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
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
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