Customer Reviews

The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love

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The theological insight propounded by Augustine, in his "Enchiridion"(Greeek for handbook),remains unparrelled when contrasted with the concise nature of this work. Augustine necessitated nearly all the creedal professions and beliefs of the Nicene Fathers with an uncanny brievity. As intended, then, for an educated Roman layman, the "Enchiridion," now, raises interest in those who come in contact with it today.

The three-fold division of faith, hope and love, at times, seems a bit obscure and difficult to detect. In other words, I had some trouble identifying Augustine's thesis as a whole(as the translators did also). However, this was mearly a work that was quickly thrown together(Augustine makes this apparent at the opening),and is to be highly respected for its in-depth learning. I doubt that Augustine intened his "handbook" to become some sort of "magnum opus"...it's strictly a handbook.

Augustine also deals with grace, original sin, repentance, and predestination with a scholars lore. This work conveys an image of Augustine's thought in relation to the Orthodox beliefs of Christianity then and now, and continues to stand as not his greatest, but yet, one of his most unique works.

This is an excellent book, both for the text itself by Augustine and the introduction to it. Augustine wrote the Enchiridion as a response to a friend who wanted a "handbook" of Christian teaching. Though not as engaging as his Confessions, it is well worth reading. Augustine covers topics such as baptism, original sin, abortion, faith and works, and election and focuses much on the grace of God.

Leaving out a few sections that don't seem to agree with a Reformed understanding of scripture (e.g., some parts on baptism), I would actually recommend this as an introduction to many Christian doctrines. (Then again, I'm not a professional theologian.) I honestly thought some chapters sounded like they came from more recent Reformed Presbyterians since Augustine argues for the same doctrines. (I count myself in that camp)

As for this particular edition, the introduction by Thomas Hibbs was very useful to me as I knew nothing of what led to the writing of the Enchiridion or of its structure.

Though the chapters are generally short, Augustine's thoughts flow naturally from one subject to the other. Thus, try to keep the train of thought or you will get lost!

I recommend this particular edition for the introduction, readable translation, and the text itself: Augustine's "off the cuff" summary of what he thought were doctrines that should be in a "handbook" of Christianity.

I needed the paperback edition for class and posted the review because it's not clear the two formats listed together are totally different translations.

The paperback version was translated by J. B. Shaw and has an introduction by Thomas Hibbs with an appendix written by Adolph von Harnack. The kindle version was translated by Albert C. Outler.

Different translation styles. For instance the paperback is written to Laurentius, but the kindle version is written to Lawrence. The Shaw translation is organized into 122 chapters while the same material in Outler is organized into 33 chapters with the original 122 sections indicated by numbers at the beginning of a paragraph so for example in Outler's translation Chapter XIII "Baptism and Original Sin" covers 41 through 47.

The Outler translation is also available for free in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library but I like the kindle format and the kindle version was only $0.99.