Abstract

This article intends to demonstrate that for Augustine, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from a unification synonymous of consonance. Also, this is linked to the properties he attributes to the Holy Ghost. First of all, it can be seen from his exegetical theory of the reception of the Scriptures (the notion of plurality of meanings, developed in books XII and XIII of the Confessions. The idea of consonance also plays an important role in his demonstration of the agreement of the evangelists in the De consensu euangelistarum. Finally, the idea of concord and consonance of the Scriptures allows him to criticize not only the multiplicity of discordant pagan cults, but also the disagreement between philosophical schools, as he does in book I of the De consensu; and in book XVIII of the City of God, he uses the same arguments against the whole of the «earthly city». Hermeneutic, philosophic and political categories are joined together by these images of consonance.