Companion to Augustine

Mark Vessey is Professor of English and Principal of Green College at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Latin Christian Writers in Late Antiquity and Their Texts (2005), and has edited Augustine and the Disciplines: From Cassiciacum to Confessions (2005) and The Calling of the Nations: Exegesis, Ethnography, and Empire in a Biblical-Historic Present (2011).

“Overall, this volume is an essential tool for any theologian’s or philosopher’s library and it will make a nice complementary volume to the Cambridge Companion to Augustine, the second volume of which was just published last year.”  (Exegetical Tools, 1 October 2015)“This is a successful Companionthat fills in certain lacunae in the study of Augustine and late antiquity. As such, it is more suited to scholars with specific interests than beginners looking for entry points into Augustine’s complex and sophisticated thought.”  (Religious Studies Review, 1 December 2013)“As such, this present inter-and intradisciplinary companion to Augustine gathers and presents new flavours within Augustine research, which certainly leaves us yearning for more." (Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses)“Besides an introduction by Mark Vessey, this truly impressive volume has seven parts; each of the parts has many articles by some of the finest Augustinian scholars and historians of late antiquity . . . All told, the volume is a fine contribution to Augustinian studies by some of the best scholars of the present day.”  (Catholic Historical Review, 1 January 2013)“For those of us who teach Augustine on a regular basis, but who are not members of the sprawling familia of scholars who have structured their research agendas around the work of this fascinating and deeply influential late antique bishop, this volume is a treasure trove of judicious assessments and learned insights.  It would not be difficult to structure a veryworthwhile seminar on the age of Augustine using its contents, particularly Parts I-V. Mark Vessey has performed an exceptional service by marshalling this legion of specialists to produce what will surely be one of the most important resources for the study of Augustine for many decades to come.”  (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 16 February 2013)              “Summing Up: Recommended.  Lower-level undergraduates through rearchers/faculty.”  (Choice, 1 November 2012)

• List of Figures xi Notes on Contributors xiiPreface xviiiSource Acknowledgments xixAbbreviations xxiThe Works of Augustine xxivChronology of Augustine’s Life xl1 Introduction 1Mark VesseyPART I Contexts 92 Political History 11Christopher Kelly3 Cultural Geography 24William E. Klingshirn4 Religious Sociology 40Éric RebillardPART II Confessions 555 Spes Saeculi: Augustine’s Worldly Ambition and Career 57R. S. O. Tomlin6 Love and Belonging, Loss and Betrayal in the Confessions 69Kate Cooper7 TheConfessions as Autobiography 87Paula Fredriksen8 Reading the Confessions 99Catherine ConybearePART III Media 1119 Augustine and Language 113Philip Burton10 Augustine’s Information Circuits 125Claire Sotinel11 Augustine and Roman Public Spectacles 138Richard Lim12 Augustine and Books 151Guy G. StroumsaPART IV Texts 15913 Augustine and the Latin Classics 161Danuta Shanzer14 Augustine and the Philosophers 175Sarah Byers15 Augustine and the Books of the Manicheans 188Johannes van Oort 16 Augustine and Scripture 200Michael Cameron17 Augustine and His Christian Predecessors 215Mark Edwards18 Augustine as a Reader of His Christian Contemporaries 227Michael Stuart Williams19 Augustine among the Writers of the Church 240Mark VesseyPART V Performances 25520 Philosopher: Augustine in Retirement 257Gillian Clark21 Conversationalist and Consultant: Augustine in Dialogue 270Therese Fuhrer22 Mystic and Monk: Augustine and the Spiritual Life 284John Peter Kenney23 Preacher: Augustine and His Congregation 297Hildegund M€uller24 Administrator: Augustine in His Diocese 310Neil B. McLynn25 Controversialist: Augustine in Combat 323Caroline HumfressPART VI Positions 33726 Augustine on the Will 339James Wetzel27 Augustine on the Body 353David G. Hunter28 Augustine on Friendship and Orthodoxy 365Stefan Rebenich29 Augustine on the Church (Against the Donatists) 375Alexander Evers30 Augustine on the Statesman and the Two Cities 386Robert Dodaro31 Augustine on Scripture and the Trinity 398Sabine MacCormack32 Augustine on Redemption 416Lewis AyresPART VII Aftertimes 42933 Augustine’s Works in Circulation 431Clemens Weidmann34 Augustine in the Latin West, 430–ca. 900 450Conrad Leyser35 Augustine in the Western Middle Ages to the Reformation 465Eric L. Saak36 The Reception of Augustine in Modern Philosophy 478Johannes Brachtendorf37 Augustine and Postmodernism 492John D. Caputo38 Envoi 505James J. O’DonnellReferences 517Index 563A Companion to Augustine