St. Augustine's Confessions, The City Of God And On The Trinity

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was one of the many influential Christian figures in history; he was a Latin philosopher and theologian from Roman Africa (Miller). He is well known as being a sinner turned to saint, he became a Christian at age 33, a priest at 36, and a bishop by 41 (Miller). Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, also known as Augustine’s Confessions, The City of God, and On the Trinity, was written after 420 C.E. to Laurence as an answer to his many questions. This Laurence is unknown, many reference him as a deacon, but he was most likely just a layman. Enchiridion, which means “handbook”, was also written to give a summary about the Christian faith or an instruction book for Christians to follow. This short treatise is
written around 1 Corinthians 13, which describes the true worship of God through Faith, Hope, and Love. Augustine explains to Laurence that his questions that he has can simply be answered by the simple understanding of Faith, Hope, and Love.
Throughout the text he describes each starting with Faith and then followed by Hope and Love. Faith is the biggest and first part discussed in the handbook, and then only a couple of pages are dedicated to Hope and Love. He does it this way because it shows that out of Faith comes Hope and Love; he also mentions Hope and Love when discussing Faith as well, “Thus it is that love is not without hope, hope is not without love, and neither hope nor love are without faith” (Augustine of Hippo, Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love). In this doctrine St. Augustine uses a lot of scripture to help support this, he uses various scriptures because he believes that scripture is the main source of authority. It is said that he relies on scripture so much that he quotes scripture more than 200 times throughout and only quotes other Christian figures a couple of times. He organizes his doctrine mainly around the Apostles’ Creed and never really references any Pope or any Christian
council. He also doesn’t mention praying to anyone but God himself and Jesus Christ, he does mention the Virgin Mary but he does not say to pray to her, just to honor her.
Like praying to God, many other aspects that are mentioned in the bible are brought up and taught. For example, original sin, salvation, and faith being a true gift from God are all mentioned (Pg. 32/33, 36/37, and 38-41). Also God’s sacrifice of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ is taught as well on pages 41 and 42. And one of the most difficult things that people do not really understand about how without action, Faith is nothing is also mentioned, along with predestination. In the doctrine, on Pages 112-116 predestination to forever in heaven with God is explained to be caused by God’s free grace. Overall, Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love’s explanation of the Christian Doctrine is what influences many, being a “handbook” for many Christians to follow, “the righteous man lives by faith” (Augustine of Hippo, Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and
Love). The book overall is a short read with only 140 pages which is why it is a handbook. This book also is not very well known either compared to his other works like his Confessions and City of God. Although it is a handbook directed to answering Laurence’s questions he does leave some leeway when not answering all. Like for example he talks about predestination but he does not go on to say how a person should live, he just mentions that God’s grace is greater. The book is surprisingly easy to read and really well organized, being broke down into sections which is what makes it easier to read and follow along. This also makes it a true handbook and not just a normal book. It is also easy to navigate, it being short and sectioned off, makes it easier to find the questions and answers faster. The only thing about St. Augustine’s handbook is that the bible is unfortunately interpreted differently and that what he thinks is the right sufficient way to serve God could possibly be proven wrong.