ABSTRACT
Engaged at the end of the fourth century, the correspondence between Jerome and Augustine brings together two of the greatest minds of Late Antiquity—two theologians united in defense of orthodoxy, but opposed to each other on important issues. A figure of the past, Jerome is an exceptional stylist with an impossible character. Embodying the future, the Augustine is a rather sociable character for whom only evidence matters. Covering the questions of divine freedom and salvation, the 30 or so letters they exchange between 394 and 419 give rise to a very particular debate. In a very polite costume, the dialogue between the two ecclesiastics conceals a bitter dispute in which bad faith is mixed with threats, ulterior motives, unspoken resentments and incomprehension.
