Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

so that you may be able to prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12 2. This is resistance and reformation on the Fight,

Laugh Feast Network. According to Alan Tate, one of the leading lights of the southern

agrarians, reading most classics requires a sturdy constitution

and a carefully wrought plan, but not so with Augustine. His work is so well organized

that it can be read with ease even by the most novice of theological readers.

This is particularly true of Augustine's little book of hermeneutics on Christian doctrine.

The book was simultaneously one of Augustine's earliest works and one of his latest.

It was shortly after he was pressed into service as a pastor in 391

that he asked for an extended period of study and meditation

in order to immerse himself in the scriptures.

Apparently, the book began as a series of exercises that grew out of that intensive time

of study. About 3.94, he had already begun extensive expositions of Genesis, Romans, and Galatians,

and he would soon begin his work on a magisterial study of the Book of Psalms. So it seemed like

a good opportunity to expand his notes on Bible interpretation and teaching

into a fuller, more permanent discourse.

In short order, he composed the first three parts of On Christian Doctrine.

But then, sometime around 3.97, he stopped writing.

Whether it was because of the pressing concerns of the pastorate, the urgency of several

other writing projects, or some other matter, Augustine never completed that early work,

and it remained in manuscript form in his study.

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