St. Augustine of Hippo

Bishop of Hippo and one of the four great Latin Doctors of the Church. His writings profoundly shaped Western theology. In On Christian Doctrine, he judged the Italic edition should be preferred as "more tenacious of the words while preserving the clarity of the meaning."

Works

• Against Faustus
• Against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets
• Confessions
• Contra Adimantum
• De Doctrina Christiana
• De Genesi ad Litteram
• De Genesi contra Manichaeos
• De Magistro
• De Trinitate
• Enarrationes in Psalmos
• Enchiridion
• Epistles
• Meditations
• On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount
• Quaestiones in Genesim
• Retractationes
• Sentences
• Soliloquies
• The City of God
• Tractatus on John

Preliminaries

• PREFACE TO THE READER (1) — Called the older Latin edition the "Italic"

  "St. Augustine the Italic"

• PREFACE TO THE READER (1) — In On Christian Doctrine, judged the Italic edition should be preferred as "more tenacious of the words while preserving the clarity of the meaning"

  "there stands the splendid testimony of St. Augustine in the second book of On Christian Doctrine"

• PREFACE TO THE READER (1) — Called Jerome a most learned man skilled in three languages; confirmed by testimony of Hebrews that Jerome's translation is truthful

  "St. Augustine calls him a most learned man and most skilled in three languages, and confirms by the testimony even of the Hebrews themselves that his translation is truthful."

Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture

• Chapter I: On the Excellence, Necessity, and Fruit of Sacred Scripture — Mentioned as a heretic converted by reading Paul; dragged from daily lust to continence and celibate chastity

  "The reading of Paul was able not only to join the heretic Augustine to the orthodox"

• Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — Baruch quoted against philosophers; passage about princes of philosophers

  "An illustrious example is provided by the princes of the philosophers, Plato and Aristotle"

• Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — Teaches in Book II of On Christian Doctrine, ch. 31 that Scripture condemns sophistry; in Book III, ch. 35 on mathematical knowledge from numbers

  "That Sacred Scripture condemns sophistry, and employs solid argumentation and logic, St. Augustine teaches in Book II of On Christian Doctrine, chapter 31."

• Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — Writing to Volusian: "Here depraved minds are wholesomely corrected, small minds are nourished, and great minds are delighted"

  "And St. Augustine, writing to Volusian"

• Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers — Had sharpness of genius to master Aristotle's Categories by himself; after conversion, urged by Ambrose, took up Isaiah but was frightened by its depth

  "St. Augustine, who had that sharpness of genius by which he had mastered Aristotle's Categories by himself"

• Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers — Teaches in Book II of On Christian Doctrine, ch. 10, that knowledge of Hebrew and Greek is needed; in II Retractations collected forms of Scripture phrases

  "the knowledge of both languages is necessary, as St. Augustine teaches, book II of On Christian Doctrine, chapter 10"

• Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers — Listed among Fathers who labored night and day; studied under Ambrose

  "Augustine under Ambrose"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — In Book II of On Christian Doctrine, ch. 9: reader must know the books, commit to memory, then investigate meanings

  "So St. Augustine, book II of On Christian Doctrine, chapter 9"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — In Epistle 56 to Dioscorus: first, second, third place in wisdom to humility

  "St. Augustine, Epistle 56 to Dioscorus"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — In Book II of On Christian Doctrine, ch. 41: student of Scripture should consider knowledge puffs up but charity builds up

  "The same Augustine, book II of On Christian Doctrine, chapter 41"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount: wisdom befits the peaceful

  "St. Augustine, On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — In Soliloquies and I Retractations: only pure of heart know truth fully

  "St. Augustine had said in the Soliloquies: God, who willed that only the pure of heart should know the truth"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — Wrote On the Teacher; in I Retractations retracts that there are many roads to truth

  "St. Augustine wrote a book On the Teacher"

• The Fathers' Defense of the Old Testament — Wrote 33 books Against Faustus and two Against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets

  "St. Augustine wrote, in defense of the truth and usefulness of the Pentateuch and the Old Testament, no fewer than 33 books Against Faustus"

• The Fathers' Defense of the Old Testament — Published questions and phrases on the Pentateuch

  "St. Augustine, Theodoret, Bede, Procopius, and Jerome published questions and phrases"

• The Fathers' Defense of the Old Testament — In Book II of On Christian Doctrine, ch. 6: divinely provided that complex Scripture recalls man from pride and boredom; in Book XII of Confessions: "Wondrous is the depth of Your words"

  "St. Augustine, in book II of On Christian Doctrine, chapter 6"

• The Author's Method (paragraph 48) — Teaches in City of God XVII.3 that those are very bold who contend everything in Scripture is allegorical

  "as St. Augustine teaches (City of God, book XVII, chapter 3)"

• I. The Old Testament Establishes Faith — Quoted: from Eusebius, that Plato drew teachings from Moses

  "Eusebius in his entire book XI of the Preparation for the Gospel teaches that Plato"

• IV. The Old Testament Surpasses the New in Allegorical Richness — Against Faustus, book XIII: "We read the Prophetic and Apostolic books for the commemoration of our faith"

  "Truly St. Augustine, Against Faustus, book XIII"

• Praises of Moses from Scripture and the Fathers — In book 22 Against Faustus, chapter 69, praises Moses as most faithful servant of God

  "Hear Saint Augustine, book 22 Against Faustus, chapter 69"

• Moses as the Most Ancient Theologian, Philosopher, Poet, and Historian — In book 18 of The City of God, chapter 39, identifies Mercury Trismegistus as grandson of the elder Mercury, contemporary of Moses

  "says Saint Augustine, in book 18 of The City of God, chapter 39"

Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses

• Argumentum — Says Mercury Trismegistus was the grandson of the elder Mercury; City of God XVIII.39

  "says St. Augustine, in Book XVIII of the City of God, chapter 39"

• Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Philosophy must be adapted to Sacred Scripture; says all number, order, and measure of nature derives from God

  "from whom all number, order, and measure of nature derives, says St. Augustine"

• Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Transmits the canon on "eternal" in Question 31 on Genesis

  "St. Augustine transmits this canon in Question 31 on Genesis"

• Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Teaches that there can be multiple literal senses; Confessions XII.18, 25, 26, 31, 32

  "is taught by St. Augustine, Confessions book 12, chapters 18, 25, 26, 31 and 32"

• Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Hands down the canon on one thing being a figure of two contrary things; Epistle 99 to Evodius

  "St. Augustine (Epistle 99 to Evodius)"

• Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Teaches that David's adultery was a type of Christ's love for the Church of the Gentiles

  "David's adultery, which St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and others teach was a type of the love of Christ"

Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Cited as first interpreter of "In the beginning" meaning "in the first origin of time"; from Book I of On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis, ch. 1

  "First, St. Augustine, book I of On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis, ch. 1; Ambrose and Basil, homily 1 on the Hexameron: \"In the beginning,\" they say, that is, in the first origin or start, not of eternity, not of aeviternity, but of time and of the world"

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Quoted from his Sentences, number 280, on the origin of time from creation

  "Whence St. Augustine in his Sentences, number 280: "Once creatures were made," he says, "times began to run in their motions. "

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Cited again for second interpretation "In the Son"; and the Lateran Council chapter Firmiter

  "Secondly, and better according to the letter, the same Augustine, Ambrose, and Basil in the same place, and the Lateran Council, chapter Firmiter"

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Cited for third interpretation "Before all things"

  "St. Augustine also brings forth this meaning above."

• He Created — Cited for the reason God created: because He is good, after Plato; from Book XI of The City of God, ch. 21; also quoted from Confessions I

  "it was fitting that good works should come from a good God, says Plato, and after Plato, St. Augustine, book XI of The City of God, ch. 21. Wherefore the same Augustine beautifully says, Confessions I: "You have made us, O Lord, for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You;"

• He Created — Quoted at length from Book XI of The City of God, chapter III, on the world proclaiming that it was made by God

  "Saint Augustine speaks admirably, in book XI of The City of God, chapter III: "The world itself, by its most orderly mutability and mobility, and by the most beautiful appearance of all visible things, proclaims in a certain silent manner both that it was made and that it could not have been made except by God,"

• God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions — Quoted from Book III of On the Trinity, chapter iv, on God as providence over all things

  "as Saint Augustine says, book III of On the Trinity, chapter iv: "Nothing happens visibly and perceptibly that is not either commanded or permitted from the interior, invisible, and intelligible court of the supreme ruler,"

• God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions — Cited for the fifth definition of God: take away created things and what remains is the essence of good things

  "The same Saint Augustine: If you see, he says, a good angel, a good human being, a good heaven; take away the angel, the human being, the heaven; and what remains is the essence of good things, that is, God."

• God (Elohim): Thirteen Definitions — Quoted from Meditations on the ninth definition of God as incomprehensible

  "God, says Saint Augustine in his Meditations, is He whom neither the mind reaches, because He is incomprehensible; nor the intellect, because He is unsearchable; nor the senses perceive, because He is invisible"

• Heaven and Earth: Four Interpretations — Cited for first opinion on "heaven and earth" as prime matter; from Book I of On Genesis Against the Manichaeans, chapter VII; and Book I of On Genesis Literally, chapter XIV

  "First, Saint Augustine, book I of On Genesis Against the Manichaeans, chapter VII: Heaven and earth, he says, are here called prime matter"

• Heaven and Earth: Four Interpretations — Cited for second opinion on "heaven and earth": heaven = angels, earth = prime matter; from Book XI of The City of God, chapter IX

  "Second, the same Augustine, book XI of The City of God, chapter IX, understands by heaven the angels, and by earth the formless prime matter."

• Heaven and Earth: Four Interpretations — Cited alongside Gregory, Rupert, Bede on angels created simultaneously with the world

  "so with Saint Augustine, Gregory, Rupert, and Bede teach the Master and the Scholastics."

• Heaven and Earth: Four Interpretations — His view on the Lateran Council's words noted

  "Although Saint Thomas and some others think these words can be taken otherwise"

• Verse 2: And the earth was without form and void — Cited from Book I of On Genesis Literally, ch. 7, on how the Holy Spirit was borne over the waters

  "just as the will and idea of a craftsman is borne over the things to be fashioned, says St. Augustine, Book I of On Genesis Literally, ch. 7."

• Verse 3: And God said: Let there be light — Cited on light signifying wisdom; "Light was created first"

  "Furthermore, light is knowledge and wisdom. Whence St. Augustine says: \"Light was created first,\" that is, \"wisdom was created before all things\""

• Verse 3: And God said: Let there be light — Cited for the symbolic interpretation: "let there be light" means "let there be an Angel"; also for the Word of God interpretation

  "Symbolically, "let there be light" means "let there be an Angel," says St. Augustine."

• Verse 4: And God saw the light that it was good — Cited from Sentences, no. 144, on the three things about creation

  "Learnedly St. Augustine says in the Sentences, no. 144: "Three things especially about the condition of creation we needed to be told:"

• Verse 5: And He called the light Day — Cited from Book I of On Genesis Against the Manichaeans, ch. 9 and 10, on the meaning of "called"

  "So St. Augustine, Book I of On Genesis Against the Manichaeans, ch. 9 and 10."

• Verse 5: And He called the light Day — Cited from Book IV of On Genesis Literally and Book XI of The City of God for the view that all things were created simultaneously

  "Note that St. Augustine, Book IV of On Genesis Literally, and Book XI of The City of God, ch. 7, wants these days to be understood mystically"

• Verse 6: Let there be a firmament — Quoted on the authority of Scripture being greater than human genius

  "the authority of this Scripture is greater, says St. Augustine, than all the capacity of human genius."

• Verse 8: And God called the firmament Heaven — Cited on the etymology of "coelum" from "celare"

  "so St. Augustine; or, as St. Ambrose says, 'coelum' is called as if 'caelatum,"

• Verse 14: Let There Be Lights in the Firmament — Cited from Enchiridion ch. 58, questioning whether stars are animated

  "St. Augustine, Enchiridion ch. 58, questions whether the sun, moon, and stars are animated"

• Verse 14: Let There Be Lights in the Firmament — Quoted from Book XIII On Genesis Literally, ch. 13, on time as a sign of eternity; also his conversation with Monica from Confessions Book IX

  "St. Augustine, book XIII On Genesis Literally, ch. 13, in the Unfinished Work: \"Let them be for signs and seasons,\" that is, let them distinguish the seasons"

• Verse 16: And God Made Two Great Lights — Quoted extensively from his commentary on Psalm 94 on the patience of the stars/Saints

  "Hence the stars teach us patience, says St. Augustine on Psalm 94."

• Verse 16: And God Made Two Great Lights — Quoted again on the constancy of saints like stars, from the same passage

  "For, as Augustine says in the same place: "So many evils are committed, yet the stars do not deviate from above, fixed in heaven"

• Verse 20: Let the Waters Bring Forth — Cited from Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 3, on fish made from denser water, birds from rarer water

  "St. Augustine responds, Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 3"

• Verse 22: And He Blessed Them, Saying: Increase and Multiply — Cited from Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 13, on God's blessing understood in similar cases

  "as St. Augustine rightly observes, Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 13"

• Verse 24: Let the Earth Bring Forth the Living Creature — Cited from Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 16, and Book I of the Retractions, chapter 10, on whether carnivorous animals existed before sin

  "So St. Thomas, Part I, Question 69, article 1, reply 2, and St. Augustine, Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 16, although Augustine himself seems to retract this in Book I of the Retractions, chapter 10"

• Verse 24: Let the Earth Bring Forth the Living Creature — Cited from Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 14, on tiny animals created potentially

  "so St. Augustine, Book III On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, chapter 14"

• Verse 24: Let the Earth Bring Forth the Living Creature — Quoted from Exposition on Psalm 148 on the wonder of tiny creatures

  "St. Augustine, in the Exposition on Psalm 148: "Let your charity attend, he says: who arranged the limbs of the flea and the gnat, so that they have their own order"

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from Book XVI of The City of God, chapter 6, denouncing the view that God commanded angels to make man

  "Augustine in Book XVI of The City of God, chapter 6, denounce this as impious"

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from book Against Adimantus, chapter 5; also from the Retractations on the image of God

  "The same is taught by St. Augustine, book Against Adimantus, chapter 5"

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from Book XII of On the Trinity, chapter 7, teaching the image of God is also in woman

  "as St. Augustine teaches at length in Book XII of On the Trinity, chapter 7"

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited for placing the image of God in the soul's incorporeality and indivisibility

  "St. Augustine places the image of God in this."

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from Book X of On the Trinity, chapter 10, and Book XIV, chapter 11, on man representing the Trinity through intellect, word, and love

  "So St. Augustine, Book X of On the Trinity, chapter 10, and Book XIV, chapter 11."

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from Book II of the Retractations, chapter 24, against Origen, on the image of God being indelible

  "So against Origen, St. Augustine teaches in Book II of the Retractations, chapter 24."

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Quoted: "grace is the soul of the soul"

  "For grace is the soul of the soul," says St. Augustine."

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited from Book XIX of The City of God, chapter 14, on civil dominion in the state of innocence

  "So St. Augustine, Book XIX of The City of God, chapter 14."

• Verse 28: Increase and Multiply — Cited from Tract. 9 on John, on the name Adam containing the four regions of the world

  "says St. Augustine (Tract. 9 on John), the four regions of the world are contained in the name Adam in Greek"

• Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good — Cited from Book 3 of On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, ch. 24, giving reasons why "it was good" was not said of man

  "St. Augustine brings two other reasons in Book 3 of On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, ch. 24."

• Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good — Quoted at length from Book 1, On Genesis Against the Manichees, ch. 21, on the beauty of the whole world

  " St. Augustine, Book 1, On Genesis Against the Manichees, ch. 21: "When He was treating of individual things, He would only say: 'God saw that it was good'"

• Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good — Cited from Epistle 28, on the world as music of God; also from Book 11 of the City of God, ch. 18

  "St. Augustine, Epistle 28, citing that passage of Isaiah 40 according to the Septuagint"

• Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good — Quoted from Sentences, no. 141 and 440

  "And St. Augustine in the Sentences, no. 141: "Three things especially we needed to be told about the condition of creation: who made it, through what He made it, why He made it."

Related

• St. Jerome
• St. Ambrose of Milan
• St. Basil the Great
• St. Thomas Aquinas
• St. Bernard of Clairvaux
• Plato
• De Doctrina Christiana