The translated works in this volume have been dated variously either to the beginning or to the final decade of Augustine's career as Bishop of Hippo. De agone Christiano, a treatise on the challenges of the Christian life in simple Latin for unschooled believers, was composed in the late 390s, as was more than half of the De doctrina Christiana. The latter work, which was finally completed near the end of Augustine's life, includes his views on the canon of Scripture, the proper approach to biblical exegesis, and how to preach effectively, as well as his famous distinction between "use" and...