Drawing together such Augustinian concepts as concupiscence,
virtue, vice, habit and sin through ... more Drawing together such Augustinian concepts as concupiscence, virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction, sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
The yearbook of Finnish Patristic Society contains nine papers from the first Symposium Patristic... more The yearbook of Finnish Patristic Society contains nine papers from the first Symposium Patristicum Fennicum, held in May 2013 in Helsinki.
”Who shall declare his generation?”
Augustine’s Christmas sermons: apophatic mysticism or sacrame... more ”Who shall declare his generation?” Augustine’s Christmas sermons: apophatic mysticism or sacramental words on the divine?
Augustine’s sermons on the Christmas Day (ss. 184-196, 369, 370) are a distinct collection of brief and poetic discourses on the mystery of the Incarnation. Although the Christmas sermons present a rhetorical element of a qualified attitude towards the possibilities of human language in reaching divine truths, the main concern of Augustine is to declare Christological doctrines with words that are worthy of the great miracle of the Incarnation. The article shows how the Christmas sermons lead their audience to grasp the human birth of Logos, the way in which Augustine talks of the flesh (caro) of Christ, and how Augustine includes his audience into the sacramental mystery of the birth of Christ.
Augustine’s ideas of sinful desire, including its sexual manifestations, have fueled controversie... more Augustine’s ideas of sinful desire, including its sexual manifestations, have fueled controversies for centuries. In Augustine and the Functions of Concupiscence, Timo Nisula analyses Augustine’s own theological and philosophical concerns in his extensive writings about evil desire (concupiscentia, cupiditas, libido). Beginning with a terminological survey of the vocabulary of desire, the book demonstrates how the concept of evil desire was tightly linked with Augustine’s fundamental theological views of divine justice, the origin of evil, Christian virtues and grace. This book offers a comprehensive account of Augustine’s developing views of concupiscence and provides an innovative, in-depth picture of the theological imagination behind disputed ideas of sex, temptation and moral responsibility.
Pablo Irizar is Faculty Lecturer and Kennedy Smith Chair in Catholic Studies at the School of Rel... more Pablo Irizar is Faculty Lecturer and Kennedy Smith Chair in Catholic Studies at the School of Religious Studies of McGill University in Montreal (Canada). Since 2019, he has serves as Director of the Newman Centre, also at McGill. He was awarded the 2020 Louvain Studies Theological Research Award for emerging young scholars. Timo Nisula is Adjunct Professor in dogmatics at the Åbo Akademi University. He is the author of Augustine and the Functions of Concupiscence (2012) and has published several articles on the theology and rhetoric of Augustine’s preaching. Anni Maria Laato is Adjunct Professor in patristic studies at the University of Helsinki, and in dogmatics in Åbo Akademi University. Apart from her dissertation, Jews and Christians in De duobus montibus Sina et Sion, she has published articles mainly in the field of patristics. Contributors are Antti Laato, Erkki Koskenniemi, Sami Yli-Karjanmaa, Sven-Olav Back, Maijastina Kahlos, Anni Maria Laato, Siiri Toiviainen Rø, Joseph Grabau, Timo Nisula, Eetu Manninen, Pablo Irizar, Aäron Vanspauwen, Serafim Seppälä. Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity: Boundaries, Conversions, and Persuasion explores the intricate identity formation and negotiations of early encounters of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). It explores the ever-pressing challenges arising from polemical inter-religious encounters by analyzing the dynamics of apologetic debate, the negotiation and formation of boundaries of belonging, and the argumentative thrust for persuasion and conversion, as well as the outcomes of these various encounters, including the articulation of novel ideas. The Late Antique authors studied in the present volume represent a variety of voices from North Africa, passing through Rome, to Palestine. Together, these voices of the past offer invaluable insight to shape the present times, in hope for a better future. Preface Notes on Contributors Abraham in Justin Martyr’s Dialogue Antti Laato Excellent, but How? Abraham in Josephus Erkki Koskenniemi Illusory Polemics: Clement and Irenaeus on the Gnostics Sami Yli-Karjanmaa Justin Martyr as a Polemicist Sven-Olav Back Mimus Religionis, Mimicry, and Deviance: Late Antique Polemic against Religious Others Maijastina Kahlos Tertullian on Christian Converts and Clashes with the Pagan World Anni Maria Laato Worshipping a False Go(o)d: Praeparatio Evangelica 7.2–4 through the Lens of Anti-Epicurean Polemics Siiri Toiviainen Rø Anti-Donatist Polemic and Biblical Hermeneutics: Questions of Ecclesiology in Augustine of Hippo’s De Doctrina Christiana Joseph Grabau Talking with the Enemy: Fictitious Polemical Dialogues against the Donatists in Augustine’s Sermones Ad Populum Timo Nisula The Challenge of Shame for Philosophical Dialogue in Augustine’s Early Writings Eetu Manninen The Grace of Merit and the Merit of Grace: Dialogical Ambiguity in Augustine’s Sermons Pablo Irizar The Rhetoric of Appropriation and Dissociation in Evodius’ Aduersus Manichaeos: A Case Study of Anti-Manichaean Polemics Aäron Vanspauwen Threat of Conversion in the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam? Serafim Seppälä
The therapeutic intentions of Augustine’s preaching have recently been noted by scholars who have... more The therapeutic intentions of Augustine’s preaching have recently been noted by scholars who have focused on how the cures of varying states of emotions are discussed in the sermons. One of the techniques used in this task was sermocinatio, or fictitious dialogue between different characters during the sermon. In this article, I will discuss three different cases in which Augustine makes use of this traditional rhetorical device in voicing out varying reactions and inner responses to ethical instructions on forgiveness, greed and fear. As in other contexts of the fictitious dialogues in Augustine’s sermons, the preacher regularly attempts to answer these voices with the living, authoritative voice of Scripture, thus confronting his hearers with a directly personal and divine address. The aim of this address is to offer functional and habitual therapy for common forms of temptations in Augustine’s audience. The entertainment value of these dialogues is designed to make them persuasive and easy to remember in actual instances of mala cogitatio.
While Augustine's preaching presents a wealthy amount of discussion on the bodily punishments and... more While Augustine's preaching presents a wealthy amount of discussion on the bodily punishments and afflictions (illnesses, death) due to Adam and Eve's primal sin, there seems to be one particular theme, in which the bishop of Hippo was not too keen to delve into in his sermones ad populum. This theme was concupiscentia carnis as a divine punishment for the fall, appearing as disobedient bodily movements during sexual intercourse. While the theme is amply present in Augustine's theological treatises, the article raises the question whether the omission of punitive concupiscence in the sermons is only coincidental or-for some reason-deliberate. The article analyses a small number of sermons that present parallel motifs and images to those appearing in theological treatises that discuss punitive concupiscentia, and demonstrates that while these motifs are sometimes found separately or in varying combinations in Augustine's sermons, the idea of concupiscentia carnis as a bodily disobedience and a divine punishment for the fall of the primi homines is extremely rare, if not non-existent in the sermons.
Adam and Eve play a remarkable role in Augustine's theology of original sin and the fall. This pa... more Adam and Eve play a remarkable role in Augustine's theology of original sin and the fall. This paper studies the ways in which Augustine preaches to his congregation in sermones ad populum about primi homines and the punishments they received for their rebellion against the divine commandment in the Garden of Eden. I investigate how Augustine describes the fallen humankind , his audience included, as an interconnected unity of Adam and Eve's family. This unity serves as a basis for the preacher to join his listeners to suffer the punishments of their ancestors in Eden. I suggest that in the sermons both the unity of humankind and the divine punishments derived from the fall are conceived in rather bodily and biological terms. As in his written works, Augustine takes physical death to represent the main form of poena for Adam and Eve's fall. I will present a series of images and topoi that Augustine uses in preaching about this punishment for his congregation. Some of these images seem to be sermon specific, that is, appearing only in his spoken sermons.
Augustine's quest for the origins of evil is not restricted to his theological treatises. The ima... more Augustine's quest for the origins of evil is not restricted to his theological treatises. The image of evil desire (concupiscentia) as the threefold root (triplex radix) of all sins is present in the corpus of his sermones ad populum as well. Sermons on 1John 2:16 and 1Tim. 6:10 show how triplex concupiscentia not only structures the preacher's speech but also works as an exhortation to resist the temptation of greed (cupiditas) and to cultivate love (caritas). The image of the root thus served as a tool both in introspec-tion and ethical instruction: What kind of love resides in the hearts of the listeners? The spatial imagery used in the sermons shows how Augustine invited the members of his audience to an interior investigation of the quality of their loves. The search for the root of all evil led the preacher to Adam. Augustine points out to his audience how 'our' fate was sealed already in Adam, and how 'we were there as if in a root' (s. 294,15). In the sermons, Adam as the poisoned root of the tree of humanity comes closest to Augustine's considerations on the problem of the first cause of evil actions in his written theological treatises. However, it seems that in his sermons, Augustine uses the motifs of radix and triplex concupiscentia in a different way than in his theological treatises. Instead of giving reductive answers to the problem of the origin of sins, they seem to serve the 'therapeutic' goals of the preacher.
Augustine: The Hermeneutics of Lust
Since Karla Pollmann’s groundbreaking study (1996) on August... more Augustine: The Hermeneutics of Lust
Since Karla Pollmann’s groundbreaking study (1996) on Augustine’s influential de doctrina christiana, the connection between love (caritas), ethics and biblical interpretation has become more evident than ever. This article discusses the crucial problems of circularity and universality of love in Augustine’s hermeneutics. Augustine depicts a parallel, or parasitic, method of biblical interpretation that is pursued in a context of socially and conventionally determined knowledge, and motivated by the opposite of love, namely lust (cupiditas).
Drawing together such Augustinian concepts as concupiscence,
virtue, vice, habit and sin through ... more Drawing together such Augustinian concepts as concupiscence, virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction, sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
The yearbook of Finnish Patristic Society contains nine papers from the first Symposium Patristic... more The yearbook of Finnish Patristic Society contains nine papers from the first Symposium Patristicum Fennicum, held in May 2013 in Helsinki.
”Who shall declare his generation?”
Augustine’s Christmas sermons: apophatic mysticism or sacrame... more ”Who shall declare his generation?” Augustine’s Christmas sermons: apophatic mysticism or sacramental words on the divine?
Augustine’s sermons on the Christmas Day (ss. 184-196, 369, 370) are a distinct collection of brief and poetic discourses on the mystery of the Incarnation. Although the Christmas sermons present a rhetorical element of a qualified attitude towards the possibilities of human language in reaching divine truths, the main concern of Augustine is to declare Christological doctrines with words that are worthy of the great miracle of the Incarnation. The article shows how the Christmas sermons lead their audience to grasp the human birth of Logos, the way in which Augustine talks of the flesh (caro) of Christ, and how Augustine includes his audience into the sacramental mystery of the birth of Christ.
Augustine’s ideas of sinful desire, including its sexual manifestations, have fueled controversie... more Augustine’s ideas of sinful desire, including its sexual manifestations, have fueled controversies for centuries. In Augustine and the Functions of Concupiscence, Timo Nisula analyses Augustine’s own theological and philosophical concerns in his extensive writings about evil desire (concupiscentia, cupiditas, libido). Beginning with a terminological survey of the vocabulary of desire, the book demonstrates how the concept of evil desire was tightly linked with Augustine’s fundamental theological views of divine justice, the origin of evil, Christian virtues and grace. This book offers a comprehensive account of Augustine’s developing views of concupiscence and provides an innovative, in-depth picture of the theological imagination behind disputed ideas of sex, temptation and moral responsibility.
Pablo Irizar is Faculty Lecturer and Kennedy Smith Chair in Catholic Studies at the School of Rel... more Pablo Irizar is Faculty Lecturer and Kennedy Smith Chair in Catholic Studies at the School of Religious Studies of McGill University in Montreal (Canada). Since 2019, he has serves as Director of the Newman Centre, also at McGill. He was awarded the 2020 Louvain Studies Theological Research Award for emerging young scholars. Timo Nisula is Adjunct Professor in dogmatics at the Åbo Akademi University. He is the author of Augustine and the Functions of Concupiscence (2012) and has published several articles on the theology and rhetoric of Augustine’s preaching. Anni Maria Laato is Adjunct Professor in patristic studies at the University of Helsinki, and in dogmatics in Åbo Akademi University. Apart from her dissertation, Jews and Christians in De duobus montibus Sina et Sion, she has published articles mainly in the field of patristics. Contributors are Antti Laato, Erkki Koskenniemi, Sami Yli-Karjanmaa, Sven-Olav Back, Maijastina Kahlos, Anni Maria Laato, Siiri Toiviainen Rø, Joseph Grabau, Timo Nisula, Eetu Manninen, Pablo Irizar, Aäron Vanspauwen, Serafim Seppälä. Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity: Boundaries, Conversions, and Persuasion explores the intricate identity formation and negotiations of early encounters of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). It explores the ever-pressing challenges arising from polemical inter-religious encounters by analyzing the dynamics of apologetic debate, the negotiation and formation of boundaries of belonging, and the argumentative thrust for persuasion and conversion, as well as the outcomes of these various encounters, including the articulation of novel ideas. The Late Antique authors studied in the present volume represent a variety of voices from North Africa, passing through Rome, to Palestine. Together, these voices of the past offer invaluable insight to shape the present times, in hope for a better future. Preface Notes on Contributors Abraham in Justin Martyr’s Dialogue Antti Laato Excellent, but How? Abraham in Josephus Erkki Koskenniemi Illusory Polemics: Clement and Irenaeus on the Gnostics Sami Yli-Karjanmaa Justin Martyr as a Polemicist Sven-Olav Back Mimus Religionis, Mimicry, and Deviance: Late Antique Polemic against Religious Others Maijastina Kahlos Tertullian on Christian Converts and Clashes with the Pagan World Anni Maria Laato Worshipping a False Go(o)d: Praeparatio Evangelica 7.2–4 through the Lens of Anti-Epicurean Polemics Siiri Toiviainen Rø Anti-Donatist Polemic and Biblical Hermeneutics: Questions of Ecclesiology in Augustine of Hippo’s De Doctrina Christiana Joseph Grabau Talking with the Enemy: Fictitious Polemical Dialogues against the Donatists in Augustine’s Sermones Ad Populum Timo Nisula The Challenge of Shame for Philosophical Dialogue in Augustine’s Early Writings Eetu Manninen The Grace of Merit and the Merit of Grace: Dialogical Ambiguity in Augustine’s Sermons Pablo Irizar The Rhetoric of Appropriation and Dissociation in Evodius’ Aduersus Manichaeos: A Case Study of Anti-Manichaean Polemics Aäron Vanspauwen Threat of Conversion in the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam? Serafim Seppälä
The therapeutic intentions of Augustine’s preaching have recently been noted by scholars who have... more The therapeutic intentions of Augustine’s preaching have recently been noted by scholars who have focused on how the cures of varying states of emotions are discussed in the sermons. One of the techniques used in this task was sermocinatio, or fictitious dialogue between different characters during the sermon. In this article, I will discuss three different cases in which Augustine makes use of this traditional rhetorical device in voicing out varying reactions and inner responses to ethical instructions on forgiveness, greed and fear. As in other contexts of the fictitious dialogues in Augustine’s sermons, the preacher regularly attempts to answer these voices with the living, authoritative voice of Scripture, thus confronting his hearers with a directly personal and divine address. The aim of this address is to offer functional and habitual therapy for common forms of temptations in Augustine’s audience. The entertainment value of these dialogues is designed to make them persuasive and easy to remember in actual instances of mala cogitatio.
While Augustine's preaching presents a wealthy amount of discussion on the bodily punishments and... more While Augustine's preaching presents a wealthy amount of discussion on the bodily punishments and afflictions (illnesses, death) due to Adam and Eve's primal sin, there seems to be one particular theme, in which the bishop of Hippo was not too keen to delve into in his sermones ad populum. This theme was concupiscentia carnis as a divine punishment for the fall, appearing as disobedient bodily movements during sexual intercourse. While the theme is amply present in Augustine's theological treatises, the article raises the question whether the omission of punitive concupiscence in the sermons is only coincidental or-for some reason-deliberate. The article analyses a small number of sermons that present parallel motifs and images to those appearing in theological treatises that discuss punitive concupiscentia, and demonstrates that while these motifs are sometimes found separately or in varying combinations in Augustine's sermons, the idea of concupiscentia carnis as a bodily disobedience and a divine punishment for the fall of the primi homines is extremely rare, if not non-existent in the sermons.
Adam and Eve play a remarkable role in Augustine's theology of original sin and the fall. This pa... more Adam and Eve play a remarkable role in Augustine's theology of original sin and the fall. This paper studies the ways in which Augustine preaches to his congregation in sermones ad populum about primi homines and the punishments they received for their rebellion against the divine commandment in the Garden of Eden. I investigate how Augustine describes the fallen humankind , his audience included, as an interconnected unity of Adam and Eve's family. This unity serves as a basis for the preacher to join his listeners to suffer the punishments of their ancestors in Eden. I suggest that in the sermons both the unity of humankind and the divine punishments derived from the fall are conceived in rather bodily and biological terms. As in his written works, Augustine takes physical death to represent the main form of poena for Adam and Eve's fall. I will present a series of images and topoi that Augustine uses in preaching about this punishment for his congregation. Some of these images seem to be sermon specific, that is, appearing only in his spoken sermons.
Augustine's quest for the origins of evil is not restricted to his theological treatises. The ima... more Augustine's quest for the origins of evil is not restricted to his theological treatises. The image of evil desire (concupiscentia) as the threefold root (triplex radix) of all sins is present in the corpus of his sermones ad populum as well. Sermons on 1John 2:16 and 1Tim. 6:10 show how triplex concupiscentia not only structures the preacher's speech but also works as an exhortation to resist the temptation of greed (cupiditas) and to cultivate love (caritas). The image of the root thus served as a tool both in introspec-tion and ethical instruction: What kind of love resides in the hearts of the listeners? The spatial imagery used in the sermons shows how Augustine invited the members of his audience to an interior investigation of the quality of their loves. The search for the root of all evil led the preacher to Adam. Augustine points out to his audience how 'our' fate was sealed already in Adam, and how 'we were there as if in a root' (s. 294,15). In the sermons, Adam as the poisoned root of the tree of humanity comes closest to Augustine's considerations on the problem of the first cause of evil actions in his written theological treatises. However, it seems that in his sermons, Augustine uses the motifs of radix and triplex concupiscentia in a different way than in his theological treatises. Instead of giving reductive answers to the problem of the origin of sins, they seem to serve the 'therapeutic' goals of the preacher.
Augustine: The Hermeneutics of Lust
Since Karla Pollmann’s groundbreaking study (1996) on August... more Augustine: The Hermeneutics of Lust
Since Karla Pollmann’s groundbreaking study (1996) on Augustine’s influential de doctrina christiana, the connection between love (caritas), ethics and biblical interpretation has become more evident than ever. This article discusses the crucial problems of circularity and universality of love in Augustine’s hermeneutics. Augustine depicts a parallel, or parasitic, method of biblical interpretation that is pursued in a context of socially and conventionally determined knowledge, and motivated by the opposite of love, namely lust (cupiditas).
This study analyses Augustine s concept of concupiscentia, or evil desire (together with two cogn... more This study analyses Augustine s concept of concupiscentia, or evil desire (together with two cognate terms, libido and cupiditas) in the context of his entire oeuvre. By the aid of systematic analysis, the concept and its development is explored in four distinct ways. It is ...
, "Pelagianesimo e battesimo dei bambini: un aspetto della polemica agostiniana" en la controvers... more , "Pelagianesimo e battesimo dei bambini: un aspetto della polemica agostiniana" en la controversia pelagiana: estudio históricoprosopográfico"
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Books by Timo Nisula
virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis
in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope
to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing
the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction,
sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s
captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range
of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is
our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly
attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
Augustine’s Christmas sermons: apophatic mysticism or sacramental words on the divine?
Augustine’s sermons on the Christmas Day (ss. 184-196, 369, 370) are a distinct collection of brief and poetic discourses on the mystery of the Incarnation. Although the Christmas sermons present a rhetorical element of a qualified attitude towards the possibilities of human language in reaching divine truths, the main concern of Augustine is to declare Christological doctrines with words that are worthy of the great miracle of the Incarnation. The article shows how the Christmas sermons lead their audience to grasp the human birth of Logos, the way in which Augustine talks of the flesh (caro) of Christ, and how Augustine includes his audience into the sacramental mystery of the birth of Christ.
Beginning with a terminological survey of the vocabulary of desire, the book demonstrates how the concept of evil desire was tightly linked with Augustine’s fundamental theological views of divine justice, the origin of evil, Christian virtues and grace.
This book offers a comprehensive account of Augustine’s developing views of concupiscence and provides an innovative, in-depth picture of the theological imagination behind disputed ideas of sex, temptation and moral responsibility.
Papers by Timo Nisula
Since Karla Pollmann’s groundbreaking study (1996) on Augustine’s influential de doctrina christiana, the connection between love (caritas), ethics and biblical interpretation has become more evident than ever. This article discusses the crucial problems of circularity and universality of love in Augustine’s hermeneutics. Augustine depicts a parallel, or parasitic, method of biblical interpretation that is pursued in a context of socially and conventionally determined knowledge, and motivated by the opposite of love, namely lust (cupiditas).
virtue, vice, habit and sin through textual and social analysis
in the light of recent cultural shifts, the contributors to this volume hope
to shed new light on contemporary human social problems. In addressing
the problems of apathy, work, sin, emptiness, racism, substance addiction,
sexual assault, immigration and so forth, this volume brings Augustine’s
captivating story of human nature and behaviour to a new level of engagement. Our hope is that the mention made of Augustine and society may move beyond past generalities to a higher level of social specificity. In sum, this book offers a range of analyses of issues that span a range
of disciplines and topics that are significant in contemporary culture. It is
our hope that you will benefit from reading this volume and that scholarly
attention to Augustine’s ongoing relevance will likewise be strengthened.
Augustine’s Christmas sermons: apophatic mysticism or sacramental words on the divine?
Augustine’s sermons on the Christmas Day (ss. 184-196, 369, 370) are a distinct collection of brief and poetic discourses on the mystery of the Incarnation. Although the Christmas sermons present a rhetorical element of a qualified attitude towards the possibilities of human language in reaching divine truths, the main concern of Augustine is to declare Christological doctrines with words that are worthy of the great miracle of the Incarnation. The article shows how the Christmas sermons lead their audience to grasp the human birth of Logos, the way in which Augustine talks of the flesh (caro) of Christ, and how Augustine includes his audience into the sacramental mystery of the birth of Christ.
Beginning with a terminological survey of the vocabulary of desire, the book demonstrates how the concept of evil desire was tightly linked with Augustine’s fundamental theological views of divine justice, the origin of evil, Christian virtues and grace.
This book offers a comprehensive account of Augustine’s developing views of concupiscence and provides an innovative, in-depth picture of the theological imagination behind disputed ideas of sex, temptation and moral responsibility.
Since Karla Pollmann’s groundbreaking study (1996) on Augustine’s influential de doctrina christiana, the connection between love (caritas), ethics and biblical interpretation has become more evident than ever. This article discusses the crucial problems of circularity and universality of love in Augustine’s hermeneutics. Augustine depicts a parallel, or parasitic, method of biblical interpretation that is pursued in a context of socially and conventionally determined knowledge, and motivated by the opposite of love, namely lust (cupiditas).