2008 Seminar -- July 21-28, 2008

How Augustine Reads the Old Testament
Michael Cameron, University of Portland

Description: This course will track the development of Augustine’s understanding of the Bible and practice of reading the Old Testament during the first era of his Christian life, 386-400. The era falls into three periods: 1) the time of his conversion and early work as an at-large lay religious philosopher and author (386-391); 2) the time of his work as a priest and preacher to converts and bishops (391-396); and 3) the time of his first years as bishop of Hippo (396-400). This period covers many fronts in his developing understanding of Scripture: the dispute with Manicheeism over the status of the Old Testament; early endeavors to understand the different senses of Scripture; immersion in the work of ministry and its demand for biblical preaching; an intensive re-reading of the Psalms with the help of St Paul; articulation of the hermeneutics of love in his interpretation manual, 'On Christian Teaching' (De doctrina christiana); exploration of prophecy fulfillment in Christ and Church as Scripture's center in the treatise 'Answer to Faustus' (Contra Faustum). By the end of this period Augustine has stabilized his understanding of interpretation, and settled into the hermeneutic framework that would serve him for three decades as a prolific preacher and writer.

Schedule Table
Schedule Texts
Textbooks

Readings:
Book Nineteen
Exposition of Psalm 41
The Days of Creation Prophecy of the Church
Blackwell Companion to Augustine

Augustine and Paul
Thomas F. Martin, O.S.A., Villanova University

Description:  This seminar will be a concise overview of Augustine’s Paulinism: his reading and interpretation of the writings of the Apostle Paul; the theological impact of Paul upon Augustine, especially as reflected in his controversies with the Manichees, the Donatists, and the Pelagians; Augustine’s encounter with Paul as a model of grace, conversion, and Christian living; Augustine’s preaching on the Apostle Paul; and finally, the lasting impact, often controversial, that “Augustine’s Paul’ has had on Western Christianity.
 
Augustine’s engagement with the Apostle Paul spans the entire corpus of his writings, from his very first writing to come down to us, the Contra Academicos, to the final work left unfinished by his death, the Contra Iulianum opus imperfectum. In the 5 million+ words that Augustine has left behind, the presence of Paul as both writer and model is pervasive. Rarely, however, is this Pauline presence isolated from a host of other scriptural texts, complex theological questions and controversies, pastoral concerns and the widest possible perspective that is Augustine’s vision of the Christian life. Except for three specific early attempts at commentaries on Pauline Letters, Romans and Galatians to be exact, it is no exaggeration to say that Paul is virtually everywhere—and this is the challenge in studying Augustine’s Paulinism. In order to appreciate the impact of Paul upon Augustine a range of his writings along with important Pauline topics will be considered. At the end of the seminar some attention will be given to the reception of Augustine’s Paulinism over the centuries.

Syllabus
Textbooks

Readings:
Question 66
A Book on the Grace of the New Testament
To Simplician
The Spirit and the Letter
Chapter One
Paulus autem apostolus dicit (Cresc. 2.21.26): Augustine’s Pauline Polemic against the Donatists
Vox Pauli -- Augustine and the Claims to Speak for Paul: An exploration of rhetoric at the service of exegesis
Reading the Psalms of David through Paul: Augustine’s Commentary on Psalm 31
Sermons 295-299