Augustin died on 28 August 430. He worked on the further development and defence of his ideas until the last months of his life. His last book is a two-part treatise on predestination of extraordinary historical importance. Kurt Flasch draws attention to Augustine's striking ultimate phase of development. He shows how important it is to take a close look at this late phase in order to understand his complete works. Flasch describes the development of Augustine's self-criticism and points out the objections voiced from Marseilles, claiming that Augustine's new teaching darkens Christianity. He describes and evaluates the central elements of the doctrine of predestination and discusses the controversy surrounding predestination and freedom on the basis of Augustine's last polemic against Julian of Aeclanum. Flasch has re-translated large parts of Augustine's last book. He provides his commentary on each major section of the text. His criticism can thus be easily compared with Augustine's idea.

Autorentext
Kurt Flasch, Professor emeritus für Philosophie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, ist einer der international angesehensten deutschsprachigen Mediävisten und Philosophiehistoriker. Er ist Mitglied der Römischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Accademia die Lincei), ferner der Toskanischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Florenz (La Colombaria) und der Deutschen Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung.