Arthur West Haddan

The Doctrinal Treatises Arthur West Haddan

The most weighty of the doctrinal treatises is that on the Holy Trinity. The Latin original (De Trinitate contra Arianos libri quindecim), is contained in the 8th volume of the Benedictine edition. It is the most elaborate, and probably also the ablest and profoundest patristic discussion of this central doctrine of the Christian religion, unless we except the Orations against the Arians, by Athanasius, "the Father of Orthodoxy," who devoted his life to the defense of the Divinity of Christ. Augustine, owing to his defective knowledge of Greek, wrote his work independently of the previous treatises of the Eastern Church on that subject. He bestowed more time and care upon it than on any other book, except the City of God. Besides this treatise the following works are included: The Enchiridion, or On Faith, Hope and Love, On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, Treatise on Faith and the Creed, Concerning Faith of Things not Seen, On the Profit of Believing On the Creed.