Matthew Levering - The Theology of Augustine: An Introductory Guide to His Most Important Works

A ugustines friend and first biographer, Possidius, wrote that so many things were dictated and published by him and so many things were discussed in the church, written down and amended, whether against various heretics or expounded from the canonical books for the edification of the holy sons of the Church, that scarcely any student would be able to read and know them all. This is especially the case because Augustine has always been, and remains today, a controversial thinker whose insights into the realities of God and salvation can be easily misunderstood.

Setting aside the longer exegetical works such as the Literal Commentary on Genesis , On the Psalms , and Tractates on the Gospel of John , which would burst the bounds of this book,one must know these works. Even more important, one must read these works to gain an appreciation for why such a great thinker gave his life to the realities proclaimed by Christian Scripture. And, lastly, it is by reading these works that one will be able to evaluate the development and present intellectual impasse of Western civilization. Augustine speaks as powerfully today as he did sixteen hundred years ago.

My task in this book is to present these seven pivotal works of Augustine. Here we find the themes that Augustine plumbed most deeply: how to interpret Christian Scripture, the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, the unity of the Church in charity, Gods eternity and simplicity, grace and predestination, conversion, the meaning of history, the two cities, the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the divine Trinity. The first two works, On Christian Doctrine and Answer to Faustus, a Manichean , set forth the central components of Augustines theology of Scripture and of scriptural interpretation. The next two works, Homilies on the First Epistle of John and On the Predestination of the Saints , explore the grace of the Holy Spirit and the charity that unites the Body of Christ. The final three works, Confessions , City of God , and On the Trinity , form a triptych that shows how human life (individual and communal) is an ascent to full participation in the life of the Triune God, who descends in Christ and the Holy Spirit to make possible our sharing in the divine life.

Augustine wrote his longer works over a period of years. For example, City of God took around thirteen years to complete, and On the Trinity may have taken longer. Yet each of his works is a carefully orchestrated unity. It is therefore not enough simply to survey Augustines central ideas. One needs to follow the argument of each work in its entirety in order to see how the great rhetorician weaves his ideas together in the service of Christian instruction. Many introductions to Augustines theology treat his ideas on this and that topic, drawing upon a wide variety of his treatises, letters, and sermons. It seems to me more fruitful to introduce Augustines major ideas by surveying his most important works in their entirety.

In preparing this book, I have had especially in mind the needs of students and educated readers who desire an introduction to Augustine. As a reader of Scripture, Augustine helps us to avoid historicism by constantly reminding us that true interpretation of Scripture requires learning both the historical meaning of the biblical signs and their salvific referent ( On Christian Doctrine and Answer to Faustus, a Manichean ). Since Christianity is a communion of persons rather than simply an interpretation of texts, we come to know Scripture rightly in the Church, where Scripture nourishes the love of Gods people ( Homilies on the First Epistle of John ). This friendship with God and each other is not something that we can give ourselves, but is entirely Gods gift in Christ and the Spirit ( On the Predestination of the Saints ). As individuals seeking true friendship ( Confessions ) and as communities seeking true peace ( City of God ), humans have been created for union with the Triune God, who draws us to himself by knowledge and by love ( On the Trinity ). Augustine offers a pattern of biblical reading, of living the Scriptures, that invites us to enjoy friendship with the Triune God who has created and redeemed us.