J. Patout BURNS, Jr. Augustine’s Preached Theology: Living as the Body of Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 2022. Pp. 374. $27.79 pb. ISBN978-0-8028-8022-2. Reviewed by Victor PUSCAS, Diocese of Joliet-in-Illinois, Crest Hill, IL 60403.

Augustine is not usually thought of today as a preacher, so why bother studying his homilies? Because according to J. Patout Burns, Jr., Augustine recognized that when the Holy Spirit speaks in and through us, whether an ancient prophet or a modern preacher, our words carry more meanings than we intend at that moment and the Gospel can be heard and understood as having many meanings, all of which cohere in a message of love. (xiv) Precisely here in the differences between ancient and modern preaching lies the value of studying sermons of a bygone era, by showing us alternative ways of living and worshipping under vastly different norms. (xi)

The hagiography of Augustine suggests he was a super-human theologian; however this writing presents an Augustine who was more pedestrian. Augustine is presented as one who had to write out his homilies and who did not display an exhaustive recall of the scriptural text. (21) Augustine delivered sermons weekly over the course of nearly forty years to his congregation in Hippo Regius and occasionally also in Carthage and other Roman cities he visited as bishop. According to Burns, the differences between his sermons and his theological treatises are striking, but not surprising considering that the treatises targeted an elite, educated audience while his preaching was intended for Christians who lived—then as now—by the spoken and remembered rather than the written word. Where Augustine’s treatises were intellectual, intricate, and theoretical, the rhetoric of his sermons is characterized by conviction, emotion, and a firm commitment to putting faith into action. The interpretation of scripture in Augustine’s preaching was governed by the twin principles of the rule of faith and the law of charity: his objective was always to instruct in the truth and to persuade the faithful to live well. (22)

This volume by renowned Augustine scholar Patout Burns explores the theology of Augustine’s preaching. Utilizing recent advances in the chronological ordering of Augustine’s extant sermons, Burns traces the development of their core thematic elements—wealth and poverty, sin and forgiveness, baptism, eucharist, marriage, the role of clergy, the interpretation of Scripture, the human condition, and the saving work of Christ. He also identifies the influence and manifestation of significant controversies in Augustine’s preaching, most notably Donatism and Pelagianism. As Burns shows, most of Augustine’s groundbreaking insights on the relation of Christ to Christians were developed in his sermons. 

Like any good preacher, Augustine strove to establish a dialogue between scripture and lived experience through his sermons—and did so quite effectively. For example, regarding the feeding of the 5,000, Augustine explained that the 12 baskets of scraps of bread signify the meanings of Christ’s teachings that we are not able to consume. In an earthy way, Augustine gave meaning to the unfathomable. Thus, pastors as well as scholars will benefit from Burns’s insight into the teachings of one of the most effective ministers in Christian history.

This is a marvelous book and surprisingly approachable even as it is heavily footnoted with almost 100 pages of notes, bibliographies, indexes and references. As J. Warren Smith says in Latin, “tolle lege,” or, “take up and read!”