Historiography and Origins in Augustine CD X-XIV (original) (raw)
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Notes on a Method: Engaging with Augustine at the Intersection of Philosophy, Theology, and History
Notes on a Method: Engaging with Augustine at the Intersection of Philosophy, Theology, and History, 2022
This article addresses the following question: Is it possible, and if so, to what extent, to draw upon sources from different contexts or disciplines to perform theological research? The first part describes the historical origins and contemporary application of the handmaiden model of theology (“philosophy is the handmaiden of theology,” philosophia ancilla theologiae). In the second section, I consider two closely related objections to this model, namely confirmation bias (or eisegesis) and anachronism. Section three demonstrates that while these objections should be carefully considered, they do not preclude altogether the possibility of engaging with sources across temporal or disciplinary boundaries. Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy grounds the possibility of such interaction. The remainder of the article provides a more specific vision of how this model can be practiced. First, I look to the theological tradition itself, in particular Augustine’s interpretive principles as applied to Genesis 1 (Confessiones 12) and Michael Fishbane’s appropriation of the Jewish hermeneutical tradition. Finally, the contemporary scholars William Desmond and Cyril O’Regan exemplify the responsible constructive engagement with the sources. I argue that practitioners of the handmaiden model must take seriously objections to and concerns about their methodology. Nonetheless, once critically adapted to present circumstances, this model is feasible for a contemporary scholarly context. One can respect the integrity of the sources while also interpreting them in ways which apply to present theological interests. A key implication of this research is that for each to function properly, historical theology and systematic theology must consistently interact with each other.
This essay attempts to analyze Augustine’s hermeneutics and homiletics in his De doctrina christiana. I will offer a succinct synopsis of the work and highlight various points showing Augustine’s hermeneutical and homiletical characteristics. Augustine stresses the importance of humiliation in the study of Scripture. He also regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith. In Augustine’s hermeneutics, sign has an important role. God can communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus, humiliation, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine endorses some teaching of the Platonism of his time, he corrects and recasts it according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline, he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of all, to love God and neighbor. * Key words: Augustine, hermeneutics, humiliation, love, prayer
Augustine’s ecclesiology and its development between 354 and 387 AD
Hts Teologiese Studies Theological Studies, 2013
The aim of this article is twofold. The first is to describe Augustine's ecclesiology and its development between his birth (354) and baptism (387). Secondly, it will show that the defining features of Augustine's later ecclesiology were in place by the year 387 AD. Augustine's ecclesiology between his birth and 19th year (354-373) Some scholars like Clark believe that Augustine's ecclesiology was influenced by the preceding African theologians Cyprian, Optatus and his own reading of scripture (1994:73). This seems to be true, but is not the full truth. O'Meara rightly argues that 'men have often forgotten the[se] first years of Christian belief and piety when Augustine was a willing pupil at his mother's knee' (1954:38). Van Oort goes further by saying, that from his early youth, Augustine grew up in the tradition of the Catholic Church and received a Christian education ([1991] 2013:26). It is clear that Augustine did have some form of ecclesiology during this early period of his life yet this is admittedly difficult to fully determine. Nonetheless, there is evidence to show its existence and that Augustine remembered what it was when he penned the Confessions.
THE CHRISTOLOGICAL HERMENEUTICS OF AUGUSTINE IN BENEDICT XVI'S MIND
Quarens, 2021
This study attempts to explore the Christological hermeneutics of Augustine in Benedict XVI's method of reading Christ. Benedict XVI stressed that Augustine's method of knowing Christ boils down to the personalization of faith in Christ. It is a form of divinization or Christification. The quest for Christ should answer the question on how one should assimilate Christ and not just focus on scrutinizing and dissecting the faith. In the thought of Benedict XVI, the Augustinian maxim Crede ut Intelligas Is 7:9 (LXX), though ancient, is still a valuable method in the quest for Christ. Those who explore the world of the Son of God should be well grounded in the ecclesial faith since the Church provides a true image of Christ in the process of knowing Christ. The Augustinian Christological hermeneutics calls for a series of unities such as, faith and reason, faith and history, Bible and Church, Christology and Soteriology, for a comprehensive and convincing presentation of the image of Christ. Benedict XVI reiterated Augustine's interplay of faith and reason, theology and spirituality, the search for Christ in the Church, prayer and liturgy, faith and love, and material and spiritual in the quest for the real Jesus.
Remythologizing Augustine: History and Politics at the Edge of Time 2023 Saint Augustine Lecture
Augustinian Studies, 2024
This lecture seeks to resurrect the difficult project of a theology of history as a necessary correlate of renewed interest in political theology. The theme of history and politics is both ambitious and familiar, admitting a vast literature just within Augustine studies given his efforts to understand time, creation, and the historical careers of the ciuitas permixta and the "most glorious" ciuitas dei. That literature is usually focused on the much-debated saeculum and Augustine's rejection of cyclical history through a linear, universal history that admits apocalyptic discourse. My overarching goal is to inspire a contemporary Augustinian political theology that is more theological, more biblical, and more political, retrieving a contested category in the field: myth. This lecture seeks to resurrect the difficult project of a theology of history as a necessary correlate of renewed interest in political theology. 1 The theme of history and politics is both ambitious and familiar, admitting a vast literature just within Augustine studies given his efforts to understand time, creation, and the historical