Augustine's early thought on the redemptive function of divine judgment / Bart Van Egmond.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Egmond, Bart van, author.

Series:

• Oxford early Christian studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430--Criticism and interpretation.
• Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430.
• Judgment of God--History of doctrines.
• Justification (Christian theology)--History of doctrines.
• Judgment of God.
• Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

• Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

viii, 293 pages ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2018.

Summary:

Augustine's Early Thought on the Redemptive Function of Divine Judgement considers the relationship between Augustine's account of God's judgment and his theology of grace in his early works. How does God use his law and the penal consequences of its transgression in the service of his grace, both personally and through his 'agents' on earth? Augustine reflected on this question from different perspectives. As a teacher and bishop, he thought about the nature of discipline and punishment in the education of his pupils, brothers, and congregants. As a polemicist against the Manichaeans and as a biblical expositor, he had to grapple with issues regarding God's relationship to evil in the world, the violence God displays in the Old Testament, and in the death of0his own Son. Furthermore, Augustine meditated on the way God's judgment and grace related in his own life, both before and after his conversion.0Bart van Egmond follows the development of Augustine's early thought on judgment and grace from the Cassiacum writings to the Confessions. The argument is contextualized both against the background of the earlier Christian tradition of reflection on the providential function of divine chastisement, and the tradition of psychagogy that Augustine inherited from a variety of rhetorical and philosophical sources. This study expertly contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussion on the development of Augustine's doctrine of grace, and to the conversation on the theological roots of his justification of coercion against the Donatists.

Contents:

• God's Judgement and his Mercy; Why Study Augustine on this Topic Today? p. 1
• Contextualizing the Research Question p. 3
• Outline and Method p. 20
• 2 Cassiciacum: The Discipline of Fortune and Dialogue p. 22
• The Retreat to Cassiciacum p. 22
• The Assault of Fortune p. 24
• The Disciplinary Power of Dialogue p. 41
• The Discipline of the Soul in the Process of Ascent p. 47
• 3 God's Pedagogy of the Embodied Soul: Augustine before his Ordination (387-391) p. 59
• From Rome to Thagaste p. 59
• Augustine's Anti-Manichaean Theology of the Fall and its Consequences p. 60
• Punishment as a Pedagogical Tool throughout Salvation History p. 86
• Law and Fear in Augustine's Understanding of Christian Progress p. 101
• Augustine's Forced Ordination p. 103
• 4 Reappropriating Paul and Exercising Discipline: Augustine during his Presbyterate (391-397) p. 111
• Augustine the Presbyter and Manichaeism: Reclaiming Paul p. 112
• The Consequences of the First Sin p. 114
• The Function of the Law in the Process of Salvation p. 131
• Christ's Redemptive Bearing of the Punishment of Sin p. 141
• The Form and Function of Divine Judgement in the Christian Life p. 158
• The Discipline of the Church: Serving God's Pedagogy p. 165
• 5 Confessions: God's Lawsuit with Augustine between the Deferral and the Reception of Baptism p. 196
• Creation, Sin, and Punishment: The Mind made Captive to the Law of the Flesh p. 197
• The Young Augustine: Life in the Flesh and God's Chastisements p. 199
• God's Disciplinary Response to a Deaf Augustine p. 207
• Augustine's Philosophical Awakening and the Resistance of the Flesh p. 212
• Augustine's Gradual Return to Christianity and his State of Suspense p. 219
• God's Disciplinary Punishments of Augustine the Seeker of Truth p. 222
• Being Brought under the Law: The Effect of Reading the Platonists p. 224
• Rediscovering Christianity through Paul p. 230
• Effecting Conversion p. 235
• Cassiciacum: Ongoing Conversion Leading to Baptism p. 241
• Judgement in the Life after Baptism p. 244
• Divine Judgement and Philosophical Pedagogy p. 256
• Judgment and Mercy in Augustine's Anti-Manichaean Polemic p. 259
• The Debates about Grace and Augustine's Justification of Coercion p. 263.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-288) and indexes.

ISBN:

• 0198834926
• 9780198834922

OCLC:

1041511487