St. Augustine on Faith and Works

by Augustine of Hippo; Gregory J. Lombardo

Publisher:

Newman Press

, 1988

Overview

Composed in AD 413, this work refutes certain writings that taught good works were not necessary to obtain eternal life.

Key Features

• Contains St. Augustine’s thoughts and ideas on faith and works
• Features extensive indices and notes on the text

Contents

Top Highlights

“Augustine himself tells us why he wrote this work. Certain laymen, he says, had sent him some writings³ to be examined. These writings taught that good works were not necessary to obtain eternal life, that faith alone was sufficient for salvation.⁴ If a man had the faith and was baptized, he would be saved. Consequently, every man without exception should be admitted to baptism, no matter how evil his life, and even though he had no intention of changing for the better. Moreover, the instructions given to candidates for baptism should consist only in dogmatic truths, that is, only in those truths which one must believe as distinguished from those which one must put into practice.⁵ This, in short, is the error which Augustine undertakes to refute in this book.” (Page 1)

“For the Bishop of Hippo, however, the only faith that justifies is that faith which is enlivened by charity” (Page 3)

“St. James says also: What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he has faith, but has not works? Shall faith be able to save him?¹²⁴ And in another place he says that faith without works is dead.¹²⁵ See, then, what a great mistake they make who think that they can be saved by a faith that is dead!” (Page 30)

“Why not? Because it is not faith which acts through love, but faith which is expressed through fear. The faith, therefore, of Christ, the faith of Christian grace, that is, the faith which acts through love, this faith, if laid on the foundation, allows no one to be lost.” (Page 34)

“For it is evident that He rebukes them, not because they did not believe in Him, but because they did not perform good works. In fact, this is why He said that He will separate all who were united together by the same faith, in order that no one might think that faith alone, or a dead faith, that is, a faith without works, is sufficient for eternal life, and in order to make it clear that they who will say to Him: Lord, when did we see you suffering this and that and did not minister to you?¹³⁹ will be those who had believed in Him but had neglected to do good works—as though it were possible to obtain eternal life by a faith that is dead.” (Page 32)

Product Details

• Title: St. Augustine on Faith and Works
• Authors: Augustine of Hippo, Gregory J. Lombardo
• Series: Ancient Christian Writers
• Volume: 48
• Publisher: Newman Press
• Print Publication Date: 1988
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 128
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Faith › Early works to 1800; Good works (Theology) › Early works to 1800
• ISBNs: 0809104067, 9780809104062
• Resource ID: LLS:STGSTNFTHWRKS
• Resource Type: text.monograph.ancient-manuscript.translation
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-19T23:53:48Z

About St. Augustine

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) is often simply referred to as St. Augustine or Augustine Bishop of Hippo (the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba in Algeria). He is the preeminent Doctor of the Church according to Roman Catholicism, and is considered by Evangelical Protestants to be in the tradition of the Apostle Paul as the theological fountainhead of the Reformation teaching on salvation and grace.