White, Carolinne

Correspondence Between Jerome and Augustine a Translation with Introduction and Notes

1991 0-88946-599-1
This new translation into English of the extant correspondence between St. Jerome at Bethlehem and St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, is the first to present these letters, written during the years 394-419 AD, in chronological order in one volume. This volume also contains explanatory notes for each of their seventeen letters, as well as two letters from Jerome and Augustine relating to their correspondence and an introduction discussing the main themes with which their correspondence deals: the relative merits of the Latin version of the Bible from the Septuagint and Jerome's new translation from the Hebrew Old Testament, the authority of Scripture, and the problem of the origin of the human soul. The letters are illuminating for the history of the period when Christians had to combat many heretical movements as well as paganism. On a more personal level, the correspondence also traces the vicissitudes of the friendship between Jerome and Augustine, the development was hindered by the practical problems involved in sending letters long distances and by Jerome's characteristic unwillingness to accept any criticism.