With this issue of Augustinian Studies, we present what we hope will be one of many review symposia, to honor major contributions to the study of St. Augustine, his world, and the Augustinian tradition. Each symposium will follow the same form: three reviews of the work in question, followed by the response of the author.
In this issue, our focus will be on James J. O'Donnell's recent three-volume commentary on Augustine's Confessions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992). Reviewing this work are Daniel J. Sheerin, Professor of Classics, University of Notre Dame; J. Patout Burns, Jr., The Thomas and Alberta White Professor of Christian Thought at Washington University in Saint Louis; and George Lawless, OSA, Professor at the Patristic Institut, the Augustinianum and the Gregorianum University in Rome. Following these reviews is Professor O'Donnell's response.
We hope our readers will find the symposium a useful enhancement to the Reviews section of Augustinian Studies. It is our continuing intention to provide quality critical discussion of recent books in reviews which take full advantage of the opportunities for length and detail afforded by a specialized journal such as this.
John C. Cavadini, Book Review Editor