Responses to Miscellaneous Questions

This volume contains three books: Miscellany of Eighty-Three Questions, Miscellany of Questions in Response to Simplician, and Eight Questions of Dulcitius.

Responses to Miscellaneous Questions contains three works of Saint Augustine of Hippo:

Eighty-Three Different Questions - De diversis quaestionibus octoginta tribus

To Simplicianus, on Various Questions - Ad Simplicianum de diversis quaestionibus

Eight Questions of Dulcitius - De octo Dulcitii quaestionibus

These three of Augustine's works show him responding to a wide variety of questions posed by different persons.

The Miscellany of Eighty-Three Questions was compiled over the course of several years and deals with philosophical, theological and exegetical matters that had been raised in the religious community that Augustine founded and headed. Some of these matters are handled very briefly, some at great length. Augustine's exegesis is particularly interesting.

The Miscellany of Questions in Response to Simplician was written at the request of the saintly bishop of Milan who followed Ambrose in that role. This work, in the form of two books, is crucially important for understanding Augustine's theology of grace and how he arrived at his position on this issue, which is certainly his most important contribution to Western theology, but the questions are not limited to a discussion of grace.

Finally, The Eight Questions of Dulcitius includes responses to questions in which, uniquely, Augustine quotes himself at length.