Augustine, his Sermons, and their Significance (HTS 2009) (original) (raw)

Augustine, the Religious Educator: His Relevance for Educating Christians in Contemporary Society

European Scientific Journal, 2014

Jesus came into the world purposely to inaugurate the Kingdom of God and invited people to repent and enter into it-cf. Mk 1: 15. He called his apostles and disciples to be with him in the course of his ministry here on earth. After forming them, he sent them into the world with these words, "Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always, to the end of time"-Matt. 28:19-20. The apostles carried out this great commission in the apostolic times. After their demise, the mantle fell on the church Fathers like Clement, Athanasius and Tertullian. One of the church Fathers who has greatly influence Christianity through his teachings is Augustine. In this paper, Augustine's First Catechetical Instructions and its relevance for Christians in contemporary society is examined.

St. Augustine, "On Preaching": A Critical Summary of Book IV of "On Christian Doctrine"

In this précis, I first briefly summarize "On Preaching" (or "Book IV" of "On Christian Doctrine"). Then I give a longer synopsis of key terms and quotations—especially Augustine’s treatment of the offices (instruct, please, and persuade) and styles (plain, moderate, and grand) of rhetoric. Finally, I provide a brief evaluation of the text, in which I laude Augustine’s deft synthesis of the offices and styles into the three-phase, or three-point sermon. Many preachers today, unwittingly, still use a reduction of Augustine's rhetorical approach to preaching.

Augustine’s Theological Method And Contribution To The Christian Theology

2020

Today, the world is influenced by many views, such as secularism and atheism, which affect many people, so they are far from God. Because of them, moral and ethical standards are not based on the belief of God, but just on the humanity standard. For Christianity, the views cause many of God's believers to leave the Scripture's truths. To solve the problem, Christians must learn from the Christian theologian who has a significant contribution to Christian theology. One of the Christian theologians is Augustine. Augustine was one of Christian’s famous theologians, in which his theology/thoughts are influenced Christian theology today. This research uses a library research method to explore Augustine's ideas. The books that expose about Augustine's views are used to find Augustine's theology. The result of the research is that Augustine's theology is necessary and relevant to Christian's theology today to confront the world's views so that the pe...

Augustine's relevance for contemporary religious education

2015

For young people, Augustine can have something of mysterium fascinosum et tremendum. His engaging personality and passionate life can, on the one hand, have a strong appealing force. On the other hand, some of his more extreme ideas can arouse opposition amongst the young. In order to determine the possible significance of Augustine as inspiration and subject for religious education today, the present article develops a double movement: (1) deconstruction and (2) construction. (1) Many pictures and even many prejudices exist of Augustine. Precisely the excellent case study offered to us by Augustine when he evaluates current prejudices of theologians and religious texts of our Christian tradition is in itself already a first element for establishing Augustine's contemporary relevance for religious education. (2) Once Augustine is stripped from prejudices and we have obtained a 'neutral' and historical correct view of his time, life and writings, we will understand the constructive interaction between context and content in Augustine, the theologian. Herein lies a second possible relevance of Augustine. Finally, we will constructively examine how Augustine's most fundamental intuitionssuch as his ideas on grace-can be relevant for theological thought in general and current religious education in particular.

Language and Scripture as Structuring Principles of Augustine's Sermons 186 and 187

Augustiniana, 2013

Abstract: The dispositio or arrangement which Augustine himself uses as a frame of reference in De doctrina christiana is not always immediately obvious in his sermons. Several authors of older publications have detected little or no structure in the sermons. More recent publications show that others suspect that there is some kind of structure. Nonetheless uncertainty about the organisation of the sermons is still widespread. This article presents an examination of the structure of sermons 186 and 187. It argues that the internal division of these sermons can be determined on the basis of linguistic signals. Moreover, the use of scriptural quotations or references also points to the existence of separate sections. The results of this study show that Augustine also implemented the division into four parts which he presented in De doctrina christiana in his sermons.