Böcker av St. Augustine of Hippo

Extract from Augustine's "Retractations," Book II. Chap. 67, On the Following Treatise, De Correptione et Gratia. I Wrote again to the same persons another treatise, which I entitled On Rebuke and Grace, because I had been told that some one there had said that no man ought to be rebuked for not doing God's commandments, but that prayer only should be made on his behalf, that he may do them. This book begins on this wise, "I have read your letters, dearly beloved brother Valentine."

De opera monachorum ("On the Work of Monks") was written about 400. This was just before Augustine wrote On the good of marriage, On holy virginity, and On the good of widowhood, meaning that in a brief period he had written about all the major styles of living.

De doctrina Christiana is a theological text written by Saint Augustine of Hippo. It consists of four books that describe how to interpret and teach the Scriptures. The first three of these books were published in 397 and the fourth added in 426.

The Soliloquies of Augustine is a two-book document written in 386-387 AD by the Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo. The book has the form of an "inner dialogue" in which questions are posed, discussions take place and answers are provided, leading to self-knowledge.

I have also written a Book on Lying, which though it takes some pains to understand, contains much that is useful for the exercise of the mind, and more that is profitable to morals, in inculcating the love of speaking the truth.

Saint Augustine was a Latin philosopher and theologian from the Africa Province of the Roman Empire and is generally considered as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all times. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity. According to his contemporary Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith." In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus. After his conversion to Christianity and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, and he framed the concepts of original sin. Augustine developed the concept of the Catholic Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material Earthly City. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the Church, the community that worshiped the Trinity.

In this short treatise, St. Augustine of Hippo explains the power of man's free will and it's limitations and interplay with the will of God especially concerning the Christian doctrine of salvation.