Saint Augustine: Select Letters (Loeb Classical Library #239) (Hardcover)

~ J.H. baxter (Author), Saint Augustine (Translator)

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Product Description

Augustinus (354–430 CE), son of a pagan, Patricius of Tagaste in North Africa, and his Christian wife Monica, while studying in Africa to become a rhetorician, plunged into a turmoil of philosophical and psychological doubts in search of truth, joining for a time the Manichaean society. He became a teacher of grammar at Tagaste, and lived much under the influence of his mother and his friend Alypius. About 383 he went to Rome and soon after to Milan as a teacher of rhetoric, being now attracted by the philosophy of the Sceptics and of the Neo-Platonists. His studies of Paul's letters with Alypius and the preaching of Bishop Ambrose led in 386 to his rejection of all sensual habits and to his famous conversion from mixed beliefs to Christianity. He returned to Tagaste and there founded a religious community. In 395 or 396 he became Bishop of Hippo, and was henceforth engrossed with duties, writing and controversy. He died at Hippo during the successful siege by the Vandals.

From Augustine's large output the Loeb Classical Library offers that great autobiography the Confessions (in two volumes); On the City of God (seven volumes), which unfolds God's action in the progress of the world's history, and propounds the superiority of Christian beliefs over pagan in adversity; and a selection of Letters which are important for the study of ecclesiastical history and Augustine's relations with other theologians.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Loeb Classical Library; Revised edition (January 1, 1930)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674992644
• ISBN-13: 978-0674992641
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #858,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential to Understanding the Mind and Soul of Bishop Augustine, October 30, 2000

By	Johannes Platonicus (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Besides the Confessions, Augustine's Epistles will tell us the most about the person of Augustine and of his theology as it concerns itself with the Pelagian heresy, the Donatist schism, and with the multiduous questions posed by his numerous correspondents. Unfortunately, the Loeb edition does not contain the complete corpus of his letters; but it does furnish a paralel Latin text, a lengthy and learned introduction, and some helpful annontations along the way. See the review posted for Augustine's Confessions and Letters, complete under a single volume: Phillip Schaff, Nicene-Post Nicene Fathers.

5.0 out of 5 stars good insight, December 29, 2008

By	Jerry M. Cooper "Jerry Cooper" (Browns Valley, Ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been studying sin and original sin in school and this book contains some of Augustine's most important letters dealing with him and Pelagius. I can almost picture myself standing in a room with Augustine as he pens the letters. Good theological insight. Now I want all of his letters.

4.0 out of 5 stars Selected letters, December 21, 2007

By	Joona Salminen (Finland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Selected Letters is a very interesting collection of letters written by st. Augustine. Both the original Latin text on the left and the English translation on the right give the reader a great possibility to have an iteresting point of view to Doctor Gratiaes thought and eg. to the relationship between st. Augusine and another churchfather, st. Jerome.