I.

AUGUSTINE’S WRITINGS
In the discussion so far, a glimpse into Augustine’s writings was presented. He had written a good
number of books in the monastery he founded in Tagaste. In his polemic with the four major schisms or
heresies, he tried to defend the teachings of the Catholic Church. Before his death, he planned to arrange
all his writings (including those which he was not able to complete). These writings are now in his work
“Reconsiderations” (retr.). Here he divided his writings into three categories: books, sermons and
letters. 

Books (libri) 
Augustine wrote books on various topics like philosophy, theology and hermeneutics. He wrote about
skepticism (c. Acad.), happiness (b. vita), evil (ord.), the immortality of the soul (sol.; imm.an.), freedom
of choice and human responsibility (lib. arb.), pedagogy (mag.), the numeric structure of reality (mus.),
and religion (vera rel.). He also wrote about controversies involving the Manicheans, the Donatists, the
Arians, and the Pelagians. Lastly, he also wrote books on hermeneutics (which will be discussed below).
Of course, the “literary lion” of Africa is famous for his long treatises. The first among the list is his
autobiographical work entitled “The Confessions” (conf.). It has thirteen books written between 397 and
400 AD. The work outlines Saint Augustine’s sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity (books 1-9).
The remaining four books are on memory, time, and his interpretation of the book of Genesis. The second
is “On the Trinity” (trin.) where Augustine explains to his critics the Nicene Creed, specifically how the
doctrine of the divinity and coequality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is present in Scripture.
Containing fifteen books, “On the Trinity” was written to convince philosophers that Christ is the
Wisdom they sought and to show them that human persons are created to the image of the one and triune
God. Trinity, a communion of love, with the first two Commandments of the Old and New Testaments on
which God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, was biblically revealed. The last is “On the City of God”
(civ. Dei) which he wrote between 413 and 426 as a response to pagan claims that the sack of Rome by
the barbarians in 410 was one of the consequences of the abolition of pagan worship by Christian
emperors. In 22 books, the bishop argues that Christianity saved the city from complete destruction and
that Rome’s fall was the result of internal moral decay. He also presents and elaborates on his vision of
two societies – that of the elect (“The City of God”) and that of the damned (“The City of Man”). These
“cities” are symbolic embodiments of the two spiritual powers – faith and unbelief – that have contended
with each other since the fall of the angels and will continue to do so until the end of time. 

A. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORKS
1. The Confessions
2. The Retractations

B. PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS
1. On the Beautiful and the Fit (De Pulchro et Apto) – first work of Augustine.
2. The Dialogues. In this work, Augustine confronts important philosophical problems
    on truths, happiness, order, immortality, and magnitude of the soul, the existence of
    evil, and the Interior Teacher.

C. BOOKS WRITTEN IN CASSICIACUM

1. Against the Academics. Augustine confronts skepticism in order to prove that man
    is able to attain truth.
2. On Happy Life. Augustine shows that happy life or true happiness lies in the
    knowledge of God.
3. On Order. Augustine proposes the problem of the existence of evil and the Divine
    Providence.
4. On Solliloquies. Augustine explains the conditions for the search of God and the
    argument in favor of the immortality of the soul.

D. BOOKS WRITTEN IN MILAN

1. The Immortality of the Soul. This work consists of the concise and difficult to
    understand notes intended to supplement the Solliloquies.
2. On Music. This is a treatise on rhythm and melody.

E. BOOKS WRITTEN IN ROME

1. The Magnitude of the Soul. Augustine treats on the different questions concerning
    the soul.
2. The Free Choice. Augustine treats extensively the problem of the origin of evil and
    some related questions of freedom, moral law, existence of God and the Divine
    Providence.

F. BOOKS WRITTEN IN TAGASTE

1. On Discipline. This is an encyclopedic work in which Augustine intends to
  demonstrate how one should ascend to God from his contact or affair with the
   material things.
2. The Teacher (De Magistra). This was accomplished after his dialogue with his son
    Adeodatus. Augustine shows that man learns from the Interior Teacher who is God.

G. APOLOGETICAL WORKS
1. The True Religion. The Triune God should be honored with the religion. Only the
    Catholics have this religion.
2. The Usefulness of Believing. This is Augustine’s first work as a priest, in which he offers
    a profound analysis of the relationship between faith and reason.
3. The City of God. This work contains the synthesis of his philosophical as well as his
    theological and political thoughts.

H. DOGMATIC WORKS
1. Faith and the Creed. This work is an application of the articles of faith.
2. Concerning 83 Different Questions. In this work, Augustine answers philosophical,
    dogmatic, and exegetical questions addressed to him.
3. Concerning Faith and Works. In here, Augustine demonstrates that faith should be
    accompanied with good works.
4. Concerning The Presence of God. Augustine explains the doctrine of the indwelling
    Spirit in the soul of the just.
5. On Seeing God. Augustine treats the possibility of seeing God with the eyes of our
     bodies.
6. Enchiridion or Concerning Faith, Hope, and Charity. This is a manual for theology in
    which Augustine speaks of relationship on the three theological virtues of faith,
    hope, and charity.

I. MORAL AND SPIRITUAL WORKS

1. The Christian Combat. This was written during the first year of his Episcopate. This is a
    manual for Christian Living which contains instruction in faith for ordinary people.
2. On Catechizing The Uninstructed. This is a manual for catechetical instruction which
     is rich in pedagogical instruction.
3. On The Good of Marriage. Augustine in this work speaks of the good of marriage on
    the occasion of controversy provoked by Jovian.
4. On The Continence. This is a treatise on the virtue and the Divine gift of continence.
5. On Holy Virginity. Augustine in this work teaches on the dignity of virginity but
     without reducing the value of married life.
6. On Patience. This is a treatise on the virtue and the Divine gift of patience.
7. On Gaining Marriages. Augustine in this work demonstrates the indissolubility of
     marriage even when adultery has been committed.

J. MONASTIC WORKS
1. The Rule. This is short but full of wise norms for monastic life.
2. The Works of the Monks. Augustine in this work teaches that monks should beside
    from praying should do physical works when sickness, pastoral work, or studies do
    not impede them.

K. EXEGETICAL WORKS

K.1. OLD TESTAMENT

1. On the Genesis of the Manicheans. In this work, Augustine intends to destroy the
    Manichean arguments against Genesis.

K.2. NEW TESTAMENT

1. The Sermon on the Mount. This work is a series of homilies as the explanation of the
    discourse on the mount.
2. The Harmony of the Evangelists. This work is a response to the many accusations
   against the pagans who accuse them of having attributed wrongly of the Divinity of
   Christ.

L. POLEMICAL WORKS

L.1. AGAINST THE MANICHEANS

1. The Catholic and the Manichean Ways of Life. It contains Augustine’s first apology
    for faith in the first year of his conversion.
2. On The Two Souls. This is an attack to the Manichean’s thesis that in man exists two
    souls; one came from God, and the other from the principle of evil.
3. Dispute Against Manichean Fortunatus. Augustine maintains that evil proceeds from
    man’s will to sin.
4. Against The Manichean Adimantus. Augustine refutes the Manichean thesis that
    there is an opposition between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
5. Against The Manichean Faustus. Augustine argues that Manicheans have no
    reason to claim themselves as Christians.
6. On The Nature of Good. Augustine demonstrates that everything in as much as they
    exist, is good. Evil is nothing but a deprivation or absence of good.

L.2. AGAINST THE DONATISTS

1. Against The Letter of Parmeniani. Augustine teaches that in the unity of the Church
    and in the reception of the sacraments, evil does not contaminate the good.
2. On Baptism. This is a basic work in which Augustine shows the validity of the baptism
    administered by the heretics.
3. On the Unity of the Church. Augustine insists on the fundamental idea that the true
    Church of Christ is universal.
4. On One Baptism Against Petilian. In this work, Augustine held that baptism properly
    administered by heretics or schismatic was valid but not licit if the recipient was
    outside the fold of the Church.

Sermons (sermo/tractate/enarrationes) 
      There are various titles given to the collections of Augustine’s preaching. It can also be called
“Exposition” as applied to his preaching on the book of Psalms (en. Ps.), or “Tractates” as applied to his
commentaries on the “Gospel of John” (Jo. ev. tr.) and “First Letter of John” (ep. Jo.). The rest are simply
called “Sermons” (ser.). In any case, during the time of Augustine, sermo became the more common word
for preaching of whatever kind whether catechetical, exegetical or exhortatory.

      Augustine preached mostly at Hippo (about 146 sermons). He also preached in Carthage, the
Metropolitan See where 106 sermons were delivered. A dozen of sermons were preached in various cities,
while it is hard to determine the exact context of the remaining 188 sermons. Some 50 sermons deal with
the OT and 123 on the NT. He preached twice a week – Saturday and Sunday - and often for several days
running. Sometimes he did so twice a day. His sermons lasted on the average from about half an hour to
an hour and a half or two hours. In preaching the Scripture, he was aware of the radical unity between the
OT and the NT - a unity which derives from the fact that both have a single author. Although there are
differences between them, they are united to each other through the mystery of Christ, who is hidden in
the OT and disclosed in the NT. Augustine’s way of thinking can be quite complicated even when he tries
to explain himself in apparently very simple formulas. This is true of each theme he treats in his sermons
when taken separately; he seems to think of all the themes as interwoven in any single sermon. That is
why even though his topic is on a particular biblical text, he would resort to other biblical passages to
explicate his point. 

AN EXCERPTS FROM THE SERMONS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO:

“My ambition as a youth was to apply to the study of the Holy Scriptures all the
refinement of dialectics. I did so, but without the humility of the true searcher. I was
supposed to knock at the door so that it would open for me. Instead, I was pushing I
closed, trying to understand in pride what is only learned in humility. However, the
all-merciful Lord lifted me up and kept me safe”. (Sermon, 51, 6) Our Lord said: “No one can come to
Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws that person.” This is a great commendation of grace! Do not
make judgments about whom God draws and whom He does not draw unless you wish to fall into error.
Accept this one and for all, and understand it: you are not yet drawn to God? Pray that you may be
drawn!
(Sermon on John 26,2) Rest assured that the possibility of death starts with the beginning of life. In this
world of ours, only those who are not yet born can claim not to be as yet due to die. That is why the
uncertain day of death becomes a daily contingence for you and me alike. (Sermon 9, 2)

Letters (Epistulae) 
In Augustinian scholarship, “Letters” (Epistulae) is a term used to include all of Augustine’s writings that
are neither a sermon nor a book. There are 269 extant letters of Augustine. It is believed that he began to
write them as early as 386 or 387 when he was still at Cassiciacum, and continued doing so until towards
his death in 430. Augustine’s letters are considered as “a vast treasure trove of his thoughts and feelings.”
They contain his own theological or catechetical viewpoints. They were not personal or intimate
documents but public writings containing Augustine’s teaching and sometimes ecclesiastical and political
stand. Some of them reach the length of full treatises and offer excellent philosophical discussions. Some
of his letters served as “a form of conversation for those he could not meet.” By sending letters,
Augustine drew himself closer to those he had not personally met (like Jerome and Paulinus) and was
able to know them at least by the views they expressed in their response to him. In 1969, Johannes Divjak
of Vienna found in Marseilles a treasure of 29 letters attributed to the African bishop during the obscure
final decades of his life. They are now called Augustine’s “Divjak letters.” Unfortunately, after his death,
Possidius made an inventory of Augustine’s letters found in the library of Hippo. It was found out that
approximately one third of the letters were already lost. Overall, Augustine’s works have influenced the
Western world in many ways, but most especially in the theological and the philosophical fields. Because
of this, he was called “river of eloquence” (flume eloquentiae) by the African historian Victor of Vita. In
the contemporary period, his legacy is lauded by the Church. St. John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter on
the occasion of the 16th centenary of the conversion of St. Augustine, AugustinumHipponsensem,
recommends that “his philosophical, theological and spiritual doctrine be studied and spread, so that he
(Augustine) may continue ... his teaching in the Church, a humble but at the same time enlightened
teaching which speaks above all of Christ and love.”

  THE SEVENTEEN (17) SELECTED TREATISES OF SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

1. Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen

2. Of Faith, and of the Creed
3. Enchiridion to Laurentius on Faith, Hope and Charity
4. On the Christian Conflict
5. On the Catechizing of the Unlearned
6. Of Continence
7. On the Good of Marriage
8. Of Holy Virginity
9. On the Good of Widowhood
10. On Lying
11. To Consentius: Against Lying
12. On the Works of the Monks
13. On Care to Be Had for the Dead
14. On Patience
15. On the Creed: A Sermon to the Catechumens
16. On the Profit of Believing
17. Of Faith and Works

(Retrieved from: https://www.biblestudytools.com/classics/augustine-seventeen-short-treatises-of-s-

augustine/.)