Augustine

Both as an account of what Christian religiosity implies and also as the most extreme vision of a moral and material order in which we must fail especially when we think that we are behaving well. --Judith Shklar, The Harvard guide to influential books: 113 distinguished Harvard professors discuss the books that have helped to shape their thinking (1986), edited by C. Maury Devine, Kim D. Parrish, and Claudia Dissell, p. 231, on Confessions


Augustine’s writings are filled with anti-Jewish invective as harsh as anything in other early Christian writers. Yet there flows a deeper stream of thought that offers rich theological resources for Christian understanding of the Jews. Because of God’s ongoing connection to the Jews through the observance of the Law, the Church has an abiding relation to the Jewish people. --Robert Louis Wilken, Preserving the Law, First Things, March 2009, review of Augustine and the Jews: A Christian Defense of Jews and Judaism, by Paula Fredriksen

In any event, Benedict XIII sent a letter to the Bishop of Pavia [in Lombardy] telling him to get their act together and figure out the questions of authenticity and control. Additional studies were made under someone appointed by Benedict and by 19 September of 1729 things were wrapped up. Processions were held, solemn proclamations made about the authenticity of the relics, a great Te Deum was sung and there was a fireworks display, and anyone who decided to disagree and start the bickering again would be excommunicated.--Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, The bones of St. Augustine of Hippo, What Does The Prayer Really Say? August 28, 2008 4:43 pm, (via New Advent)

Encountering Christ Changed St. Augustine's Life, Pope Benedict XVI, general audience, January 30, 2008

Augustine of Hippo: Tireless Searcher after Truth, Pope Benedict XVI, general audience, January 9, 2008

Sapientia et Doctrina: The Primacy of Sapientia and the Best of Doctrina, by Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J., In Focus: Faculty and Research, October 22, 2007, Fordham University
(via Diogenes Off the Record)

Augustine: Now and Forever, by William Bole, Godspy November 15, 2004

Truth—or Consequences, review by J. Budziszewski of Lying: An Augustinian Theology of Duplicity, by Paul J. Griffiths, First Things, October 2004

An Augustinian Sentence, Sense and Nonsense column by James V. Schall, Crisis, July/August 2004

Augustine and the Case for Limited Government, by Linda C. Raeder, Humanitas 2003 No. 2

Purity: The way of the celibate, by Paula Huston, Godspy, November 19, 2003

An Updated Classic, review by Robert Louis Wilken of Augustine of Hippo: A Biography: A New Edition with an Epilogue, by Peter Brown, First Things, May 2001

Between the Lines, by Thomas J. Heffernan, review of After Augustine: The Meditative Reader and the Text, by Brian Stock, Crisis, May 2002

Mozart Without Music: Saint Augustine, by Garry Wills, reviewed by John Peter Kenney, First Things, January 2000

Augustine Then and Now, by Glenn Tinder, First Things, May 1999

The Neo-Augustinian Temptation, by Robert Benne, First Things, March 1998

Augustine's World and Ours, by Glenn Tinder, First Things, December 1997

Augustine Revisited, by George McKenna, First Things, April 1997

A Saint for Our Times, by Mary Ann Glendon, First Things, November 1996