On Genesis

by Augustine of Hippo, Boniface Ramsey (Editor), Edmund Hill (Translator)

This volume contains three works on the Book of Genesis: On Genesis: A Refutation of the Manichees, Unfinished Literal Commentary on Genesis and the third and longest, The Literal Meaning of Genesis. Three treatises on the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis by the Latin Father of the Church. Includes biographical reference and indexes.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Religion, Philosophy, Catholic, Christianity, Nonfiction

540 pages, Paperback

Published May 24, 2004

About the author

Early church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical Confessions in 397 and the voluminous City of God from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.

An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.

People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."

The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."

Santo Agostinho

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the most difficult patristic book I have ever read. The work contains several different attempts by Augustine to interpret the creation narrative in Genesis literally. The genius and worth of this book is that Augustine's literal interpretation of creation is vastly different from a literal interpretation today. He is not at all concerned in viewing these days as "24-hour days." Yet, he takes each one as a historical fact describing actual creation.

Augustine asks questions about Genesis that I have never thought to ask and offers answers I would have never considered. He primarily pushes an idea of simultaneous creation, which I honestly barely understand. If you want an alterative to evangelical young earth creationism and Christian evolution, Augustine offers a different path. It is probably fair to say that he takes Genesis even more literally than I do.

[James Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally Finished this whole thin. This is hard to rate as is has been so long, and it is a very odd work. St. Augustine asks more questions and proposes more theories than he does answer questions, although he does point out thoughts that are wrong. But, don't go into this thinking Genesis will make complete sense. It won't. But you can still appreciate the time and effort he put into pulling apart several issues, even if for us, we may feel like certain ideas are no longer and issue. There is still solid theology here, and reverence for God, and a snapshot of the ways the Christians could see Scripture. I don't even know who I'd recommend this for other than people who are all in on Augustine, or just want to read something challenging for the sake of it. But, it's certainly not bad. I just probably wouldn't have chosen to read it, knowing it was some clean in what our book study might have wanted.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely the most difficult Augustine I've ever read.
I only read the "Literal Commentary on Genesis" portion, so I need to go back and read the rest at some point.

I'm sure that I may come back and add another star after a re-read. There is lots of good stuff in it, but reading it quickly just gives the effect of a knotted-up brain.

[Sam Gilbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

The translation is quite incompetent, and Edmund Hill appears to have had very little understanding of Augustine’s Latin. Some sentences stretch on interminably, while others conclude before forming a thought. Often a sentence is one short clause after another, nonsensically piled up. An utter disaster.

[Lynley · Rating 3 out of 5]

~3 stars~
Not exactly a page turner. Then again, I read it online.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Against the Manichees," St Augustine presents a defense of the creation account of Genesis against the Manichees, a religion that accepted the authority of the New Testament, but not the old. The arguments resonate in a time where Genesis is attacked on all sides on a daily basis. It presents close arguments, supporting the veracity of the biblical account that can be used well in conjunction with the modern understanding of evolution and the early formation of the universe.

"On a Literal Interpretation of Genesis" was left unfinished by St Augustine. He only got through the first chapter of Genesis, but it is a very detailed attempt to analyse the text, using four different forms of interpretation, on each verse. I think it works out best being familiar with some of St Augustine's other work on Genesis, or being exceedingly familiar with Genesis itself.

[Shep · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you rate a book which, though written by one of the Church's greatest theologians, is nonetheless a mixed bag in terms of content? The book is full of both stellar and less-than-stellar stuff. Agusutine's insights are often very helpful, but need to be tempered by conservative modern scholarship. Most readers won't be fans of his allegorical method and how it is on occasion ill-used. Augustine's neoplatonic leanings shine through in some unfortunate ways as well. And yet the book was helpful to me, at least in the fact that it presented some different ways of reading the Bible - ways that I was not used to. Helpful for those interested in allegorical method. Can't recommend it to anyone who hasn't read Augustine before; you should start with Confessions or City of God, not this.

[sch]

Reading this with my dad, who also has begun to enjoy Augustine. We mean to finish it within two months. My paperback edition has a nicer cover.

Well, that didn't happen. I read the first three, but got bogged down in the longest commentary. Maybe another day. In this translation, Augustine's style is homely, inelegant.