Jerusalem and Babylon

A Study of Augustine's City of God and the Sources of His Doctrine of the Two Cities
Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-90-04-24628-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 434 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 1520 g

Although many studies have been devoted to Augustine’s City of God and its most important theme, viz. the antithesis between the civitas Dei and the terrena civitas, until now no consensus has been reached concerning the sources of this doctrine. Was Augustine decisively influenced by Manichaeism, by (Neo)Platonism, the Stoa or Philo, by the Donatist Tyconius? Or should we look in another direction and refer to preceding Christian, Jewish, and especially to archaic Jewish-Christian traditions? This lucidly written books opens with a survey of the research carried out so far on the aim, structure and central theme of the City of God. Chapter 2 analyzes the essentials of Augustine's life, of his City of God, and of his doctrine of the two cities. While making use of one of the recently discovered letters of Augustine, in Chapter 3 the author describes the City of God as an apology and as a catechetical work. Chapter 4 provides an investigation into the possible sources of Augustine's doctrine of the two cities in Manichaeism, in (Neo)Platonism, the Stoa and Philo, and in the works of Tyconius. The idea of two antithetical cities proves to be present most clearly in writings in which, closely related to Jewish thinking, archaic Christian concepts
occupy an important place. In a final chapter some pertinent remarks are made on Jewish and Jewish-Christian influences on pre-Augustinian Christianity in Africa.

Zielgruppe

Students of the history of Christian thought (Patristic scholars, medievalists), theologians and classicists.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Oort, Johannes van

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie

Über Autor(innen)

Oort, Johannes van
Johannes van Oort, Ph.D. (1986), Utrecht, is Professor of Patristics and Gnosticism at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, and visiting professor of Patristics at the University of Pretoria. His publications include Mani, Manichaeism and Augustine. The Rediscovery of Manichaeism and Its Influence on Western Christianity (Georgian Academy of Sciences, 1983).

Johannes van Oort is Professor of Patristics in Nijmegen and Pretoria. He published some 25 books and many scholarly articles, mainly on Augustine and Manichaeism. Among his newly published books are Augustine and Manichaeism in the Latin West (ed., paperback edition, Leiden-Boston: Brill 2012) and Zugänge zur Gnosis (ed., with Chr. Markschies, Leuven: Peeters 2013). Recently he was presented with the Festschrift ‘In Search of Truth’: Augustine, Manichaeism and Other Gnosticism. Studies for Johannes van Oort at Sixty (Leiden-Boston: Brill 2011).