Augustine in Context

Tarmo Toom

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781108365185
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Theology

Augustine in Context assesses the various contexts - historical, literary, cultural, spiritual - in which Augustine lived and worked. The essays, written by an international team of scholars especially for this volume, provide the background against which Augustine's treatises should be read and interpreted. They are organized according to a rationale which moves from an introduction to the person (the so-called 'personal context') to the contexts of Augustine's works and ideas, starting from the intellectual setting and extending to the socio-political realm. Collectively the essays highlight the embeddedness of Augustine in the world of late antiquity and the interdependence of his discourse with contemporary forms of social life. They shed new light on one of the most important figures of the western canon and facilitate a more enlightened reading of his writings.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• General Abbreviations
• Abbreviations of Augustine’s Works
• Introduction: A Chronological Chart
• 1 Augustine in Context and Augustine on Context
• Part I Life
• Part II Literary and Intellectual Contexts
• Part III Religious Contexts
• Part IV Political, Social, and Cultural Contexts
• Part V Reception
• A Note on Augustine’s Works
• Further Reading
• Index