Augustine and Tradition: Influences, Contexts, Legacy

by David G. Hunter (Editor), Jonathan P. Yates (Editor)

An indispensable resource for those looking to understand Augustine’s place in religious and cultural heritage   Augustine towers over Western life, literature, and culture—both sacred and secular. His ideas permeate conceptions of the self from birth to death and have cast a long shadow over subsequent Christian thought. But as much as tradition has sprung from Augustinian roots, so was Augustine a product of and interlocutor with traditions that preceded and ran contemporary to his life.  This extensive volume examines and evaluates Augustine as both a receiver and a source of tradition. The contributors—all distinguished Augustinian scholars influenced by J. Patout Burns and interested in furthering his intellectual legacy—survey Augustine’s life and writings in the context of North African tradition, philosophical and literary traditions of antiquity, the Greek patristic tradition, and the tradition of Augustine’s Latin contemporaries. These various pieces, when assembled, tell a comprehensive story of Augustine’s significance, both then and now.

  Alden Bass, Michael Cameron, John C. Cavadini, Thomas Clemmons, Stephen A. Cooper, Theodore de Bruyn, Mark DelCogliano, Geoffrey D. Dunn, John Peter Kenney, Brian Matz, Andrew McGowan, William Tabbernee, Joseph W. Trigg, Dennis Trout, and James R. Wetzel.

501 pages, Hardcover

Published November 23, 2021

Reviews

[David Haines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be writing an official review of this book, to appear in a journal, but, I will make a couple quick comments here. This is an excellent, collaborative, book (written in honour of J. Payout Burns) primarily examining the way in which Augustine interacted with the Pagan (I.e. - the Platonists, Cicero, and Classical culture in general) and Christian (I.e. - Tertullian, Origen, the Cappadocians, etc.) writings he would have been familiar with. Each chapter interacts with the most up-to-date research on the subject, and proposes interesting and careful theses. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Augustinian studies.

[Noah Lykins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. Wayyy more Latin than I’m used to. Neat to see how early church folk engaged Augustine, and how Augustine took and formed the theology and philosophy of the day into his own work.