On Christian Doctrine

The nature of translation is a recuring concern for Augustine throughout On Christian Doctrine. According to Augustine, what role does translation play in revealing the word of God, and how does he address discrepancies between different translations?

Augustine lived at a time when paganism and Christianity were at odds with one another, as the ancient Classical era slowly gave way to what would become the Christian era in the western world. How does this historical context shape Augustine’s worldview? How does he represent paganism in On Christian Doctrine?

Augustine is aware that there is much in the Old Testament that might strike his contemporary readers as immoral or hypocritical, both in terms of God’s behavior and in how some of the biblical heroes behaved. What are some of these issues surrounding morality and customs, and how does Augustine address them?