New edition and revised translation! Written as a favor for a friend, this “little work” is a wonderful explanation of the Christian faith: a true catechism from which, throughout the history of the church, other catechisms have drawn and learned. Augustine first works his way through the creed, and then the Lord’s Prayer as recorded by Matthew, ending with the sacraments. This is a colossal work in one small volume.

The following dissertation concerning the Trinity, as the reader ought to be informed, has been written in order to guard against the sophistries of those who disdain to begin with faith, and are deceived by a crude and perverse love of reason. Now one class of such men endeavor to transfer to things incorporeal and spiritual the ideas they have formed, whether through experience of the bodily senses, or by natural human wit and diligent quickness, or by the aid of art, from things corporeal; so as to seek to measure and conceive of the former by the latter. Aeterna Press

As with very many of Augustine’s works, Instructing Beginners in Faith is a response to a request, an answer to questions put to him by others. In this case we know from the first words of the work itself that the one making the request is named Deogratias (Augustine calls him “brother”), and a couple of lines later we learn that he is a deacon in Carthage, the principal city of Proconsular Africa, where he enjoys popularity as a teacher of the faith. In the most general terms, he wanted Augustine to send him “something in writing which might be of use to him on the question of instructing beginners in faith (de catechizandis rudibus)”. The term rudes in this expression referred specifically to people who were approaching the Church for the first time with the wish to become Christians. Instructing Beginners in Faith has been frequently and creatively adapted to serve the needs of education in faith in many different contexts, including the education of clergy and religious education more generally. The two model catecheses that Augustine sketches not only continue to have relevance today but also provide an important insight into his understanding of the use of scripture and tradition. Augustine's awareness of the problems that religious educators face demonstrates his profound grasp of the human condition. Written as a reflection on the most suitable way of communicating the heart of Christian faith to those applying for membership of the Church.

In the fourteenth chapter of the second book of his Retractations, Augustin makes the following statement: "There is also a book of ours on the subject of the Catechising of the Uninstructed, [or, for Instructing the Unlearned, De Catechizandis Rudibus], that being, indeed, the express title by which it is designated

A detailed and accurate account of the character and effects of Augustine's thought.

Here are questions we all ask - answered by a Saint! Fr. Cliff Ermatinger has gathered Augustine's teachings into a simple question-and-answer format.

"Written as a favor for a friend, this 'little work' of Saint Augustine is a wonderful explanation of the Christian faith, a true catechism. From it other catechisms throughout the history of the Church have sprung up, including the recent Catechism of the Catholic Church, which quotes Augustine extensively."--Back cover

Here is the Carthusian's prayer of the presence of God, a habit of tranquil listening that allows God to enter our souls and establish His presence there.