On the Trinity

By: St. Augustine of Hippo

Narrated by: Kevin F Spalding

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

This book was written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430) to discuss the Trinity in relation to God the Word (logos). Even though it is not as well known as some of his other writings, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece and of more doctrinal importance than either the Confessions or the City of God.

St. Augustine is considered a saint in the Catholic Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He is ranked among the doctors of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists and Lutherans, esteem him as one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation on account of his teachings on salvation and divine grace.

Public Domain (P)2020 Patristic Publishing

Well done, but not the full book

The reader does an admirable job reading. Just be aware that only the first nine of Augustine’s fifteen book treatise is contained here.

A classic well narrated

I had long wanted to sit and read St Augustine's classic work on the Trinity. This is a major work with incredible significance, not just for the Catholic Church, but in the context of a dispute that has raged for millennia now over the nature of Christ. And this is definitely a must-read work to better understand the arguments that many have presented, at least in terms of Augustine's response to those arguments, and he is quite clear in his rejection of certain of those arguments. The very length and complexity of Augustine's work made me suspect that I really would have to see the text before me, that an audiobook would either not do the treatise justice or not allow space and time for the listener to follow Augustine's arguments and comprehend his words. But the narrator, Kevin Spalding, did a fine job of guiding the listener along. His skill at narrating is most clearly highlighted by his refined intonation, which guides the listener through otherwise exceedingly long and complicated sentences and paragraphs. I felt Spalding's narration was indeed enough for me to follow and appreciate Augustine's amazing treatise.

Thankful for an audiobook of this text at all….

….but it sounds like John Stossel is reading it to me in a segment from 20/20, which is unfortunate.

Weird and Robotic Narration

I'm not sure how Kevin F Spalding ever got a voice gig. This sounds like an early GPS Voice or Mac Text Reader. It's difficult to hold onto what he is talking about.

Greatest theological mind ... read by a parrot

It grieves me to say that the narrator totally destroyed my ability to enjoy this wonderful tome. I can follow dense audiobooks (such as Thomas' Summa) without too much difficulty provided the narration is at least average. Unfortunately, Kevin F. Spalding's reading did not come up to the tolerable minimum. In fact, I've heard Blue Macaws with a greater range of intonation and more human-like voice inflection. Listening to his highly predictable sing-song rendition is the audio equivalent of a children's rollercoaster.

Reader is terrible.

The reader makes it almost impossible to understand this great work. He emphasizes seemingly random words or uses a strange cadence which makes it necessary to try to understand Saint Augustine, as it were, through the thicket of his reading. In addition, it is annoying that he pronounces the word God as Gad.

The reader is not good

Great book but the reader has a terrible cadence. I could not follow the reader at all. Rhythm was way off.

Not the whole. Missing the last 6 Books of OTT.

This recording is missing the last 6 Books of OTT. Augustin clearly intended all 15 books to be part of his full project.

Perfect Reading of 1st 9 chapters.

Wished there were the next 6 as well. Regardless, this is the heart of the book and this reading makes it easy to understand.

Deep Water.

One of the greatest minds to ever live. This is deep book but solid theological.

Interesting subject rendered almost unlistenable

The tempo the narrator reads at is similar to a bad Ai or Sat nav. The speech is disjointed. I was listening to this for university and deeply regret not just getting the book.

A Difficult Listen

I do realise the importance of this work but it is very hard to follow.