St. Augustine: Letters, vol. IV (165–203)

by Augustine of Hippo

Publisher:

Catholic University of America

, 1955

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.

Key Features

• Useful for theological and historical study of the era in which Augustine lived and taught
• Introduction provides 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

Contents

Top Highlights

“For, even if human nature had remained in the integrity in which it was created, it would have been utterly impossible for it to preserve itself so without the help of its Creator. Therefore, as it could not, without the grace of God, guard the salvation which it had received, how can it recover, without the grace of God, that salvation which it has lost?” (Page 218)

“‘The wages of sin,’ he says, ‘is death. But the grace of God life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.’^{54” (Page 313)}

“Or does it happen in baptism that the weakness of concupiscence in the flesh is immediately healed as its guilt is immediately removed? This is the effect of the grace of rebirth, not a condition of birth. Anyone born of this concupiscence, even of a regenerated parent, will undoubtedly suffer its effects unless he is likewise regenerated.” (Page 330)

“What we seek to know is how this hardening is deserved, and we find it to be so because the whole clay of sin was damned. God does not harden by imparting malice to it, but by not imparting mercy.” (Page 310)

“If both were saved, then what is justly due to sin would not be apparent; if no one were saved, we would not know the free gift of grace.” (Pages 303–304)

Product Details

• Title: Saint Augustine: Letters: Volume IV (165–203)
• Author: Augustine of Hippo
• Series: The Fathers of the Church
• Volume: 30
• Publisher: Catholic University of America
• Print Publication Date: 1955
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 434
• 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
• Resource ID: LLS:LTTRSVLM4165203
• Resource Type: text.monograph.letters
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:18:10Z

About Augustine of Hippo

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) is often simply referred to as St. Augustine or Augustine Bishop of Hippo (the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba in Algeria). He is the preeminent Doctor of the Church according to Roman Catholicism, and is considered by Evangelical Protestants to be in the tradition of the Apostle Paul as the theological fountainhead of the Reformation teaching on salvation and grace.