Augustine converted to Christianity in 386 and described his conversion in his Confessiones a decade later. Much ink has been spilled concerning the question of the specific nature of Augustine’s conversion and the ‘historical accuracy’ of his description thereof 10 years later. The Confessiones seem to describe a volte face: he radically embraced Christianity. But to what kind of Christianity did he convert? We will readdress this question, not by investigating his conversion, but by a close exegesis of Confessiones 9, (...) in which he describes the so-called Ostia-ecstasy. In the first part of our article, we discuss the description of the latter experience in Confessiones 9 and situate it within his conversion narrative, with attention to the symbolical language he used. The second part compares the Ostia-experience with the ascent of the soul as described in Plotinus’ Enneads, and with similar ‘Neoplatonic ascents’ present in the Confessiones and in writings penned by Augustine prior to or simultaneous with the Confessiones in order to elucidate the relationship between Augustine’s ‘Christian’ conversion and ‘Ostia-ecstasy’ with the Neoplatonic anabasis. (shrink)

El artículo trata sobre los sermones de san Agustín predicados en honor de san Esteban, destacando algunos aspectos de la teología agustiniana del martirio, los elementos teológicos principales de los sermones sobre san Esteban, así como la reflexión agustiniana sobre los milagros obrados por intercesión de san Esteban.

The task of this article is a two-fold approach to Augustine’s theory of knowledge, often called that of ‘divine illumination’, with particular attention to one of its seminal sources, his Soliloquia. The first approach is historical- and text-critical; we consider the text of the Soliloquia, its meaning and significance, the questions to which Augustine was implicitly responding at the time, and especially how this work broaches themes which are revisited and further developed in Augustine’s later works. In the second part, (...) we take the results of the foregoing analysis and apply to them a systematic-theological and philosophical method. First we contextualize Augustine’s theory of illumination, both in relation to his own works and beyond. We then argue for a distinction between two senses of illumination, namely ‘principal’ and ‘gradual’, which helps to account for the different ways in which illumination is applied by Augustine. Finally, we show how Augustine’s insights can be relevant to contemporary philosophy and theology, and how his ideas are implicated in contemporary debates. The upshot is an historical, philosophical, and theological consideration of Augustine’s theory of divine illumination, which aspires to strike a balance between doing justice to the text from an historical perspective and interpreting and applying it in the present day. (shrink)

En la primera parte de este artículo, el autor, sirviéndose de muchos elementos del comentario de Pelagio a la carta a los Romanos, estudia si Pelagio fue solo un moralista o también un teólogo y en qué grado lo fue. En la segunda parte, se centra en la teología contenida en el comentario de Pelagio a la carta a los Romanos. El artículo se limita al primer Pelagio: el anterior a la controversia que lo hizo famoso en la teología occidental.

El artículo aborda la relación entre los sermones de Agustín sobre la gracia y sus tratados doctrinales al respecto, particularmente los tratados antipelagianos. Para ello se estudia como una muestra el sermón 294 y el grupo de sermones 151-156. El autor se centra en el bautismo de niños, el pecado en general y el pecado original.

El artículo ofrece una recensión de las diversas opiniones sobre la datación del Sermón 90A (Dolbeau 11, Mainz 40), así como la opinión del autor, a partir de un análisis del contenido temático, lexical y hermenéutico del mismo.

The present article wishes to give a survey of the debate that took place in Rome at the end of the 1950’s and the beginning of the 1960’s. Against the background of the preparations for the Second Vatican Council, a fierce dispute arose between staff members of the Pontifical Lateran University on the one hand, and those belonging to the Pontifical Biblical Institute on the other. The issue at stake was whether or not critical historical readings of the Sacred Scriptures (...) could be accepted, combined with, or integrated in a theological approach of these same scriptures. The crisis thus took up questions that were already addressed in the modernist controversy, thereby adapting an old struggle to a new context. It is therefore referred to as the ‘neo-modernist crisis’. (shrink)

In our contribution we will discuss a specific aspect of Augustine’s doctrine of grace in a specific genre of his oeuvre: the thematisation of infant baptism and its consequence -the damnation of unbaptised children to hell— in his preaching ministry, particularly in sermones 174-176 and sermones 293-294. First, we will introduce Augustine’s position by sketching the historical, controversial and theological framework. Subsequently, we will present the said two groups of sermones ad populum. This research will enable us to evaluate the (...) specific treatment -rhetorically, theologically and even pastorally- of this issue in his sermons. (shrink)

En su intento de proteger los intereses espirituales de la Iglesia, Agustín evitó al principio de su ministerio la intervención del Estado; sin embargo, al aumentar con el paso del tiempo su preocupación por la coerción, pedirá con frecuencia la intervención del brazo secular, con un resultado benéfico para ambos. El artículo evalúa y replantea las circunstancias concretas de este cambio de actitud, y cómo éstas incidieron en el desarrollo del pensamiento del obispo de Hipona en lo concerniente a la (...) coerción religiosa; se pregunta si la explicación propuesta basta para clarificar esta parte tan enigmática de la vida de Agustín. (shrink)

1. In his recent work entitled Augustine and the Mystery of the Church, James K. Lee notes that fragmented approaches to the study of Augustine have unfortunately resulted in unidimensional and red...

Este artigo irá examinar a concepção de Agostinho de Hipona sobre o coração humano, visto que, ocupando o lugar de um cardiologista, Agostinho prescreve um tratamento terapêutico intensivo. Serão considerados três movimentos essenciais do cor agostiniano. Primeiramente, Agostinho propõe uma busca pelo coração, a câmara secreta, o centro vital interior que necessita ser reencontrado. Uma vez localizado o coração, somos levados a um segundo movimento: o retorno ao coração. Depois de diagnosticar sua própria doença cardíaca, um coração vazio, Agostinho propõe (...) uma terapia, a volta ao coração no encontro com um terapeuta divino, o Cristo; e um remédio potente, o esmagamento do coração. Terceiro, ascende-se com seu coração: o coração se eleva ao alto, sursum cor. Um coração saudável é um coração ascendente, com o amor como seu marca-passo. Retornar ao coração significa, portanto, voltar ao núcleo de uma autêntica existência, no chamado para não se fechar em si mesmo, para ascender em uma abertura de amor a uma alteridade, Deus e ao próximo. Como epílogo, iremos explorar de forma concisa dois contextos relacionados, nos quais Agostinho utiliza a imagem do coração: vida comunitária e espiritualidade. (shrink)

El artículo presenta una interpretación del texto de Cant 1, 6-7 en el contexto de la polémica antidonatista de Agustín. En la primera parte del artículo se toma en cuenta el sermo 46, para reconstruir la exégesis de Agustín sobre dicho texto, señalando otras explicaciones paralelas del mismo texto en diversas obras del Hiponate, para destacar, entre otras cosas, el status quaestionis de la presencia de este sermón en la Augustinus-Forschung. La segunda parte del artículo ofrece una posible lectura donatista (...) del texto de Cant 1, 6-7. Se trata de una lectura diferente de la ofrecida por Agustín. El artículo presenta la hipótesis de que en el centro de la exegesis donatista de Cant 1, 6-7 se encontraba una lectura martirial del sintagma tabernacula pastorum, mientras que la interpretación agustiniana del sintagma in meridie estaría orientada hacia un sentido geográfico del mismo, desplazando la polémeica con los donatistas, en torno a la identidad de la Iglesia, de un contexto martirial a un contexto meramente geográfico. (shrink)