The Writings Against the Manichaeans and Against the Donatists: Part I - The Manichaeans Revised


Book Description

Before converting to Christianity, Augustine was at one time a member of a group called the Manichaeans and this collection of works are his attempt to combat the growing threat that this religion caused to the rise and growth of the Christian church. The Manichaeans were a dualistic society that focused on the goodness of the spirit and the evil of the material. While basing their belief structure of Mesopotamian Gnosticism it is hard to say for certain that they were Gnostic themselves. Augustine shows sound arguments to counter the beliefs he reveals in this collection of writings even going so far as to have a verbal parley back and forth with a leading member of the religious movement Fortunatus. Now in larger print!







Reply to Faustus the Manichaean


Book Description

Written about the year 400. [Faustus was undoubtedly the acutest, most determined and most unscrupulous opponent of orthodox Christianity in the age of Augustin. The occasion of Augustin's great writing against him was the publication of Faustus' attack on the Old Testament Scriptures, and on the New Testament so far as it was at variance with Manichæan error. Faustus seems to have followed in the footsteps of Adimantus, against whom Augustin had written some years before, but to have gone considerably beyond Adimantus in the recklessness of his statements. The incarnation of Christ, involving his birth from a woman, is one of the main points of attack. He makes the variations in the genealogical records of the Gospels a ground for rejecting the whole as spurious. He supposed the Gospels, in their present form, to be not the works of the Apostles, but rather of later Judaizing falsifiers. The entire Old Testament system he treats with the utmost contempt, blaspheming the Patriarchs, Moses, the Prophets, etc., on the ground of their private lives and their teachings. Most of the objections to the morality of the Old Testament that are now current were already familiarly used in the time of Augustin. Augustin's answers are only partially satisfactory, owing to his imperfect view of the relation of the old dispensation to the new; but in the age in which they were written they were doubtless very effective. The writing is interesting from the point of view of Biblical criticism, as well as from that of polemics against Manichæism.--A.H.N.]







The Two Souls of the Manicheans


Book Description

During his time with the Manicheans, St. Augustine went into depth regarding their theological suppositions about the nature of the world and the natural mortality of the human soul. As strict dualists, the Manicheans rejected the more familiar Platonic speculation of the soul, insisting on a two-faceted soul. What little is known about Manichean religious thought, which is a defunct world religion, is eloquently described here and in similar texts by St. Augustine.




St. Augustine's Writings Against The Manichaeans And Against The Donatists


Book Description

This is the extended and annotated edition including * an extensive biographical annotation about the author and his life This edition contains the following writings: Of the Morals of the Catholic Church. On the Morals of the Manichaeans. Concerning Two Souls, Against the Manichaeans. Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus, the Manichaean. Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental. Reply to Faustus the Manichaean. Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichaeans. On Baptism, Against the Donatists In Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist, Bishop of Cirta. A Treatise Concerning the Correction of the Donatists




The Anti-Manichaean Writings


Book Description

Enough, probably, has been done in our other books in the way of answering the ignorant and profane attacks which the Manichaeans make on the law, which is called the Old Testament, in a spirit of vainglorious boasting, and with the approval of the uninstructed. Here, too, I may shortly touch upon the subject. For every one with average intelligence can easily see that the explanation of the Scriptures should be sought for from those who are the professed teachers of the Scriptures; and that it may happen, and indeed always happens, that many things seem absurd to the ignorant, which, when they are explained by the learned, appear all the more excellent, and are received in the explanation with the greater pleasure on account of the obstructions which made it difficult to reach the meaning.




Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma, Volume 1


Book Description

Augustine of Hippo is history's best-known Christian convert. The very concept of conversio owes its dissemination to Augustine's Confessions, and yet, as Jason BeDuhn notes, conversion in Augustine is not the sudden, dramatic, and complete transformation of self we likely remember it to be. Rather, in the Confessions Augustine depicts conversion as a lifelong process, a series of self-discoveries and self-departures. The tale of Augustine is one of conversion, apostasy, and conversion again. In this first volume of Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma, BeDuhn reconstructs Augustine's decade-long adherence to Manichaeism, apostasy from it, and subsequent conversion to Nicene Christianity. Based on his own testimony and contemporaneous sources from and about Manichaeism, the book situates many features of Augustine's young adulthood within his commitment to the sect, while pointing out ways he failed to understand or put into practice key parts of the Manichaean system. It explores Augustine's dissatisfaction with the practice-oriented faith promoted by the Manichaean leader Faustus and the circumstances of heightened intolerance, anti-Manichaean legislation, and pressures for social conformity surrounding his apostasy. Seeking a historically circumscribed account of Augustine's subsequent conversion to Nicene Christianity, BeDuhn challenges entrenched conceptions of conversion derived in part from Augustine's later idealized account of his own spiritual development. He closely examines Augustine's evolving self-presentation in the year before and following his baptism and argues that the new identity to which he committed himself bore few of the hallmarks of the orthodoxy with which he is historically identified. Both a historical study of the specific case of Augustine and a theoretical reconsideration of the conditions under which conversion occurs, this book explores the role religion has in providing the materials and tools through which self-formation and reformation occurs.




Delphi Collected Works of Saint Augustine (Illustrated)


Book Description

The philosopher and theologian, Saint Augustine, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church, created a theological system of great power and lasting influence. His numerous written works, including ‘Confessions’ and ‘City of God’, laid the foundation for much of medieval and modern Christian thought. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Latin texts. This comprehensive eBook presents Augustine’s collected works, with relevant illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Illustrated with images relating to Augustine's life and works * Features almost the complete works of Augustine * Concise introductions to the major works * Includes translations previously appearing in the ‘Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series’, edited by Philip Schaff * Images of famous paintings inspired by Augustine * Excellent formatting of the texts * Easily locate the chapters or works you want to read with individual contents tables * Provides special dual English and Latin texts of ‘Confessions’ and ‘City of God’, allowing readers to compare the sections chapter by chapter– ideal for students * Features two bonus biographies – discover Augustine's ancient world * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to explore our range of Ancient Classics titles or buy the entire series as a Super Set CONTENTS: The Translations ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE (De doctrina Christiana) CONFESSIONS (Confessiones) THE CITY OF GOD (De civitate Dei) ON THE TRINITY (De trinitate) ENCHIRIDION (Enchiridion ad Laurentium, seu de fide, spe et caritate) ON THE CATECHISING OF THE UNINSTRUCTED (De catechizandis rudibus) ON FAITH AND THE CREED (De fide et symbolo) CONCERNING FAITH OF THINGS NOT SEEN (De fide rerum invisibilium) ON THE PROFIT OF BELIEVING (De utilitate credendi) ON THE CREED: A SERMON TO CATECHUMENS (De symbolo ad catechumenos) ON CONTINENCE (De continentia) ON THE GOOD OF MARRIAGE (De bono coniugali) ON HOLY VIRGINITY (De sancta virginitate) ON THE GOOD OF WIDOWHOOD (De bono viduitatis) ON LYING (De mendacio) TO CONSENTIUS: AGAINST LYING (Contra mendacium) ON THE WORK OF MONKS (De opere monachorum) ON PATIENCE (De patientia) ON CARE TO BE HAD FOR THE DEAD (De cura pro mortuis gerenda) ON THE MORALS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (De moribus ecclesiae catholicae) ON THE MORALS OF THE MANICHAEANS (De moribus Manichaeorum) CONTENTS ON TWO SOULS, AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS (De duabus animabus) ACTS OR DISPUTATION AGAINST FORTUNATUS THE MANICHAEAN (Acta contra Fortunatum Manichaeum) AGAINST THE EPISTLE OF MANICHAEUS CALLED FUNDAMENTAL (Contra epistulam Manichaei quam vocant fundamenti) REPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICHAEAN (Contra Faustum) CONCERNING THE NATURE OF GOOD, AGAINST THE MANICHAEANS (De natura boni contra Manichaeos) ON BAPTISM, AGAINST THE DONATISTS (De baptismo) THE CORRECTION OF THE DONATISTS (De correctione Donatistarum) ON MERITS AND REMISSION OF SIN, AND INFANT BAPTISM (De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum) ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER (De spiritu et littera) ON NATURE AND GRACE (De natura et gratia) ON MAN’S PERFECTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS (De perfectione iustitiae hominis) ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF PELAGIUS (De gestis Pelagii) ON THE GRACE OF CHRIST, AND ON ORIGINAL SIN (De gratia Christi et de peccato originali) ON MARRIAGE AND CONCUPISCENCE (De nuptiis et concupiscientia) AGAINST TWO LETTERS OF THE PELAGIANS (Contra duas epistulas Pelagianorum) ON GRACE AND FREE WILL (De gratia et libero arbitrio) ON THE PREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS (De praedestinatione sanctorum) OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT (De sermone Domini in monte) ON THE HARMONY OF THE EVANGELISTS (De consensu evangelistarum) TREATISES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN (In Iohannis evangelium tractatus) SOLILOQUIES (Soliloquiorum libri duo) ENARRATIONS, OR EXPOSITIONS, ON THE PSALMS (Enarrationes in Psalmos) ANSWER TO THE LETTERS OF PETILIAN, BISHOP OF CIRTA (Contra litteras Petiliani) SERMONS, AMONG WHICH A SERIES ON SELECTED LESSONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT HOMILIES, AMONG WHICH A SERIES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN Selected Latin Texts LIST OF LATIN TEXTS The Dual Texts DUAL LATIN AND ENGLISH TEXTS The Biographies SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO by Gustav Krüger ST. AUGUSTIN’S LIFE AND WORK from Schaff’s Church History The Delphi Classics Catalogue Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles