Book Review: A Guide to the Thought of Saint Augustine

Believe it or not, this 400+ page book is but a translation of a single article ‘Augustin (saint)’ in the famous Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique (DTC, t.2)! Fr. Eugène Portalié, a Jesuit theologian of Toulouse province, was born on 3^rd January 1852. He entered the novitiate of Toulouse on 31^st December 1867 and made his novitiate under the famous novice master Père Ginhac S.J. After teaching theology for few years at Jesuit theologate in Vals, he was appointed as a professor of positive theology at Institut Catholique de Toulouse. He is no friend to Modernism, and he wrote extensively against rationalism of his times and especially against Alfred Loisy and Harnack. He died in the year 1909.

 As we said earlier, this is an article from DTC and thus one can see readily that it is ‘tailored’ to fit a mold. It has the perfect ‘dictionnaire’ format and purpose: to impart information, to formulate acquired results, and to provide his readers with a basic chart which would diminish the likelihood of their getting lost in the vast sea of Augustine!

 After a very brief biography of St. Augustine (p.1-36), he gives a panoramic view of Augustinian writings (p. 39-80) and Augustinian doctrine (p. 81-315, which makes a major part of the book), and then a few remarks on his influence (p. 315-420). It is very clear that he is ‘forced’ to be more comprehensive and less analytic. Even then, his achievement is one of completeness, clarity and synthetical. Even after 100 years of its original publication, it can easily be a necessary ‘instrument de travail’ on any future Augustinian studies. The introduction by Vernon Bourke is rather disappointing. Much of his data is bound to be outdated – then why attempt? The rest of the work is truly breath-taking and for a single, comprehensive study from a theological point of view, nothing else can be recommended. It does demand a patient reading. For instance, the concept of ‘Grace as developed by Augustine’ (190-229) is extremely loaded.  Notes are placed at the end of the volume and the translators have not added a single note, they kept Fr. Portalié’s text as written.  It is a scholarly work and may not be easy for untrained minds. But to the rest, all I can say is: “Tolle, lege”.

 Fr. Therasian