Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia (review)

Allan D. Fitzgerald, editor. Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1999. Pp. il + 902. $75.00.

This volume is a superb encyclopedia devoted to one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Western thought. As a student and an admirer of Augustine, I am especially grateful to see this encyclopedia in print. Augustine wrote a great number of works. The spectrum of his writings ranges from theology to philosophy, ethics to metaphysics, epistemology to philosophical psychology, pastoral sermons to polemic writings, and so on. Among his works, roughly five million words and 120 titles are preserved. Due to the massiveness of the Augustinian corpus and the fact that Augustine did not write his works according to modern categories, the attempt to gain an understanding of his thought on a particular issue is often a humbling experience. It can easily take a person hours, or even days, to plow through those numerous pages but acquire only a feeble grasp of Augustine's thought. Now with the invaluable help of this encyclopedia, the hours of painful labor will surely be shortened.

This volume is the first encyclopedia on Augustine that is produced by a top-notch American editorial team and the first that is written entirely in English. Something that probably comes closest to it in scope is probably the series Augustinus-Lexikon, edited by C. Mayer and published by Schwabe & Co. of Switzerland. Although Augustinus-Lexikon contains some articles written in English, it also has many articles in French, German, and other languages. That series is useful for specialists in the field, but it may not be accessible to general readers. In this sense, Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia is a monumental work, a work that, I believe, will promote great development of Augustinian scholarship in the English-speaking world and a work that will make the complete corpus of Augustine much more accessible to the general public.

This volume is crafted under the auspices of a highly accredited editorial team, led by the general editor, Allan D. Fitzgerald, and accompanied by four associate editors: John Cavadini, Marianne Djuth, James J. O'Donnell, and Frederick Van Fleteren. Their fields of expertise include classical studies, patristics, philosophy, and theology. The wide-ranging academic backgrounds of the editors assure a good balance in the volume and high quality in the articles. The volume is also an amazing collaboration of an international group of nearly one hundred and fifty scholars with expertise in classics, history, philosophy, political science, and theology. This impressive list of contributors includes (to name just a few): Raymond Canning and Kim Power (Australia); Mathijs Lamberigts and Tarsicius J. van Bavel (Belgium); Pamela Bright, Leo C. Ferrari and J. Kevin Coyle (Canada); Frédéric Chapot and Goulven Madec (France); Lewis Ayres (Ireland); Pier Franco Beatrice (Italy); Neil McLynn (Japan); E. L. Saak (The Netherlands); Gerald Bonner, G. R. Evans, Carol Harrison, and Robert A. Markus (United Kingdom); J. Patout Burns, John Caputo, Elizabeth A. Clark, Mary T. Clark, Brian E. Daley, Joseph Lienhard, Jane E. Merdinger, Katherin A. Rogers, Roland J. Teske, Eugene TeSelle, and James Wetzel (United States).

This encyclopedia runs nearly one thousand pages and contains nearly five hundred entries, on a broad variety of topics. There are entries on general topics such as "Ethics," "Liberty," "Soul," "Life, Culture, and Controversies of Augustine," "Original Sin," "Grace," and so on. There are also entries on more specific topics such as "Abortion," "Habit (consuetudo)," "Mary, Mother of God," places (e.g., "Cassiciacum," "Carthage," "Ostia"), and names of people (e.g., "Adeodatus," "Alypius") that are important to Augustine personally. There are entries for each of his individual works (e.g., The Happy Life, Confessions, The City of God, On Nature and Grace) which give readers an overview of each. There are also entries on Augustine's various opponents and their beliefs (e.g., articles on Arianism, Donatism, Manicheism, and...