On Faith and Works

Ancient Christian Writers #48

by Augustine of Hippo, Gregory J. Lombardo

Composed in 413, this work refutes certain writings that taught that good works were not necessary to obtain eternal life, that faith alone was sufficient for salvation.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 400

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

[Caleb Mattinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super solid read! It provided a lot of food for thought on the workings of salvation and the respect due to baptism. I find it interesting that he puts gladiators in the same camp as prostitutes and believes they should not have baptism without repentance of their profession.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Protestants cannot claim Augustine as their own. "Augustine vs. Thomas" is a common contrast used by Protestants to highlight the relatively pure early Church theology and the corruption of the medieval period. Unfortunately for their view, Augustine is just as Catholic as St Thomas. He is just as committed to the "ex opere operato" of the sacraments (he coined the term), and he is just as committed to the necessity of good works for salvation. This work is a brief but powerful destruction of the Jovinian heresy (that is startlingly similar to the Protestant heresy of the 16th century). As a graduate of a prominent Evangelical seminary, I am very disappointed a discussion of this controversy from the 4th/5th century was never mentioned. If you have any doubts about the main thesis of Protestant theology, read this book.

[Conner Cecil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not too bad