Divine providence : a history : the Bible, Virgil, Orosius, Augustine, and Dante / Brenda Deen Schildgen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schildgen, Brenda Deen, 1942- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History--Philosophy.

History.

Providence and government of God.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (265 pages)

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Holding divine intervention responsible for political and military success and failure has a long history in western thought. This book explores the idea of providential history as an organizing principle for understanding the divine purpose for humans in texts that may be literary, historical, philosophical, and theological. Providential History shows that, with Virgil and the Bible as authoritative precursors to late antique views on history, the two most important political thinkers of the late antique Christian world, Orosius and Augustine, produced the theories of Christian politics and history that were carried over into the first and second millennium of Christianity. Likewise, their understanding of how the history of the late Roman Empire connects to God's plan for humankind became the background for understanding Dante's own positions in the Monarchia and the Commedia. Brenda Deen Schildgen examines Dante's engagement with these authoritative sources, whether in biblical, ancient Roman writers, or the specific legacy of Orosius and Augustine. "--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Introduction : The idea of divine providence in Orosius, Augustine, and Dante

Destined lands and chosen fathers: Virgil, Livy, and the Bible

Orosius defends the Roman Empire

Augustine's theology of history

Dante's monarchia with and against Augustine

Dante's Commedia and the ascent to incarnational history

Conclusion : "The hand of God.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-237) and index.

ISBN:

9781441131386

1441131388

9781628926750

1628926759

9781283741194

1283741199

9781441146106

1441146105

OCLC:

810078003