Sermons to the People

September 23, 2002
The Augustinian renaissance continues with this volume devoted to the saint's sermons from Advent through Epiphany. Griffin offers a lively introduction, describing Augustine's history and the ritual observance of the winter holidays in the fourth century, and then provides comfortable, "paraphrasal" translations of 23 sermons. It's a real treat to read them, for they remind us that although Augustine has survived for us as a writer—most notably for his Confessions
and City of God—he was in his own day primarily a bishop and a priest, preaching regularly over a period of 30 years. Griffin writes that it is through Augustine's rarely published sermons that we encounter an impassioned orator, "revealing the real Augustine, not the one we thought we knew." The volume closes with three appendices containing essays that contextualize Augustine's preaching.

October 1, 2002
Augustine the theologian has shaped 16 centuries of Christian thought. Augustine the preacher has been largely forgotten. But as bishop of Hippo, Augustine sought to bring his complex Christian worldview to an audience of simple parishioners. In this book, Griffin brings a selection of those sermons to life for a modern audience. The result is anything but dry. Here we see Augustine's keen wit as he laments sleepy parishioners and imagines his flock as his "adopted tots in the Kindergarten of the Lord." Not a word-for-word rendering, to be sure, but an effective one, nonetheless. Despite the approachable language and fun tone, there is serious theology here, as Augustine grapples with mysteries like the Trinity and the virgin birth. While Griffin sometimes pushes the casual translation too far--it is difficult to imagine Augustine saying the Latin equivalent of "salvation'll"--admirers of Augustine's theology will be grateful to have this fine and fun version. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)