très intéressant : augustin utilise de nombreuses images pour expliquer divers points de la trinité. Le traité - bien que long - aide à mieux comprendre les divers points sur lesquels l'attention doit être portée tout en aidant à mieux cerner la trinité dans son ensemble.

I like the idea more than the execution.

I am not a theologian, but from what I know--namely from repeated hints by Dr. Leithart--this book has been treated rather unfairly by modern theologians. It is easy without historical background to criticize Augustine for his psychological metaphors of the Trinity, which seem to smack of individualism. However, a closer look will show he is not trying to find the Trinity in all creation, but how three can be one inextricably--acting together.

We also owe this work for a good smack on subordinationism, for bringing back moderation on the theophanies, and for explaining the Holy Spirit's procession better.

Drove me insane to read all 15 books in two days, but I should have read it earlier.

Just magnificent. Takes discipline from the reader at times but moments of sublime beauty are within. Edmund Hill's notes which, while unfailingly courteous to the reader, often adopt the tone towards Augustine of a parent of a teenager who is prodigiously talented but who still needs to be kept in line, are a good book in themselves.

Unless you believe, you will not understand.

Augustine, not known for brevity.

This is the best book I have read in my entire life. Causes me to wonder about the Lord so much more deeply, and ponder upon his great deeds. Fantastic.

A stellar translation of Augustine's De Trinitate with helpful notes by the editor. Well formatted and easier to read than some other translations of this work that I've come across. Augustine himself, of course, is classic.

Finished! A very difficult book, on a difficult topic, but I learned a lot from it. Very valuable.

I love Augustine's style, he really takes you along his thought process. Also loved the footnotes, which were very helpful.

It took me a while to get through this book, mostly because lots of sentences are very long and complicated, one really needs to pay attention and focus, to keep track of the argument.

I will write a proper review later. I need some time to reflect, recall what I learned and why that is important.

This is a sprawling and sometimes tortuous tome on the Trinity by Augustine. I'll do my best to summarize it and provide my thoughts.

Augustine's work is organized into fifteen books, each book having several chapters. Books 1-7 can be taken to make up one part, books 9-15 can be taken to make up the other part, with book 8 providing a transition between the two.

In the first part, Augustine establishes the equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit from scripture. He then moves on to examine Old Testament theophonies, asking whether the appearances are of the Father, Son, Spirit, or all three together? He goes on in book 3 to argue that the theophanies were actually appearances of angels as agents of God in Trinity. He then examines man's need for a mediator, the mediatorial mission of the Son, and the devil as a false mediator. Next, he examines whether or not "accidental" things can be said of God (i.e. whether or not things can be said of God that do not pertain to his substance properly). He continues examining this question in books 6 and 7 answering questions along the way about simplicity, substance, and person. Along the way he establishes that words can be spoken of God either referring to substance or to person. He concludes basically by saying that these terms are not quite accurate but we use them out of convenience so that we can try to explain "three what?" when we are talking about the Trinity. He concludes by exhorting the sensual man to believe because, "Unless you believe, you will not understand."

Book 8 bridges from an examination of terms and grammar about the Trinity to seeking a useful analogy for the Trinity. Love is the theme of book 8 and an initial "trinity" is seen as lover, what is loved, and love. Can this be a good analogy?

Instead of detailing books 9-15, I will very briefly summarize them. As best as I understand, Augustine tries out multiple proposed analogies for the Trinity, examining them from every conceivable angle to determine their appropriateness for exemplifying the Trinity. He begins with psychological concepts such as mind, knowledge, and the mind's love of self. He then moves to more physical analogies and dismisses them. He then comes back to more psychological analogies, before leaving off and looking Biblically at the concept of the image of God in man. He determines that this is the best place to search for an analogy. He eventually concludes that though the human mind is the image of God, it is an inadequate image to express the divine Trinity. He demonstrates several reasons why and then concludes the book with a soliloquy to his soul and a prayer to God.

It's difficult for me to review Augustine. There were times when reading it that I wanted to bang my head against its pages because of the repetitive and tortuous nature of the book. There were also moments when I wanted to interrupt Augustine and ask him what in the world he was talking about and what he thought it had to do with the Trinity. Yet, there were other times when I wanted to exult with worshipful "Amens" at the beautiful language he employed in representing God and himself to God.

Overall, this book is a classic of theology and of spirituality, flaws and all. I think that Augustine adequately demonstrates both the Biblical truthfulness of the Trinity and yet the transcendent mystery of the Trinity. I would also add that the introductory and explanatory material from the editor was helpful. It is a must-read if you want to understand the classic doctrine of the Trinity. You will find yourself extremely frustrated at times but also extremely edified.

Obviously this is a classic. And it deserves to be, BUT it's hard work and not for everyone.

I'd suggest any modern reader work through a few other serious books on the trinity before coming here (e.g. "Biblical Reasoning" by Wittman and Jamieson, "Trinitarian Dogmatics" by Butner and "the Holy Trinity" by Holmes)

Augustine asserts the doctrine of the trinity then slowly develops its constituent parts from scripture before seeking to help his reader conceptualise it by locating its blurry image in the Memory, Understanding and Will of the human mind.

I will probably read this again and may try to produce a "proper" review when I do for now I'll leave these notes as a hard work warning...

It may seem like a lot of text to get through to find out in the end that determining how exactly you might understand the Trinity is impossible ... but don't let that stop you.

Holy shit. I mean, HOLY SHIT. Jesus. You know?