Tabletalk Magazine, June 1996: Augustine of Hippo

by Ligonier Ministries

Publisher:

Ligonier Ministries

, 1996

Overview

For more than thirty years, Tabletalk has existed to provide a substantive study tool for believers. Generally speaking, either laypeople receive very little instruction in the weightier matters of the faith or their instruction is too academic, largely inaccessible to the average person. This is the reason Tabletalk exists: to bridge the gap between the two poles; to explain to the people of God important biblical doctrines and events while supporting them in holy living.

Contributors include R. C. Sproul, Frank Farrell, John R. Franke, Richard Lints, Michael S. Beates, R. C. Sproul Jr., John Sartelle, D. A. Carson, Elisabeth Elliot, and Roy Bennett. Tabletalk features articles on topics central to the Christian faith and contains daily in-depth Bible studies.

Over the years, several awards have recognized Tabletalk for its excellence. Today, people all over the world read Tabletalk on a daily basis. Now, in the Logos Bible Software edition of Tabletalk, all Scripture passages link to your favorite Bible translation in your library. With the advanced search features of Logos Bible Software, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “conversion” or “Trinity.”

Key Features

• Daily studies from the teaching fellowship of R. C. Sproul
• “Coram Deo” note from an editor

Contents

• “Augustine’s Early Life and Conversion: A Woman’s Prayers” by Frank Farrell
• “Augustine: The Development of a Leader” by John R. Franke
• “Augustine and Pelagius” by R. C. Sproul
• “Augustine and the Mystery of the Trinity” by Richard Lints
• “The Wisdom of Age: Augustine’s Final Years” by Michael S. Beates
• “The Earth Is the Lord’s” by R. C. Sproul Jr.
• “All for One and One for All” by John Sartelle
• “In Remembrance of Me” by D. A. Carson
• “Let Me Be a Woman” by Elisabeth Elliot
• “Weary Soul Food” by Roy Bennett
• “Truth and Consequences: Offensive Faith”
• “Ministry News: Spreading Our Wings”
• “Tolle Lege: Augustine on Prayer”

Top Highlights

“The controversy began when the British monk, Pelagius, opposed at Rome Augustine’s famous prayer: ‘Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire.’ Pelagius recoiled in horror at the idea that a divine gift (grace) is necessary to perform what God commands. For Pelagius and his followers responsibility always implies ability. If man has the moral responsibility to obey the law of God, he must also have the moral ability to do it.” (Page 12)

“It is Augustine who gave us the reformation.’ So wrote B. B. Warfield in his assessment of the influence of Augustine on church history. It is not only that Luther was an Augustinian monk, or that Calvin quoted Augustine more than any other theologian that provoked Warfield’s remark. Rather, it was that the Reformation witnessed the ultimate triumph of Augustine’s doctrine of grace over the legacy of the Pelagian view of man.” (Page 11)

“Calvin would say centuries later that he was greatly pleased with Augustine’s saying that the top three graces of the Christian character were ‘firstly, secondly, and thirdly, and forever, humility.’” (Page 7)

“expressed an important conviction which is repeated throughout his work: true contentment is to be found in God alone.” (Page 8)

“Augustine has been called the father of evangelical theology” (Page 5)

Praise for the Print Edition

Tabletalk has been a key ingredient in the diet of Christian’s conscious of their spiritual vitality.

—Michael S. Horton

Month by month, Tabletalk represents an oasis in a desert of false spirituality, mindless Christianity, and vapid conviction. Tabletalk represents theological rigor, biblical Christianity, and authentic Christian devotion. It is an antidote to the world of superficial Christianity. Read it and grow.

—R. Albert Mohler Jr.

Tabletalk has been a wonderful resource in my own daily walk with the Lord.

—Ravi Zacharias

Product Details

• Title: Tabletalk Magazine, June 1996: “Augustine of Hippo”
• Editor in chief: R. C. Sproul Jr.
• Associate editor: Michael S. Beates
• Series: Tabletalk
• Publisher: Ligonier Ministries
• Publication date: 1996
• Pages: 62

About Ligonier Ministries

R. C. Sproul is founder and president of Ligonier Ministries and president of Ligonier Academy. He also servers as the senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s in Sanford, Fla., and he has written more than seventy books including The Holiness of God, The Intimage Marriage, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, Following the Cross, and the R. C. Sproul Exposition Collection.

Burk Parsons serves as editor of Tabletalk and associate pastor of Saint Andrew’s in Sanford, Fla., and he is editor of the books Assured by God: Living in the Fullness of God’s Grace and John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology.