine authority to believe what you do not see, you see at one that you believe these things; you analyze and discern all this.” (392)
From “On the Presence of God” – “No one will make a good end to the life into which he is born unless he is born again before he ends it.” (420)
See my other reviews here!
From “The Happy Life” – “You have truly gained the mastery of the very stronghold of philosophy, Mother. For without doubt only for lack of words you did not elaborate on this subject as did Tullius [Cicero], whose words will follow. For in the Hortensius, the book he wrote on the praise and defense of philosophy, he said: ‘But see, surely not the philosophers but all given to argument say that those who live just as they wish are happy.’ This is definitely false; for to want what is not appropriate is the worst of all miseries. It is not so miserable not to get what you want as to want to get what you ought not. Wickedness of will brings to everyone greater evil than good fortune brings good.” (174)
From “The Happy Life” – “Hence to be happy is nothing but not to be in need, that is, to be wise. But if you seek what wisdom is, reason has already explained and declared this as far as presently possible. For wisdom is nothing but the measure of the soul, that is, that by which the mind is liberated so that it neither runs over into too much nor falls short of fullness. For there is a running over into luxuries, tyrannies, acts of pride, and other such things whereby the souls of unrestrained and unhappy men think they get for themselves pleasure and power. But there is a falling short of fullness through baseness, fear, sorrow, passion, and other things, of whatever kind, whereby unhappy men even admit that they are unhappy.” (191)
From “The Happy Life” – “This, therefore, is the complete satisfaction of souls, that is, the happy life: to know precisely and perfectly Him through whom you are led into the truth, the nature of the truth you enjoy, and the bond that connects you with the Supreme Measure! These three show to those who understand the one God, the one Substance, excluding the variety of all vain and superstitious images.” (193)
From his homily “Psalm 119: The Ascents of the Christian” – Augustine ponders on the crucifixion into the valley of tears. “What is a valley of tears? He was scourged, covered with spittle, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross. From this valley of tears you must ascend. But ascend where? ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God‘ (Jn 1:1). For He Himself, the ‘Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ Abiding in Himself, He descended to you. He descended to you so as to become for you a valley of tears; He abode in Himself so as to be for you a mountain of ascent. And ‘In the days to come,’ said Isaiah, ‘the mountain of the Lord shall tower above the hills’ (Is 2:2). It is there we must ascend.” (200)
From his homily “Psalm 120: Our Confidence in the Lord” – But in their turn, before the hour comes, let them listen also to what the Apostle says to them: ‘You were once darkness, and now youa re light in the Lord’ (Eph 5:8). Let them awaken according to the admonition of our Psalm. Already the mountains are lightened, why then sleep? ‘Let them lift their eyes toward the mountains whence help will come to them’ (Ps 120:1). What does it mean to say that the mountains are already lightened? Already there has arisen the Sun of Justice, already the Apostles have preached the Gospel, preached the Holy Scriptures, all the Mysteries have been laid open, the veil has been rent, the secret of the temple has been revealed; let them finally lift their eyes toward the mountain whence help will come to them.” (215)
From his homily “Psalm 121: The Ecstasy of Love” – “It is indeed a song of steps. And as I have often said to you, these steps are not made to descend but to ascend. The questioner wishes then to ascend; and where does he wish to ascend if not to heaven? What does this mean—to ascend to heaven? Does he wish to ascend so as to be in the heavens with the sun, the moon, and the stars? Far from that! But there is in heaven an eternal Jerusalem where the angels, our co-citizens, are. From these co-citizens we on earth are estranged. In this exile we sigh; in the city we shall have joy.” (232)
From his homily “Psalm 121: The Ecstasy of Love” – “The throne of wisdom is the soul of the righteous, that is, wisdom sits on the soul of the righteous as on her chair, as on her throne, and there judges whatever she judges.” (242)
From his Eleventh Homily on the Gospel of St. John – “But perhaps there are insensitive hearts, still incapable of receiving this Light because the weight of their sins prevents them from seeing it. Let them not imagine that they Light is absent because they do not see it, for on account of their sins they are in darkness. ‘And the Light shone in the darkness, and the darkness understood it not’ (Jn 1:5). Therefore, Brothers, like the blind man exposed to the sun, the sun being present to him but he being absent from the sun, so the insensitive one, the sinner, the impious has a blind heart.” (280)
From Treatise Seven of “Homily on the First Epistle of Saint John” – “But if you do not wish to die of thirst in the desert, drink charity. This is the fountain the Lord has willed to place here, lest we faint on the way, and we shall drink it more abundantly when we come to the Fatherland.” (299)
From Treatise Seven of “Homily on the First Epistle of Saint John” – “Therefore once for all this short command is given to you: ‘Love and do what you will.’ If you keep silent, keep silent by love, if you speak, speak by love; if you correct, correct by love; if you pardon, pardon by love: let love be rooted in you, and from this root nothing but good can grow.” (305)
From “On Seeing God” – “Hence, you see your faith, you see your doubt, you see your desire and will to learn, and when you are induced by divine authority to believe what you do not see, you see at one that you believe these things; you analyze and discern all this.” (392)
From “On the Presence of God” – “No one will make a good end to the life into which he is born unless he is born again before he ends it.” (420)
See my other reviews here!
November 4, 2024
I enjoyed the book, even though I rated it three stars. I think my main issue was that I’m not as interested in a collection of excerpts or writings from different works—I’d much rather read each work in full. Before this, I had only read Confessions, so I was curious to explore more of Augustine’s writings. While this book did help me get a taste of his other works and gave me ideas for what I might want to read next, the selected passages felt somewhat disjointed and lacked the obvious completeness of this thoughts which I think are fairly critical to understand his writings. It’s still Augustine, so I definitely enjoyed it, but I’d recommend reading his works individually if possible. However, if you prefer sampling multiple pieces in one volume, this book does that well and could be a good fit for you.
August 14, 2025
This is a wonderful little book, containing select sections of some of St Augustines longer books like Confessions, City of God, and On The Trinity, as well as the whole of some smaller works like The Happy Life, and The (monastic) Rule of St Augustine.
Augustine is a wonderfully talented writer, often giving well crafted analogies to explain his poiny. You can really get a sense of what kind of man this was (as well as his mother), and how he thinks, especially from Confessions and the Happy Life, where he includes some of his fruitful dialogues with other Christians. Even from these writings, you can get a better understanding as to why this man was so beloved and influential in Western Christianity, he is a man after God's own heart, coupled with a fierce intelect (though I think his mother was definitely brighter and wiser than him). I envy what it would have been like to grow up in his household.
Augustine is a wonderfully talented writer, often giving well crafted analogies to explain his poiny. You can really get a sense of what kind of man this was (as well as his mother), and how he thinks, especially from Confessions and the Happy Life, where he includes some of his fruitful dialogues with other Christians. Even from these writings, you can get a better understanding as to why this man was so beloved and influential in Western Christianity, he is a man after God's own heart, coupled with a fierce intelect (though I think his mother was definitely brighter and wiser than him). I envy what it would have been like to grow up in his household.
February 27, 2023
Solid introduction to Augustinian spirituality, with selections from some of his most famous (Confessions, On the Trinity, City of God) as well as lesser known works (homilies, letters), in a modern translation. My favorites were Letter 187 and The Rule of St. Augustine.
December 29, 2025
Stopped reading because I got the full Confessions from Augustine which I’ve begun reading.
Fantastic piece on a man from 1600 years ago wrestling with sin just as every man alive today and any man to come after us
Fantastic piece on a man from 1600 years ago wrestling with sin just as every man alive today and any man to come after us
May 15, 2017
Extremely approachable and relatable.
August 20, 2023
An admirable collection of one of the greatest of Christian minds which represents well his particular genius where a brilliant mind and expansive heart combine in one extraordinary person.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews