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Henry Chadwick in this excellent work avoids going into the biography of Augustine, sticking to his philosophy and how the mind of Augustine developed over his lifetime. The man was far more open minded even into old age than one might assume about a person completely dedicated to religion and was genuinely dedicated to finding the proper way to think about things for which there was, and still is, no clear evidence as we moderns understand it.

Those, like me, who put little value in discussion of whether the Father and the Son are one and the same, or the nature of the three-in-one, the detailed handling of Augustine's theology may hold little appeal, but Chadwick doesn't leave it out because of its profound impact on the Church. Augustine is the very rock upon which Catholic theology has been built. We are told of the influences on Augustine that educated his thinking. He was a man of his times who did not develop his philosophy in a vacuum.

What interesting times they were in the 4th century. Discussion of the various Christian sects, the tensions between them and between Christians and the authorities at a time when pagan practices were still popular I found fascinating.