Source edition
Augustine. Sancti Aureli Augustini Opera, Sectio V, Pars III (Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Volume 41). Zycha, Joseph, editor. Prague; Vienna; Leipzig: F. Tempsky; G. Freytag, 1900.
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a theological treatise by Augustine that explores the nature and meaning of Christian patience (*patientia*). The author begins by distinguishing between "hardness," where people endure physical suffering for worldly desires or evil ends, and "true patience," which is endured for the sake of God. Citing Job as the ultimate exemplar of patience, he refutes the act of suicide as an expression of impatience to escape suffering. Central to the treatise is the argument that true patience is not a product of human free will alone, but is a gift granted by divine grace (*gratia*) through the Holy Spirit. By employing the biblical allegory of Abraham's sons, the work concludes that only the true patience rooted in God's love leads to eternal beatitude.