Arceno Book Review - On Christian Teaching by Saint Augustine

European Scientific Journal, 2014

Jesus came into the world purposely to inaugurate the Kingdom of God and invited people to repent and enter into it-cf. Mk 1: 15. He called his apostles and disciples to be with him in the course of his ministry here on earth. After forming them, he sent them into the world with these words, "Go therefore, make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always, to the end of time"-Matt. 28:19-20. The apostles carried out this great commission in the apostolic times. After their demise, the mantle fell on the church Fathers like Clement, Athanasius and Tertullian. One of the church Fathers who has greatly influence Christianity through his teachings is Augustine. In this paper, Augustine's First Catechetical Instructions and its relevance for Christians in contemporary society is examined.

Religions, 2015

This introduction to the Special Issue "Teaching Augustine" summarizes the volume's essays and discusses the conference at which they were initially presented.

2015

For young people, Augustine can have something of mysterium fascinosum et tremendum. His engaging personality and passionate life can, on the one hand, have a strong appealing force. On the other hand, some of his more extreme ideas can arouse opposition amongst the young. In order to determine the possible significance of Augustine as inspiration and subject for religious education today, the present article develops a double movement: (1) deconstruction and (2) construction. (1) Many pictures and even many prejudices exist of Augustine. Precisely the excellent case study offered to us by Augustine when he evaluates current prejudices of theologians and religious texts of our Christian tradition is in itself already a first element for establishing Augustine's contemporary relevance for religious education. (2) Once Augustine is stripped from prejudices and we have obtained a 'neutral' and historical correct view of his time, life and writings, we will understand the constructive interaction between context and content in Augustine, the theologian. Herein lies a second possible relevance of Augustine. Finally, we will constructively examine how Augustine's most fundamental intuitionssuch as his ideas on grace-can be relevant for theological thought in general and current religious education in particular.

pp. 29–54 in Church of the Triune God (ed M P Jensen). Sydney: Aquila, 2013.

Nova et Vetera, 2021

TLS, 2023

scriptural motifs in preaching (Cavadini). Trout's coverage of the African bishop's enduring engagements with Cicero, Vergil, Sallust and Terence is delightfully persuasive, given that Augustine's incorporation of historical and poetic tropes is a mainstay of his massive output. The last chapter is the only

2018

Prof. KANU Ikechukwu Anthony, O.S.A. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Tansian University, Umunya Anambra State [email protected] Abstract Augustine wrote many articles and books, and from these works, insights could be gotten as it concerns education. However, there are three books that Augustine wrote on education. The works include: The Teacher (De Magistro), Christian Teaching (De Doctrina Christiana) and The Catechesis of Beginners (De Catechizandis Rudibus). These three major works of his on education would be the focus of this piece. This study reveals that Augustine had a profound influence on the subsequent development of Western thought and culture and, more than any other thinker, shaped the themes and defined the problems that have characterized Western traditions. The hermeneutic method of inquiry would be employed.

Studia Patristica, 2017

This is an unformatted, pre-publication. All citations from this paper should be made from its published version. In contributing to the debate on the transformation of late Roman world, some scholars have claimed that the boundaries between religious groups were fluid with external and internal factors. Christian identity was not characterised by clear indications of religious belief, observance, and practice. Some intriguing surveys have shown that the difference between Christians and pagans can be seen as part of a discursive binary. While the North African evidence of their identity allows us to consider the question of what it means to be a Christian, it is noteworthy that there is a comprehensive framework for the understanding of human behaviour and thought: the 'spiritual exercises' in the Greco-Roman tradition. In the fourth-and fifth centuries, Christian thinkers began to pursue the matter in a more detailed way. A crucial stage of the development seems to be prepared by Augustine. Provided with some illuminating studies which consider the spiritual training in question as being linked with the context of his concern for Chris-tianness in late antique North Africa, the correlation still remains in question. In this article, therefore, first I examine how he referred to the Christian code of behaviour in his letters. In particular, focusing my attention on epistolary correspondence of Augustine with two seemingly 'pagans', I show how he tried to impose his idea of the Christian norms of behaviour on his correspondents – with Dioscorus (Ep. 117 and 118) and with Volusianus (Ep. 132, 135, and 137). Then I ask what Augustine understood by spiritual training. For the sake of clarity, I have divided the letters along thematic lines into three groups – the intellectual and therapeutic (Ep. 26, 37, 56, 102, 162, 193, 202A, and 2*), the religious and eschatological (Ep. 92, 130, 131, 137, and 157), and the exegetical aspect (Ep. 28, 137, 149, 199, and 213). In each group I consider them chronologically as far as possible. Finally, I consider the principal feature of spiritual training, thereby coming to the enhancement of spiritual affinities and mutual relationships of which he made use in speaking about Christian identity.