Reading Augustine’s Enchiridion was so interesting because sometimes he sounds very much like a Reformed theologian and sometimes very much like a Roman Catholic.

Reformed sounding quotes:
“For as a man who kills himself is still alive when he kills himself, but having killed himself is then no longer alive and cannot resuscitate himself after he has destroyed his own life--so also sin which arises from the action of the free will turns out to be victor over the will and the free will is destroyed […] He serves freely who freely does the will of his master. Accordingly he who is slave to sin is free to sin. But thereafter he will not be free to do right unless he is delivered from the bondage of sin and begins to be the servant of righteousness. This, then, is true liberty: the joy that comes in doing what is right.”

“since no one is set free save by unmerited mercy and no one is damned save by a merited condemnation […] Now, obviously, God did not act unjustly in not willing their salvation, even though they could have been saved, if he willed it so […] But our God is above in heaven; in heaven and on earth he hath done all things whatsoever that he would. This obviously is not true, if there is anything that he willed to do and did not do, or, what were worse, if he did not do something because man's will prevented him, the Omnipotent, from doing what he willed. Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen. He either allows it to happen or he actually causes it to happen […] For he is called Almighty for no other reason than that he can do whatsoever he willeth and because the efficacy of his omnipotent will is not impeded by the will of any creature.”

“As the Supreme Good, he made good use of evil deeds, for the damnation of those whom he had justly predestined to punishment and for the salvation of those whom he had mercifully predestined to grace.
For, as far as they were concerned, they did what God did not will that they do, but as far as God's omnipotence is concerned, they were quite unable to achieve their purpose. In their very act of going against his will, his will was thereby accomplished. This is the meaning of the statement, "The works of the Lord are great, well-considered in all his acts of will"--that in a strange and ineffable fashion even that which is done against his will is not done without his will. For it would not be done without his allowing it--and surely his permission is not unwilling but willing--nor would he who is good allow the evil to be done, unless in his omnipotence he could bring good even out of evil.”

“In any case, the word concerning God, "who will have all men to be saved," does not mean that there is no one whose salvation he doth not will--he who was unwilling to work miracles among those who, he said, would have repented if he had wrought them--but by "all men" we are to understand the whole of mankind, in every single group into which it can be divided: kings and subjects; nobility and plebeians; the high and the low; the learned and unlearned; the healthy and the sick; the bright, the dull, and the stupid; the rich, the poor, and the middle class; males, females, infants, children, the adolescent, young adults and middle-aged and very old; of every tongue and fashion, of all the arts, of all professions, with the countless variety of wills and minds and all the other things that differentiate people. For from which of these groups doth not God will that some men from every nation should be saved through his only begotten Son our Lord? Therefore, he doth save them since the Omnipotent cannot will in vain, whatsoever he willeth.” - very similar sounding to arguments for limited atonement

Roman Catholic sounding quotes:
“Now if in his being born, her virginity had been destroyed, he would not then have been born of a virgin. It would then be false (which is unthinkable) for the whole Church to confess him "born of the Virgin Mary."”

“ It may be discovered or remain hidden whether some of the faithful are sooner or later to be saved by a sort of purgatorial fire, in proportion as they have loved the goods that perish, and in proportion to their attachment to them.”

“alms should be offered as propitiation to God for our past sins.”

“There is no denying that the souls of the dead are benefited by the piety of their living friends, when the sacrifice of the Mediator is offered for the dead, or alms are given in the church. But these means benefit only those who, when they were living, have merited that such services could be of help to them.”

- abundant affirmations of baptismal regeneration

Other points of interest:
“there can be no evil where there is no good. This leads us to a surprising conclusion: that, since every being, in so far as it is a being, is good, if we then say that a defective thing is bad, it would seem to mean that we are saying that what is evil is good, that only what is good is ever evil and that there is no evil apart from something good. This is because every actual entity is good [omnis natura bonum est.] Nothing evil exists in itself, but only as an evil aspect of some actual entity. Therefore, there can be nothing evil except something good.”

“For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist. And if he had willed that there should be no reformation in the case of men, as there is none for the wicked angels, would it not have been just if the nature that deserted God and, through the evil use of his powers, trampled and transgressed the precepts of his Creator, which could have been easily kept--the same creature who stubbornly turned away from His Light and violated the image of the Creator in himself, who had in the evil use of his free will broken away from the wholesome discipline of God's law--would it not have been just if such a being had been abandoned by God wholly and forever and laid under the everlasting punishment which he deserved? Clearly God would have done this if he were only just and not also merciful and if he had not willed to show far more striking evidence of his mercy by pardoning some who were unworthy of it.”

- the idea of the elect humans replacing the reprobate angels
- Sex in marriage being a sin
- Interprets Romans 9 in a very “Calvinist” manner

This little work was a pleasure to read. It consists of Augustine's thoughts on the Nicene Creed (faith) the Lord's Prayer (hope) and a short discourse on Christian love. It will serve as a good introduction to Augustine's theological thought.

For my part, I love Augustine's emphasis on the primacy of grace. His defense of the sacramental system is irritating, as it seems very weak. Finally, his take on faith and works is quite disappointing. He does not clearly distinguish between justification and sanctification.

There are a lot of things in this short work that will make the Christian's heart rejoice, and there a few things that are less than celebratory. By any account, this little "handbook" of theology is worth reading, for Augustine is always worth reading.

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A good survey of basic Christian doctrine. The discussions of predestination and eternal punishment are very strong, though I did spot some hints of purgatory.

It's really amazing how a book written so long ago can contain so many truths and statements accurate to our lives and faith today. Although Augustine can get a bit wordy at times, this is definitely a must-read for Christians who are serious about the theology of our faith. Make sure you read it with someone, though. Discussion helps break through the wordiness!

Initial thought: first read maybe more of a 4 star read, but there is enough here that I recognize with more study it will easily be a 5 star. This is St. Augustine's "Handbook" of Christian doctrine. Brief, profound, and worth chewing over.
A handful of my favorite lines:

"But the goodness of the Creator never fails either to supply life and vital power to the wicked angels (without which their existence would soon come to an end); or, in the case of mankind, who spring from a condemned and corrupt stock, to impart form and life to their seed, to fashion their members, and through the various seasons of their life, and in the different parts of the earth, to quicken their senses, and bestow upon them the nourishment they need. For He judged it better to bring good out of evil, than not to permit any evil to exist."

"We shall be made truly free, then, when God fashions us, that is, forms and creates us anew, not as men-for He has done that already-but as good men, which His grace is now doing, that we may be a new creation in Christ Jesus, according as it is said: "Create in me a clean heart, 0 God."
For God had already created his heart, so far as the physical structure of the human heart is concerned; but the psalmist prays for the renewal of the life which was still lingering in his heart."

"it is certain that those who are born of water and of the Holy Spirit cannot with propriety be called sons of the water, though they are called sons of God the Father, and of the Church their mother."

"Thus the end of every commandment is charity, that is, every commandment has love for its aim. But whatever is done either through fear of punishment or from some other carnal motive, and has not for its principle that love which the Spirit of God sheds abroad in the heart, is not done as it ought to be done, however It may appear to men."

Some capital L Literature about Christianity from early in the days of the church. Mercifully short, but also very slow going and sometimes convoluted.

Some highlights include: Every crime is a sin, but not every sin is a crime. Faith without works is dead. It's a sin to take from a rich man and give to a poor man, even if the rich man wouldn't notice it missing and it would be a huge boon to the poor. Failure to believe in the redemption of sins is in and of itself sinful. Christ allowed himself to be baptized, not because he needed it, but merely to show humility. All lies are sin, regardless of purpose, it's just a matter of exactly how sinful. Even a lie for someone's benefit is sinful.

Not all of it made total sense to me. Apparently, being superstitious about certain numbers is a big no-no for reasons I didn't fully grasp. I had to reread chapter 78 over and over, going through it with a fine tooth comb to be sure I wasn't misreading. In short, it says that it's sinful to take another Christian to court, and that such issues should be dealt with inside the church. I take it that this has changed significantly in the church since this book was written.

And finally, one bit actually made me chuckle. In one chapter, he confesses that he isn't certain if the sun, moon, and stars are some form of angels, or merely "luminous bodies." A lot of the stuff in here is timeless, but some things really do change.

Read it, now!

This handbook is a must read for anyone interested in in doing theology and in the study of the history of theology. From this man came ideas and concepts that still are influencing Western Theology. I wish that he had written more on love and less on sin. But hey I am one of the top three theologians of Western Christianity. The book, pages, and paragraphs take time and effort.

The Enchiridion is Augustine’s endeavor to condense the basic tenets of Christian thought into a manual of sorts. As such, the book is comprised of short chapters that cover a wide array of topics, from the definition of love to whether resurrection bodies will include cut-off fingernails. Augustine writes that he hopes his book would be “something you could carry around, not just baggage for your bookshelf” (9). And certainly, The Enchiridion is a far less intimidating volume than, say, City of God. Anyone who has read works by Augustine previously may recognize some of the ideas and will probably be pleasantly surprised by his brevity and lucidity.

This book is particularly insightful because it covers a number of topics that don’t tend to come up in modern church culture, like the nature of evil, the promise of future resurrection, and Jesus’ role as judge. Augustine brings clarity to these somewhat nebulous concepts. Even the simple concept of almsgiving is one that seems to have been lost to us; but Augustine restores its place (without unduly elevating it) and expands its implications, saying that because we love our neighbor as ourselves, we must give alms to ourselves by recognizing both our sinfulness and the mercy of God.

Augustine also elegantly handles such topics as predestination, justice, God’s wrath, and the incarnation. He demonstrates deftly how Jesus’ divinity is absolutely crucial for his role as our redeemer. At the same time, Augustine deals with things of particular relevance to our modern context. For instance, the “Academics” against whom he writes in chapter 20 represent a similar relativism to what we encounter today. Augustine is quick to show that their “higher wisdom” of denying all knowledge should really be considered “a sort of dementia.”

This book serves to highlight a number of Augustine’s more important ideas and contributions to Christian thought. It is both refreshing and relevant, and provides much to think about in a concise but potent package.

A Roman citizen named Laurentius inquired about the Christian faith to Augustine, the bishop of Hippo. His response was "Enchiridion," a work of basic instruction. The word ‘enchiridion’ is Greek for ‘handbook.’ The book is a staccato burst of 122 brief, topical chapters. It has a similar structure to Justin Martyr’s "Apologies."

Augustine organizes his thoughts around the themes of Faith, Hope, and Love. The Faith section is the largest, covering 95 chapters, but the three themes are intertwined and dependent on one another. This work covers all of the major elements of Augustinian theology (free will, original sin, sovereignty of God, mediation of Christ, and election). While not as well-known as Augustine’s classics, "Enchiridion" is an excellent compendium of the essentials of the faith.

This work was surprisingly archaic and poorly argued. As one of his later works, I would have expected a more reasoned work.