St. Augustine: Letters, vol. II (83–130)
Overview
These letters, taken as a whole, present a vivid and fascinating view of life in North Africa at the beginning of the fifth century. In addition to the comments about ecclesiastical and episcopal affairs, there are also letters on various threats to peace and security common in this period of the late empire, on slavery and the growth of the slave trade, and on Roman involvement in African affairs, both ecclesiastical and civil.
There are letters dealing with moral questions and pastoral problems, in both marriage and the family, as well as in larger areas of doctrine and discipline in the Church. The conflict resulting from the end of the Donatist schism becomes clearer, as does the refrain of desperation stemming from an inadequate supply of clergy for parishes needing to be served. A large number of these letters illustrate the day-to-day worries of a fifth century North African bishop: clerical scandals, Church finances, people seeking sanctuary in a church (and the ensuing problems with the civil authorities), and disputed episcopal succession.
For The Fathers of the Church series in its entirety, see Fathers of the Church Series (127 vols.).
Key Features
- Useful for theological and historical study of the era in which Augustine lived and taught
- Includes background on both the author and the pastoral issues he faced
- One of 127 published volumes in a well-respected series on the Church Fathers
Top Highlights
“‘If a man will take away thy coat and contend with thee in judgment, let go thy cloak also unto him,’35 and that you so understand and hold to it that you think you should not only do no injury to those who persecute you, but that you should not even oppose them by law.” (Page 67)
“Pray for happiness; this is something all men wish to possess, for those who live the most wicked and depraved life would never live that way if they did not imagine themselves happy thereby. So, what else ought we to pray for except that which both bad and good desire, but which only the good attain?” (Page 383)
“No one would be so foolish as to accuse us of lying when we speak thus, knowing that we name those days in memory of the events that happened on similar days, and that, when the day is mentioned, not itself but one like it in the passage of time is meant, and it is so called because we recall the mystery which happened on it so long ago. Was not Christ offered in His Person only once, yet in the sacred mysteries He is offered for mankind not only on every Easter Sunday but every day?” (Page 137)
“It is clear that the bad have always persecuted the good, and the good have persecuted the bad; the former to do harm unjustly, the latter to bring about amendment by punishment; the one unboundedly, the other within bounds; those as slaves of passion, these out of love. The one who kills does not mind how he butchers his victim, but the one who cures watches carefully how he cuts; he has health as his aim, the other destruction.” (Page 64)
“It is for this that our hearts are purified by faith20 because the sight of God is promised to us as a reward of faith. But, if this is achieved by the eyes of the body, then the mind of the saint is fruitlessly trained to behold it, or, rather, the mind, acting so wrongly, is not exercised in itself but is wholly in the flesh.” (Pages 54–55)
- Title: Saint Augustine: Letters: Volume II (83–130)
- Author: Augustine of Hippo
- Series: The Fathers of the Church
- Volume: 18
- Publisher: Catholic University of America
- Print Publication Date: 1953
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 415
- Era: era:nicene
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo › Correspondence; Christian saints › Algeria--Hippo (Extinct city)--Correspondence
- ISBNs: 9780813215594, 0813215595
- Resource ID: LLS:LTTRSVLM283130
- Resource Type: text.monograph.letters
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:18:08Z