DESCRIPTION: While Augustine can justly be claimed to belong to many strands of the Christian tradition in the West, he is of special significance to the Reformed tradition. A hundred years ago, B. B. Warfield wrote that "it is Augustine who gave us the Reformation"--a claim seemingly ratified by Calvin himself when he exclaimed that "Augustine is all ours!" This doctoral seminar will focus on selected topics in Augustine that have proved to be of special interest also to the earliest Protestant theologians and their heirs: Biblical interpretation, ecclesiology, church and state, politics and ethics, and the doctrines of justification, predestination, and free will. The seminar is open to a limited number of advanced master's students (TH522) by instructor's permission.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: This seminar examines key theological themes as they emerged from Augustine's life and thought and were subsequently taken up by later theologians and philosophers--Catholic, Protestant, and secular. For those who seek to serve the diverse church and pluralistic culture of the twenty-first century, Augustine can prove to be a fruitful dialogue partner in considering the shape of Christian theology, culture, politics, and ethics today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will gain an increased knowledge of Augustinian theology and competence in interpreting the Augustinian legacy in the context of the larger Christian church, including greater facility in handling historical texts and evaluating theological issues, as well as a critical and sympathetic appreciation for the breadth and diversity of the Christian dialogue with culture.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar, 3 hours weekly to discuss readings and issues, with a 1/2-hour Latin tutorial.

REQUIRED READING, PRINT SOURCES:

Augustine, Confessions, trans. R. S. Pine-Coffin (Penguin Classics, 1961), ISBN 978-0140441147, $10.00. [350 pp. assigned] NB: READ THIS BOOK IN ITS ENTIRETY PRIOR TO THE FIRST CLASS.

Augustine, On Christian Teaching, trans. R. P. H. Green (Oxford University Press, 2008), ISBN 978-0199540631, $12.95. [150 pp. assigned]

Augustine, City of God, trans. Henry Bettenson (Penguin Classics, 2003), ISBN 978-0140448948, $16.00. [1100 pp. assigned]

Augustine, On the Free Choice of the Will, On Grace and Free Choice, and Other Writings, trans. Peter King (Cambridge University Press, 2010), ISBN 978-0521001298, $30.00. [~250 pp. assigned]

Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Augustine (Cambridge University Press, 2001), ISBN 978-0521659857, $34.00. [180 pp. assigned]

Three Augustine volumes from A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, ed. Philip Schaff (1886-1900; many reprints, various publishers): vol. 4, The Writings Against the Manichæans and Against the Donatists; vol. 5, Anti-Pelagian Writings; and vol. 6, Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels.

Other assorted articles and essays available as e-reserves.

Allan D. Fitzgerald, ed., Augustine through the Ages (Eerdmans, 2009), ISBN 978-0802864796, $85.00.