augustine
A Treatise on Faith and the Creed
An address to a council of bishops, expounding the creed clause by clause.
Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus the Manichæan
The record of a two-day public debate at Hippo on the origin of evil and the freedom of the will.
Against Lying
A sequel on whether a lie may ever be told for a good end, and why Augustine answers no.
Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental
A reply to the foundational letter of the Manichees, examined line by line.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians
A four-book reply on grace, free will, and the condition of humanity apart from Christ.
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist
A three-book reply in the Donatist controversy, on the church and the ministers within it.
City of God
Written as Rome fell: two cities, built by two loves, traced from creation to the end of history.
Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen
A short argument that we live daily by trusting what we cannot see, and that faith is not unreasonable.
Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichæans
An argument that everything God made is good, and that evil is not a thing but a corruption.
Expositions on the Book of Psalms
Sermons and notes on every psalm, hearing throughout the voice of Christ and of his whole body.
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John
One hundred and twenty-four homilies through John, among the greatest of all patristic commentaries.
Letters of St. Augustine
A lifetime of correspondence: pastoral counsel, theological argument, friendship, and the daily business of a bishop.
Of Holy Virginity
A commendation of the consecrated life, with a warning that humility matters more than the vow.
Of the Work of Monks
A practical piece insisting that monks should work with their hands as well as pray.
On Baptism, Against the Donatists
An argument that baptism belongs to Christ rather than to the minister, and need not be repeated.
On Care to Be Had for the Dead
A gentle letter on burial, memory, and what the living can and cannot do for those who have died.
On Christian Doctrine
How to read the Scriptures and how to teach them, the first great handbook of Christian interpretation.
On Continence
Self-control considered as a gift of God rather than an achievement of the will.
On Grace and Free Will
A treatise holding both together: the will is genuinely free, and grace is genuinely necessary.
On Lying
A careful examination of what a lie is, the kinds it takes, and why truth binds the tongue.
On Man's Perfection in Righteousness
A point-by-point answer to the claim that a person may live wholly without sin in this life.
On Marriage and Concupiscence
A treatment of marriage as good in itself, and of the disordered desire that still touches it.
On Nature and Grace
A reply to Pelagius' book on nature, arguing that a wounded nature needs healing, not just instruction.
On Patience
A short work on patience as the fruit of love, and on what distinguishes it from mere endurance.
On Rebuke and Grace
An answer to monks who feared that grace made correction pointless, showing how the two work together.
On the Catechising of the Uninstructed
Advice to a deacon on teaching beginners, including how to keep from growing tired of the task.
On the Creed
A brief exposition made for those about to profess the faith at their baptism.
On the Gift of Perseverance
A late work on continuing to the end as itself a gift, not a reward for the strong.
On the Good of Marriage
A defence of marriage as a genuine good, written when some were disparaging it.
On the Good of Widowhood
A letter to a widow, honouring her state and counselling her about the years ahead.
On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin
Two books on the grace that enables the will, and on the condition every child is born into.
On the Holy Trinity
Fifteen books, the labour of twenty years, seeking the triune God in Scripture and in the soul's own image.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
Augustine's first anti-Pelagian work, arguing from the church's practice of baptizing infants.
On the Morals of the Catholic Church
A description of the Christian life at its best, written to commend it to Manichaean readers.
On the Morals of the Manichæans
A companion piece examining Manichaean practice against the standards it set for itself.
On the Predestination of the Saints
A treatment of God's choosing, written to settle the anxieties of monks in southern Gaul.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius
An account of the synod at Diospolis and of what Pelagius did and did not there concede.
On the Profit of Believing
Written to a friend still held by Manichaean teaching, on why belief must precede full understanding.
On the Soul and its Origin
A careful and unusually tentative work on where each human soul comes from.
On the Spirit and the Letter
On the letter that kills and the Spirit that gives life, and on the law's inability to make us good.
On Two Souls, Against the Manichæans
A refutation of the idea that two natures war in us, arguing that the one will is responsible.
Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount
The first sustained Christian commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, read as a rule of life.
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan
Augustine's longest anti-Manichaean work, defending the unity of the Old and New Testaments.
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament
Sermons preached to his congregation on passages from the Gospels and the epistles.
Soliloquies
An early dialogue between Augustine and Reason, seeking to know God and the soul, and nothing more.
Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John
Ten sermons on John's letter, returning again and again to the single theme of love.
The Confessions
The book that invented the spiritual autobiography, addressed throughout to God rather than to the reader.
The Correction of the Donatists
A letter setting out how Augustine came to view the state's role in the long African schism.
The Enchiridion
A handbook of the faith arranged around faith, hope, and love, written for a busy enquirer.
The Harmony of the Gospels
A patient study of where the four Gospels differ, and of why those differences are not contradictions.