Zeitschriftenartikel zum Thema „Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo Influence“

The article examines E.N. Trubetskoy’s reception of the religious and philosophical heritage of Aurelius Augustine, in the framework of his study of the formation of Western Christianity medieval religious and social ideal in the writings of the teachers Latin Church of the fifth century and Catholic authors of the eleventh century. The author determines the prin¬cipal problems that Trubetskoy wanted to highlight in his 1892 master's thesis on Saint Augustine. The philosopher intended to analyze the main life milestones of becoming Augustine as a great Christian apologist, to show the key mistakes of a dogmatic nature committed by foreign researchers of Augustine. Another original task of Trubetskoy was to show the continuity of special ideas of Augustine from the achieve¬ments of the Roman jurisprudence. Finally, with its explicit task, he was going to demon¬strate the significance of Au¬gustine's personality as the “father of medieval theocracy”. It is possible to conclude that the interest of the Russian philosopher in the legacy of the Bishop of Hippo was formed mainly under the influence of the figure of V.S. Solovyov and his project of “free theoc¬racy”. The paper also emphasizes contemporary assessments of the place of Trubetskoy's mono¬graph among domestic historical studies about the father of the Western Church. For the first time his correspondence of the 80-90s with Sergei N. Trubetskoy is revealed in the context of Evgeny Trubetskoy's work on the “Worldview of St. Augustine”. It refers to the new edition of the “Philosophical correspondence of the Trubetskoy brothers” prepared by K.B. Ermishina. This correspondence allows us not only to note important details about the goals and progress of Trubetskoy's re¬search, but also to find out his elder brother’s attitude towards him.

ABBOTS in politics were surely a medieval commonplace, one might be tempted to say: what have these two egregious examples, Wala of Corbie (826–34, ob. 836) and Bernard of Clairvaux (1115–53), to say to us which countless others could not also say? If my two were not unique, however, they were comparative rarities, in that they became involved in politics (if that is the right word), not because of their feudal obligations, nor because they sought to propagate monastic reform on the basis of the observance of their own monastery, nor again because they associated the glory of their own house with a particular cause or royal line, but avowedly for the sake of moral principle, incurring enmities in the process, and, cloistered monks as they were, acting to some extent against the interests and wishes of their own flocks. The monk-bishop was a common enough figure, and the greatest men of this type, pre-eminently Augustine of Hippo and Pope Gregory the Great, have given us profound thoughts about how contemplation could and should be kept alive amidst the cares of the active and pastoral life. But neither Wala nor Bernard became a bishop, and paradoxically the latter's widespread and non-institutionalised influence might have been diminished had he done so. As one of Bernard's biographers felicitously but ingenuously put it in recounting that the saint had actually refused many bishoprics, ‘from under the bushel of his humility he gave a greater light to the church than others raised to the chandeliers’.

The article examines the expression ‘poculum tuum obliuionem’ in the writings of Saint Augustine, presenting the interpretation that the Bishop of Hippo makes of Psalm 23 (22) in his Enarrationes in Psalmos.

The article addresses the spirituality of marriage according to Saint Augustine and has three parts. In the first part, the context of the Roman family institution, in which the Christian vision of the family was born and matured, is presented. Secondly, the presentation of the Christian family in the time of Saint Augustine is made, highlighting the three heterodox currents of that time in relation to marriage, as well as the position of the Bishop of Hippo regarding the body. Subsequently, a presentation of the most significant texts of De Bono coniugali is made. Thirdly, some pastoral observations are presented, starting from the penitential practice of Saint Augustine in relation to the wounded families, to later make a comparison with the contents expressed by Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia on the same topic.

The article presents, in the first part, some socio-political phenomena from Saint Augustine’s time, which caused migrations, to discuss which was the reaction of the Bishop of Hippo to these events. The topic of migrations and refugees are dealt taking as point of departure the Favencio’s dossier (epp. 113-116), as well as the case of Fascio, as it is described in Saint Augustine’s ep. 268. As an example of economic migrants, the case of the family of Antonino of Fusala is analyzed, as described in ep. 20*. Starting from the migratory movements of Saint Augustine’s time, as well as the decline of the great institutions and the internal corruption of the Roman Empire itself, the article presents Saint Augustine’s spiritual idea of peregrinus and peregrinatio, highlighting the characteristics of this essential augustinian spiritual anthropological condition, making a diachronic research in the Works of the Bishop of Hippo to identify the presence and meaning of the word peregrinus. Finally, the article presents some practical conclusions to face the reality of migration in our days, taking inspiration from the ideas and the life of Saint Augustine.

The article addresses two specific areas on the topic of the iudex in Augustine, namely: his thought and his episcopal activity. First, the article deals with the roots of the concept of iudex in the Greek and Latin legal tradition. Later the idea of iudex is approached within the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline writings. Next, the theological and eschatological dimension of iudex in Saint Augustine is presented, highlighting the common use that the Bishop of Hippo makes of the term iudex, underlining words such as Iudicium, or legal situations such as the iudex qui litem suam fecit, or the decision of the iudex, considered from a theological and legal point of view. In this theological dimension, the aspect of God as universal and cosmological iudex is not excluded. Subsequently, the Donatist dispute is analyzed from a legal perspective, highlighting the ecclesiastical law of the state, discussing the epp. 133, 151 and 134, stressing in the latter the legal value of the word necessitas. The importance of the episcopal intercessio is also underlined, analyzing epp. 152 and 153, as well as the terms of reus, supplicium and supplicatio, within the framework of the Pelagian polemic. The article also considers the issue of compelle intrare, in epp. 93, 173, as well as in the s. 112. The correspondence of Saint Augustine with Boniface and Dulcitius (ep. 185, De correctione donatistarum), ep. 204 is analyzed in this same context, as well as some texts from c. Gaud. The dimension of the iudex in the Pelagian controversy is also addressed, discussing particularly texts from Gest. Pel. and c. Iul. imp., highlighting in this last work the legal vocabulary, particularly the words that refer to the iudex. The epìscopalis Audientia is also addressed, presenting the imperial laws that framed it, both those of Constantine, as well as those of Honorius and Arcadius, to later stress the actions that Saint Augustine performed as a judge. As an example of the performance of Saint Augustine as judge, ep. 7 * is discussed, highlighting the actions of the Bishop of Hippo as a judge in matters related to property, as well as Saint Augustine’s knowledge of the legal terms and procedures, presenting the example of ep. 8*, and his technical use of terms such as actio in rem, uindicatio, causa, among others. Finally, ep. 24* is discussed, where the knowledge that Saint Augustine had of the ius uetus and of the ius nouum is revealed.

The last Books of Augustine’s Confessions (XI-XIII) have been studied from different points of view, particularly from a philosophical or exegetical perspective, but not, taken as a whole and with detail, from an ecological point of view. For that reason, the article deals with the ideas about Creation in the three last Books of Confessions, as a point of departure to talk about ecology. Then the article presents the ideas about Ecology that Saint Augustine develops within the three last Books of his Confessions, underlining the spiritual and ecological consequences of the insights of the Bishop of Hippo. The article also discusses the relationship of the Document Laudato Si’ with the ideas that St. Augustine develops in the last book of his Confessions (Books XI-XIII).

The treatise of Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo, intituled De bono coniugali presents the unique dogmatist and at the same time moralistic view on the topic of marriage, which did not have, at the time, the analogy in the patristic literature. In this paper we focus on the Saint Augustine’s apology of the marriage. In centre of our interest will be the moral principles of the married couples issued from the main characteristic rudiments of the marriage defined by our bishop of Hippo that are used in the catholic Church almost without any changes also in nowadays. The marriage as the union of man and woman was from the beginning viewed as the base of the human society of any religion. Also the pagan Rome esteemed a lot the family and the spouses procreating and raising the children for the fatherland. The Christianity brings to the marriage the new aspect by giving to it the character of the sanctity and inviolability. The marriages were united with the goal of the procreation of the legitimate offspring but its absence, according Saint Augustine, did not make the obstacle of the sanctity and the purpose of the marriage. The Church in the confrontation with the pagan customs and traditions, or the sinful concupiscence of the man, well maintained the observation of the sacrament of the marriage, which provides with the new content. That is why the marriage became the sacred union based on the norm of the inviolability, the equality of both spouses, the procreation of the offspring and mutual fidelity. By theses rules the Church helped the women to gain the more dignify position in the society than it given by the roman legislative.

One of the essential works to understand Max Scheler's thought is titled, with an augustinian expression, Ordo amoris. Is it a mere coincidence? Or may it exist a major relationship between both thinkers? The article demonstrates that a complete analysis of this question could lead us to conclude that there is a deep influence of Saint Augustine in Scheler. This is revealed in an explicit way on certain quotations of the saint of Hippo made by Scheler, and implicitly in main concepts of Sheler's thinking, as the Gesinnung, meaning ‘attitude of intention’.

Augustine of Hippo was active in the period leading up to conciliar definitions of Christology, yet he displays remarkably distinct preferences in his treatment of Christ. Rather than repurposing his work to discover antecedent traces of the Chalcedonian definition –or the pervading influence of Nicene faith–one must remain open to Augustine’s own Christological method. For, in fact, as much as he held to a firm belief in the objective work of Christ and its proper role in the divine plan for human salvation, Augustine maintains a certain approach to biblical exegesis that reinvents our notions of Christology to include, primarily, exegetical praxis. A valuable example of this practice appears in the early ‘anti-Donatist’ homilies on John, in particular in the 9th and 15th where Augustine reads Christ into the whole of Scripture, beginning with Gen. 2:24-5. In so doing, the bishop of Hippo builds upon essentially Pauline interpretative strategies, even in his reading of the Fourth Gospel. The present contribution aims to identify those Pauline elements, chiefly among them the role of Eph. 5:31-2 and Rom. 5:14, the latter of which presents Adam as ‘forma futuri’ – that is, a prophet of Christ. In his reading of John 2 on the Wedding at Cana (homily 9) and John 4 (homily 15), Augustine develops a hermeneutic of recognising Christological prophecy in the ‘old testament’, and in so doing he develops the Pauline sentiment of Rom. 5:14 in new directions, applying it liberally to the successive Hebrew patriarchs. This new turn in studies of Romans, chapter 5, under the Christological programme of Augustine during his early anti-Donatist engagement, offers new light on possible early Christian interpretations of the Bible – especially welcome after so many reflections on Rom. 5:12 and its influence for the later Pelagian controversy.

The article addresses the figure of Widows in the ancient Church, making a brief summary of the literature that exists on them in the Pre-Nicene era, particularly the Apostolic Traditio, the Didascalia Apostolorum, the Ecclesiastical Constitution of the Apostles (also known as Canons of the Apostles, Egyptian Apostolic Constitution), showing that in the Pre-Nicene Church (1st-2nd centuries), widows were inserted into an ecclesial coetus. Subsequently, the article focuses on Ambrose’s De uiduis, highlighting how the Bishop of Milan inserted the widow into the Church’s life of his time, particularly underlining the works of charity they carried out, stressing their possible work in the reconciliation of women. Later, the treatise of Saint Augustine De bono uiduitatis is addressed, highlighting the role of charity that they exercised within the Church of Hippo, as well as their interaction and integration with the Consecrated Virgins and the Married.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved international fame for her 1852 antislavery novel,Uncle Tom's Cabin, is best known to historians of American religious thought as a critic of New England Calvinism and its leading light, Jonathan Edwards. But in airing her frustrations with the Puritan tradition, Stowe also singled out a much earlier source of the problem: Augustine, the fifth-century bishop of Hippo. At his worst, Augustine typified for Stowe not only theological rigidity but also the obdurate refusal of the male system-builders to take women's perspectives seriously. Consequently, in the New England of the early republic, when “the theology of Augustine began to be freely discussed by every individual in society, it was the women who found it hardest to tolerate or assimilate it.” In leveling such criticism, Stowe echoed her elder sister Catharine Beecher, a prominent educator and social reformer, whose well-known writings on the role of women in the home have often overshadowed her two companion volumes of theology, in which she devotes more attention to Augustine than to any other figure. Yet for all her extended critiques of Augustinian themes, Beecher buried her most provocative rhetorical flourish, as one might conceal a dagger, in the last endnote on the last page of the second volume. Seizing upon the African context of Augustine's career as a metaphor for his deleterious influence on Christian theology, she concluded that reasonable people have a duty to resist the “African enslavement of Anglo-Saxon minds” no less than to combat the “Anglo-Saxon enslavement of African bodies.”

The Christianity in Britain has developed in the first centuries, spreading together with the Romanity, Constantine the Great himself being crowned emperor inthis providence. But after the withdrawal of the Roman troops in 410 by Emperor Honorius and after the invasion of the Saxons, Angles and Ithians, Christianity disappeared almost entirely, remaining only among the British natives who run from the Saxon invasion in the Cornwall peninsula, in Wales and on the NW coast of the province. Among the most active missionaries in this province, St. Patrick, who is considered to be the apostle of Ireland, was noted during the same period. Under his influence, the number of monasteries increased and the society that shepherded was profoundly changed. In this universe of faith St. Columba made himself known. Together with his 12 disciples, he headed to the kingdom of Dalriada, a maritime state encompassing the northern Ulster region of Ireland and the south-west coast of Scotland. Here, Saint Columba converted the entire monarchy, obtaining from the king an island to establish a monastery. He was granted the island of Iona on the west coast of Scotland, where he founded a monastery that will become a true focal point of culture and Christianity in the area. From Iona, Celtic Christianity spread throughout Scotland, converting the picts, then passing Hadrian’s Wave to Britain, where the Holy Bishop Aidan founded a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne. Later, St. Augustine of Canterbury, brought the Christianity back into the British Island, being sent there by Pope Gregory the Great.

St. Augustine is regarded as master of the an allegorical interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. It consists in drawing out from the biblical text the deepest meaning. Using such kind of interpretation, he tried in one of his greatest exegeti­cal works – Enarrationes in Psalmos, to explain for his faithful the mystery of the Church by means of a number of motives from the parables, biblical topographic and cosmic subjects, as well as from many biblical events and personages, in­terpreted in an allegorical spirit. So, in this article an effort has been made to show only some ideas of Augustine’s ecclesiological reflections that look as fruit of his allegorical interpretation of Noah’s Arc and the happenings related to it. The carried out analyses show that the figure of Noah’s Arc and the happenings related to it, served the bishop of Hippona to present the Church as a community composed of all nations of the world which are being incorporated in its organism after a previous conversion and receiving baptism as a result of proclamation the Gospel which should perform a priority role in the saving service of the Church. In Augustine’s opinion, the Church should be the place of proclamation the Truth, the teaching of which in the Church should be characterized by absolute fidelity to the Christian doctrine. What’s more, the Church is a community of saint and sin­ful people. It unceasingly undertakes strenuous efforts of moral cleaning, striving thereby for a growing moral perfection. That community is also characterized by awareness of a shared responsibility for the salvation of others, as well as by a conviction of the value of testifying to the holiness of life and the need of pro­claiming the Word of God. These constitute an essential factor which mobilizes to a growing fidelity in fulfilling the will of God expressed in the commandments, and to undertaking a strenuous effort to proclaim the Gospel. The carried out anal­yses also allow to ascertain that the moral renewal undertaken by the members of the Church, should take place in accordance with the recommendations of Christ, and their progress in acquiring moral perfection does not remain without influence on perceiving the institution of the Church. Also obdurate sinners are members of the Church, those who, in spite of the words of encouragement addressed to them that they might start a way of fidelity to God, they put off the final decision of con­version, resigning in this way from the possibility of salvation, offered to them by God. The Church shown by means of an arc, is a Church unceasingly persecuted because it does not give consent to moral violations by the sinners, having a tole­rating attitude toward them, in hope of their conversion. To Augustine’s vision of the Church belongs also his faithful safeguard of the Christian morality, as well as his fidelity in the service of proclaiming the Gospel. Both flow from the convic­tion of impossibility of one’s salvation outside the Church.

In this article titled “The Time of the End of Times in the Apocalyptical Literature” the author presents the study about the biblical vision of the final time which concern two domains christological and ecclesiological. This patristic study pertains to several subjects set forth in section and sub-section titles, such as: Christ as the Eternal Day of God, the Parousia as the Second Coming of Christ, the Day of Judgement, the Great Tribulation or Persecution (Mt 24: 21; Mk 13: 19; por. Dan 12: 1), “the great distress” (Rev 7: 14), the time of Pagans persisting for forty two months, the fall of Jerusalem (Mt 24: 1-3; Mk 13: 1-4; Lk 21: 5-7. 20), “abomination of desolation” (Dan 9: 27; 11: 3; 12: 11), Gog and Magog from the vision of Ezekiel (Ezek 38-39) and Apokalypse (Rev 20: 8), a great apostasy will be a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ, “a hundred and forty-four thou­sand who had his [Lamb’s] name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads [and] who had been ransomed from the earth” (Rev 14: 1. 3), Antichrist (1Jn 2: 18. 22; 4: 2-3; 2Jn 7) and his time three and a half years (Rev 11: 9. 11) or forty-two months (Rev 11: 2; 13: 5). The Antichrist refers to the ruling spirit of error, the enemy of the Gospel, and the opponent of Christ who will precede His Second Coming and the end of the world. He is the incarnation of wickedness, pride, and hostility toward Christ’s redemptive work. This section delves into the number 666 (Rev 13: 18; 15: 2), false prophets (2Pet 2: 1), false teachers (2Pet 2: 1). In the biblical apocalyptic literature we can find a few visions of the cosmic catastrophes and cataclysms such as “earthquakes” (Mt 24: 7; Mk 13: 8), “famines” (Mt 24: 7; Mk 13: 8). In this study, appeared the theory of Millenarianism (from Latin mille) or chiliasm (from Greek c…lioi) based on a literal interpretation of Apocalypse (Rev 20: 2-7) which interpretation teaches that the visible personal rule of Christ on earth will last for a duration of a thousand years before the end of the world. Two themes are given special study in this article. First is the distinction of the interpretation of time. Second, is the interpretation of the prophetic announce­ments and eschatological visions from the Bible, and the potential influence of the ancient apocalyptic stories and writings in the redaction of the Bible. As to the first theme, the application of Greek distinction of concept of time as duration (crÒnoj) from time as fulfilment and accomplishment (kairÒj) to the Hebrew conception of time is problematic. Substantial biblical concept of time is an event which pertains to time, otherwise as time having specific event, more then a time extending indefinite time. In the theological perspective, perception of time is therefore an action of God. From the very beginning to the end of Biblical History, time is the means of God’s deeds of salvation. Thence for the biblical author, the historic-redemptive (salvation) concept of the world appears before his metaphysical conception. This concept is also readily apparent in the description of the seven days from the ancient Semitic cosmogony well-known from the Book of Genesis. This topic contains an important christological and messianic aspect. The his­tory of the world become conditioned and dependant, defined and designated by the existence of the Word of God, Creation and Incarnation by the birth of the Son of God, fulfilment of time by the second coming of the Son of Man siting at the right hand of God (Mk 16: 19; Heb 12: 2), the end of time by the judgement of God. One can speak of christological concept of time and also of christological concept of the world. The discussion of the second theme revolves around the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church on apocalyptic writings. This analysis of the meaning of the apocalyptical symbols is presented according to the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church, starting with all commentary of the Book of Revelation written from the beginning to the 12th Century. Outstanding among Greek and Latin writ­ers from the ancient time through the Middle Ages are: Papias of Hierapolis, Jus­tin Martyr, Hippolytus, Irenaeus of Lyon, Origen, Tertullien, Lactance, Eusebius of Caesarea, Didymus of Alexandria, Victorinus of Pettau, Gregory of Nyssa, Je­rome, Augustine of Hippo, Quodvultdeus, Primasius, Caesarius of Arles, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, Raban Maur, Bede the Venerable, Ambroise Autpert, Beatus of Liébana, Rupert of Deutz, Joachim of Fiore, Richard of Saint-Victor. It is well known that, between the years 200 B.C. and 150 A.D., prophetic writings appeared in certain Jewish or Christian circles. These prophetic writings were called Apocalypses. After a careful analysis, this article hypothesizes that the Bible is influenced by this ancient apocalyptic literature. The Biblical Apocalyptic Literature was dependent upon formularies and ex­pressions used in the ancient Apocalyptic Literature. Some symbols or apocalyptic numbers were accepted from the ancient Literature, sometimes diminishing and sometimes enlarging their meaning. On the basis of formularies and symbols from Biblical Apocalyptic, the Fathers of the Church built their own historical-theolog­ical interpretation of eschatological events. In the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, there are prophetic announcements and eschatological visions. The New Testament is a repetition of those visions and those announcements made in the Old Testament. The Book of Revelation is the conclusion of those announcements and the accomplishment of those visions. An example of this use of the apocalyptical symbols in the theological and historical contexts by the Christian writers is found in the interpretation of the vi­sion of Gog and Magog. The vision of the Gog and Magog was usually interpreted in the historical context. They were identified with Goths, Barbaric people who invaded and conquered most of the Roman Empire in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries. Yet this epic figure is reinterpreted with the turn of each new century. In the new historical context, the writers give a new interpretation, but the theology of these symbols remains the same.

What is time? What is its nature, designation and aim? Saint Augustine attempted to resolve these and other questions in his greatest exegetical-homiletical work, Enarrationes in Psalmos. The Bishop of Hippo, commenting on particular verses of the Davidic Psalms, comes to the conviction that time is a variable and fragile value, just like the world and man, which are subject to its laws. The time created by God had a beginning, it abides, and it will have an end. However, this does not mean that the passing of time should be viewed only in a negative sense, for at a concrete moment in time the Son of God became incarnate in order to save man. Time also exists so that man has an opportunity to be converted and to enter eternity. For the Bishop of Hippo, there is no concept of time in eternity, which is changeless and lasts forever. In his conception of time, we can see not only its pure physical aspect, but above all, its theological dimensions. In particular, it contains a message for man that refers not only to the present, but predominantly to the future, to an eternity that inspires great optimism for all people.

ree comments on the Book of Genesis and the treatise On the Trinity enabledus to become acquainted with the Augustinian teaching on the image of Godin man in the mystery of Creation. anks to such a narrowing of the source material,we could more carefully and with greater prudence analyze the thoughtsof the Bishop of Hippo. We hope that in this way we managed to avoid the riskof superficiality and we took into account all the statements of Saint Augustineregarding the problem posed. Unfortunately, L. Krupa did not prevent himself from committing this mistakeN8. He did not take up the subject of human natureas an image of God, and completely passed over in silence the polemics of theBishop of Hippo with Gnostics, who regarded the human family as the imageof the Holy Trinity. Based on the analysis carried out, we could see that accordingto Saint Augustine’s image of God in man is to be sought in his soul, andin the strict sense, in this “part” of him, which is focused on the contemplationof eternal ideas. e essence of the image of God is expressed in the ability of thesoul to participate in God’s life. All this reflects, as Saint Augustine states, thetrue honour and dignity which man owes to his Creator. A characteristic featureof God’s image, even a basic one – in view of the Augustinian approach – is itstrinitarian character.Saint Augustine tried to seek the traces of the Holy Trinity everywhere.is significant task was the passion of his life. Finally, he has found the imageof the Holy Trinity in man. He tried to provide his readers with an insight intothis reality through the trinitarian analogies, the source of which he discoveredin the structure of the human soul. Considering the entirety of St. Augustine’steaching on the image of God in man in the mystery of Creation, the analogousimages of the Holy Trinity in the soul seem to be the most interesting for us.On the other hand, like Saint Augustine, however, we are aware of their greatlimitations. For what is created, even in its most beautiful representation, in comparisonwith the Creator will always be in a vulnerable and poor condition.