奧古斯丁對於「死人」的相關論述分散於他的各種著作中，若是將那些論述中的觀點加以集結，可以統整為一套「死人神學」體系。他企圖將古希羅經典文獻中的死人敘事及其隱含的信念，加以一一的反駁，並相對應的提出符合基督教聖經與信仰的死人觀點，欲藉此去解構主導西方數百年之久的古代「異教∕希羅化」死人信念。若從中世紀高峰及後期的宗教改革時代（此兩個時期中奧古斯丁神學佔有主導性地位）回首俯視，將可以看見奧古斯丁確實帶領了西方世界從過去古希羅式的死亡思想，轉向他所建構出的「基督教∕拉丁化」死人教義。此為西方「死人思想史」上的典範轉移。

In various genres of his writings, Augustine discoursed upon the dead. His “Theology of the Dead” can be formed by integrating and interpreting those discourses, in which he attempted not only to refute almost every pagan belief about dead people reflected in the influential works of ancient Greco-Roman literature, but also to formulate a Christian doctrine of them. His endeavors to deconstruct the Greco-Roman thought on this subject (which had dominated for several hundred years in the ancient western world) and then convert it into his Latin Christian view were achieved from the perspective of the high Middle Ages or the Reformation, in either period that Augustine’s theology was greatly esteemed. His endeavors marked a paradigm shift in the history of the western thought on the dead.