Contemplation and Classical Christianity: A Study in AugustineAfter resolving to become a Catholic Christian, Augustine spent a decade trying to clarify his understanding of 'contemplation,' the interior presence of God to the soul. That long struggle yielded his classic account in the Confessions. This study explores Augustine's developing understanding of contemplation, beginning with his earliest accounts written before his baptism and ending with the Confessions. Chapter One examines the pagan monotheism of the Roman Platonists and the role of contemplation in their theology. Augustine's pre-baptismal writings are then considered in Chapter Two, tracking his fundamental break from pagan Platonism. Chapter Three then turns to Augustine's developing understanding of contemplation in these pre-baptismal texts. Chapter Four concentrates on Augustine's thought during the decade after his baptism in 387, a period that encompasses his monastic life in Thagaste, and his years first as a presbyter and then as a bishop in Hippo Regius. This chapter follows the arc of Augustine's thought through these years of transition and leads into the Confessions, giving a vantage point to survey its theology of contemplation. Chapter Five concentrates on the Confessions and sets its most famous account of contemplation, the vision at Ostia from Book IX, into a larger polemical context. Augustine's defence of his transcendental reading of scripture in Confessions XII is analysed and then used to illuminate the Ostian ascent narrative. The book concludes with observations on the importance of Augustine's theology of contemplation to the emergence of Christian monotheism in late antiquity. |
Contents
Contemplation and Pagan Monotheism | 11 |
Transcendence and Christian
Monotheism | 35 |
Contemplation at Cassiciacum | 61 |
Early Catholic Treatises | 93 |
Christian Transcendentalism | 129 |
Conclusion | 163 |
Bibliography | 171 |
| 185 | |
| 187 | |
Other editions - View all
Contemplation and Classical Christianity: A Study in Augustine John Peter Kenney Limited preview - 2013 |
Contemplation and Classical Christianity: A Study in Augustine John Peter Kenney No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
account of contemplation achieved apophasis apophatic apophatic theology articulated ascension narratives ascent aspect Augustine Augustine’s Augustinian beauty beginning Book XII caelum caeli Cassiciacum catechumenal Catholic Classical Christianity cognitive conception condition Confessions VII contem Contemplation and Classical contradictores cosmos created creation discern discovered distinct divine grace divine transcendence divine wisdom early embodied emerged Enneads epistemic ethical existence faith fallen soul finite Genesis God’s grasp heaven of heaven Hippo Regius human soul infinite initial inner intellect intelligible world interior knowledge late antiquity level of reality liberal arts libri Platonicorum light Manichaeism material metaphysical mind Monica moral Moreover nature Negative theology nonetheless notion omnipresence ontological ordine Ostia pagan monotheism passage perfection philosophy Platonism Platonists Plotinian Plotinus Porphyry present quantitate animae reading reason recognize religion Roman school scripture sense Soliloquia soteriology soul soul's soul’s spiritual sustained temporal texts theme theology things tolma transcendentalism treatises true truth underscores understanding unmediated vision