The Essential Augustine

by Augustine of Hippo, Vernon J. Bourke (editor)

Foreword
1 THE MAN & HIS WRITINGS: How A. Came to the Episcopacy (Serm. 355, 2); A. Chooses Eraclius as His Successor (Letter 213, 1, 5f); A. on His Own Writings (Retractations Prol. I, 1-3)
2 FAITH & REASON: Belief is Volitional Consent (On the Spirit & Letter 21, 54; 34, 60); To Believe Is to Think w/Assent (Predestination of the Saints 5); Believing & Understanding (On Free Choice II, 2, 4-6); Authority & Reason (Against the Academics III, 20, 43); Two Ways to Knowledge (On Order II, 9, 26f); Reason & Authority in Manicheism (Value of Believing 1-4); The Relation of Authority to Reason (True Religion 24, 45--25, 47); If I Am Deceived, I Am Alive (City of God XI, 26); I Know that I Am Alive (The Trinity XV, 12, 21f); Knowledge & Wisdom (The Trinity XII, 14, 21--15, 25); Error & Ignorance (Enchiridion 17)
3 THREE LEVELS OF REALITY: Creator, Human Soul, Body (Questions for Simplicianus I, 2, 18); Natures on Three Levels (Letter 18, 2); Soul, Ruled by God, Rules Its Body (On Music VI, 5, 12f); Soul: Above the Sensible, Below God (True Religion 3. 3); God, Mutable Spirits, & Bodies (Nature of the Good 1-25); Divine, Psychic & Bodily Nature (City of God VIII, 5f); Causality: Divine, Psychic & Bodily (City of God V, 9); Divine Ideas as Prototypes (83 Different Questions 46, 1f); God Set Spiritual Creation Above the Corporeal (Literal Commentary on Genesis VIII, 20, 39; 25, 46; 26, 48); Evil: the Privation of the Good (Enchiridion 10-12)
4 MAN’S SOUL: Existence, Life, Sense & Reason (On Free Choice II, 3, 7f, 10); Sensation as an Activity of the Soul (On Music VI, 5, 9f); Memory, Understanding & Will (The Trinity X, 11, 17f); The Wonders of Memory (Confessions X, 8-26); Three Levels of Vision (Literal Commentary on Genesis XII, 6, 15--11, 22; 30, 58--31, 59)
5 THE WORLD OF BODIES: All Bodily Natures Are Good (City of God XII, 4); Invisible Seeds in the Elements (The Trinity III, 8, 13); The Elements Contain Seminal Reasons (Literal Commentary on Genesis IX, 17, 32); Measure, Number, & Weight (Literal Commentary on Genesis IV, 3, 7); Concerning Formless Matter (Confessions XII, 3. 3--9, 9); Place, Time & the Physical World (City of God XI, 5-6); The Wonders of Nature (City of God XXI, 4-5); God Works Thruout Nature (The Trinity III, 5, 11--6, 11); Man’s Natural Endowments (City of God XXII, 24); The Physical World & the Xian (Enchiridion 9)
6 APPROACHING GOD THRU UNDERSTANDING: Creation is a Great Book (Serm., Mai 126, 6); The Journey of the Soul to God (On Free Choice II, 12, 33f; 15, 39f; 16, 41f); The Soul’s Ascent to God (Confessions VII, 10, 16--17, 23); The Whole World Proclaims Its Maker (On Psalm 26, Serm. 2, 12); Ascending to the Supreme Truth (True Religion 29, 52--31, 58); Plato’s View of God (City of God VII, 4); How to Think About God (The Trinity V, 1f--2f); The Problem of Speaking About God (The Trinity VII, 4, 7-9); God Is the Selfsame (On Psalm 121, 3, 5); A Divine Invocation (Soliloquies I, 2-6); Late Have I Loved Thee (Confessions X, 27, 38--28, 39)
7 MORAL & RELIGIOUS LIFE: All Men Desire Happiness (On Psalm 32, Serm. 3, 15f); Man’s Greatest Good (Moral Behavior of the Catholic Church 3-8); Good Love & Bad Love (City of God XIV, 6f); Moral Evil Stems from Bad Will (City of God XII, 6); Two Precepts of Love (City of God XIX, 14); On Diversities of Local Customs (Letter 54, 1-4); Doing Good to Body & Soul (Moral Behavior of the Catholic Church 27f); The Evil of Telling a Lie (Enchiridion 18f, 22); Lying & Concealing the Truth (On Psalm 5, 7); Faith, Hope & Charity (Enchiridion 8); No Virtues Apart from God (City of God XIX, 25); Our Reward Is Not in This Life (On Psalm 48, Serm. 2)
8 DIMENSIONS OF GRACE: What the Grace of God Is (On Admonition & Grace 2f); A. Was Never a Pelagian (Retractations I, 9, 2-4); What True Grace Is (On the Grace of Christ 26f); The Work of Grace (City of God XXI, 15f); How Freedom Is Restored by Grace (Enchiridion 30-32); God’s Foreknowledge & Human Willing (City of God V, 10); Grace Before & After the Fall (Enchiridion 104-106); Grace & Good Works (On Psalm 31, Serm. 2, 6-8); Prevenient Grace (On Psalm 18, Serm. 2); Grace & Human Miseries (City of God XXII, 20-22); The Beatific Vision (On Psalm 36, Serm. 2, 8)
9 THE TWO CITIES: A.’s Analysis of the City of God (Letter to Firmus); How the Two Cities Differ (City of God XIV, 1); Two Loves Make Two Cities (Literal Commentary on Genesis XI, 15, 20); Two Cities Formed by Two Loves (City of God XIV, 28); The Unimportance of Externals (City of God XIX, 19); Relation of the Heavenly & Earthly Cities (City of God XIX, 17); Jerusalem & Babylon (On Psalm 64, 2); Summary of the Two Cities (City of God XVIII, 1); All Nations Are in the City of God (On Psalm 86, 5); The Church & the City of God (On Psalm 98, 4); The Foundation of the Holy City (On Psalm 121, 4); Religion & Human Destiny (True Religion 7, 13--8, 14); The Meaning of a People (City of God XIX, 23f); Peace: the Tranquility of Order (City of God XIX, 11-13); Two Kingdoms After the Resurrection (Enchiridion 111)
10 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Belief & Historical Events (83 Different Questions 48); The Universality of Providence (City of God V, 11); Meaning in History (True Religion 50, 98f); Six Ages in Biblical History (On Psalm 92, 1); Symbolic Meaning of Jewish History (On Psalm 64, 1); Christ in History (Letter 137, 4, 15f); The Two Cities in History (On Catechizing the Uninstructed 21, 37); What Is Time? (Confessions XI, 14, 17--30, 40); Critique of Cyclicism (City of God XII, 13-15)
APENDIXES: 1 Selected, Annotated Bibliography 2 Alphabetical List of A.’s Writings 3 Glossary of Terms
INDEX

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Classics, Christian, History, Nonfiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1964

About the author

Early 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

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

The description of the book appended is the table of contents which gives the thematic arrangement of the selections chosen by the editor. These selections are generally very, very short, more quotations than extracts. Each section is headed by a brief essay by the editor, the quotations serving to justify his arguments. One gets the sense that these are the assembled notes for a projected book.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading this book as my devotional reading each night (almost) since about mid-February, averaging about 10 pages or so each reading time, which is about right for this book. St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430) was a towering intellect of Western Christianity, at a time when the focus of the world was on Eastern Christianity, centered in Constantinople and Alexandria. The works of Augustine are considered to be among the most influential on Western Christianity theology, and there are a lot of works. He wrote his Confessions in 397 – 398, City of God (begun in 413, finished 426), any number of books on all things that might fall under the view of a Bishop, and, at the end of his life, he wrote a book of Retractions (a better title would be Review) about 428 in which he listed and considered after the passage of time all of his works in chronological order. To consider all of this material is the work of decades; hence, I very much enjoyed reading this book, which gives a fine overview of Augustine compressed into a paperback volume.

The Editor of this work manages to whittle down the essential Augustine into ten sections, titled in order: The Man and His Writings, Faith and Reason, Three Levels of Reality, Man’s Soul, The World of Bodies, Approaching God Through Understanding, Moral and Religious Life, Dimensions of Grace, The Two Cities, and Philosophy of History. Each section is prefaced by an Introduction by the editor, summarizing the material covered in the section; then each section contains various excerpts from the writings of Augustine. (It is worth it to consider the Introduction to each section both before and after reading each section of Augustine’s writings.)

Augustine may have been in what was considered a backwater in the early 5th century (he did not even know Greek, the universal language of the Christian East), but history has shown that much of Western Christian thought can be traced directly to his writings. Aided by a very good education, there was almost no subject he did not consider in some way, and so I found this book of The Essential Augustine to be an indispensable aid.

[Paul Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible collection that Bourke has put together! Truly this is an "essential" collection, as it contains only the most fundamental points of Augustine's worldview, spanning from his writings on reason to psychology to history. This book, containing Augustine's heavily-Platonic interpretation of the world using Faith and Reason, is not merely some ancient writing; the contents of this book are very much relevant today in our relativistic age. Augustine almost seems as if he is writing directly to the people of our modern day, and dispenses his perennial insights. This was truly a joy to read.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly helpful.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great intro to Augustine's theology. Reading selections are conveniently systematized by topics with brief introductions by the editor.

[Christopher G · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Essential Augustine was a nicely organized history of the theologian and philosopher as well as a collection of his writings. Since Bourke compiled this in the 20th century, I’m not sure I place this with the other sources and found it difficult to follow due to Augustine’s either brilliant or primitive style of writing. To be clear, much of his work is above my level of understanding. Augustine of Hippo, seen as a pioneer in theology and philosophy, wrote extensively on Christianity and conceived many doctrines that continue to be followed today. His writings began in the late fourth century and continued into the mid fifth century. Augustine wrote about history through the lens of defending and advocating for Christianity. He wrote commentaries on books from the Torah as well as many New Testament letters.

[Matthew Mendenhall · Rating 4 out of 5]

His section on time is particularly memorable. We owe it to Augustine that he inserted Christianity into philosophical thought. He leans heavily on Plato’s duality of mind and matter to describe how God (the good, in Plato’s case) imprints on the human mind to fulfill plans for reality. Fascinating stuff. But Augustine had a particularly problematic dispensation of both intolerance and moral categorizing- his comments on Jewish people and Judaism are a study for the future. Why did christians thinkers, some of the greatest thinkers writing about love, so unloving? His belief: The Jews ought to wander in cursed, meaningless existence in the desert- as a demonstration of the coming of New Jerusalem and God’s commitment to His people.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An organized and comprehendible neoplatonist.

"Nothing" is nothing but definition pre-sets the lack of something which could mean there was once something and therefore nothing could be the concrete lack of a thing therefore it was not always nothing and the thing has a defined start and end so then what does nothing even mean.

Also, his rejection of concrete time was interesting. There is no past outside mind-dependent memories and there is no future apart from mind-dependent anticipation and expectation. These concepts do not exist in reality. But the present is current and fleeting and undefinable and if it is undefinable does it exist in our understanding?

[Kendal · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The only use of selections is to deter those readers who will never appreciate the original, and thus to save them from wasting their time on it, and to send all the others on to the original as quickly as possible,” quipped C. S. Lewis.

And this book does the job. Great for home-schooled or parochial-schooled students, or college-level historians.

Plus, on page 180-181, there is a nice statement on theosis.

The only drawback is having to train your eye to read run-on sentences and blocks of texts.

[wyclif · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of excerpts from the writings of St Augustine, arranged topically and in a useful fashion. Somehow I managed to miss this one until now, even though I'm fairly completist about the works of this important Church Father. If you're looking for a broad overview and synthesis of Augustine's thought and philosophy, and are interested in finding possible trajectories for further reading and exploration, this isn't a bad place to start.

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Augustine is a great example of what makes medieval philosophy what it is: on the one hand, ingenuity to the point of making an innovative interpretation of a past philosophical system which needed some clarification; on the other, the tendency to evade real contradictions within his own thought because of the constraints of Christian doctrine.

[David Gross · Rating 2 out of 5]

A more personable philosopher you're unlikely to find. He can be a pleasure to read. Alas, all roads for Augustine start with God and end with Christianity, so if you lack the faith to go along with him there, you're left with tracing the path he takes in-between, which is only sometimes interesting.

[Brad Belschner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of topically-arranged excerpts from Augustine. The man was dreadfully important, and wrote copiously. I found this collection useful both as a synthesis of his thoughts, and as a "diving off point" for further study.