Cities in Conflict

2020 ◽  
pp. 397-418
Author(s):  
D. H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Ambrose Of Milan

This chapter focuses on the work of Ambrose of Milan: specifically, it considers his two letters to Valentinian to see what they can tell us about the structure and evolution of Christian apologetic literature in the later fourth century. Both of Ambrose’s petitions are intent on making the bishop’s Against Symmachus the basis of a broader appeal in establishing the legitimacy of Christianity to an audience of uncommitted Christians or pagans. If it is correct to regard the two documents as such, then we are acknowledging the elasticity of Christian apologetic literature—a recognition that has come to typify scholarly assessment of Christian apologetic texts. The chapter also examines the work of Augustine of Hippo Regius, particularly the City of God and his analysis of evil things happening during “Christian times.”

scholarly journals Augustinus en de Joden: een inleidend overzicht

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Van Oort
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Positive Sign ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Current Opinion ◽  
Sharp Distinction ◽  
The City ◽  
The Church

The article explores how Augustine of Hippo (354-430) deals with the Jews and Judaism. First it investigates the occurrence and meaning of the word �Iudaeus� in Augustine�s works. It turns out that Augustine, unlike many a predecessor, does not make a sharp distinction between �Hebrew�, �Israelite�, and �Jew�. Mainly on the basis of The City of God the role of the Jews in history is discussed. According to Augustine, all true believers (even those living before the time of Jesus) are �Christ believers� and are considered to belong to Christ�s body, the Church. The diaspora of the Jews is evaluated both negatively and positively: negatively as a consequence of �their putting Christ to death�; positively since through the dispersion of the Jews their Scriptures have been dispersed as well and so provide �testimony to the truth taught by the Church�. The so-called �mark of Cain� can not be interpreted as a predominantly positive sign: it provides protection indeed, but this divine protection is, once again, �for the benefit of the Church�. Contrary to some current opinion, it is stressed that Augustine knew contemporary Jews in Roman North Africa quite well.

La virgen cristiana en los escritos de Ambrosio y de Agustín

Augustinus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-203
Author(s):  
Vittorino Grossi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Ambrose Of Milan ◽  
Vestal Virgins

The article presents the figure of the consecrated virgin, as it appears in the writings of Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo. It also offers a contextual synthesis of the conditions of women in Late Antiquity, both in civil society, presenting the women as uxor, the situation of the Vestal Virgins, as well as the women’s stituation within the Christian communities. Later a summary of the main Latin patristic writings on virginity is made, to analyze and compare in more detail, Saint Ambrose’s De Virginibus and Saint Augustine’s De sancta Virginitate.

The Rhetoric of Heresiological Prefaces

2020 ◽  
pp. 180-197
Author(s):  
Richard Flower
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Textual Authority ◽  
Literary Phenomenon ◽  
Ancient Texts

The genre of heresiology—catalogues of heretics and their supposed beliefs—flourished in late antiquity, especially from the late fourth century. This chapter forms part of a reappraisal of this underappreciated literary phenomenon by considering the rhetorical aspects of a number of heresiologies within the context of classical technical literature. Drawing on parallels from a range of ancient texts, especially medical and encyclopaedic writings, this chapter focuses on the prefaces of heresiologies by Epiphanius of Salamis, Filastrius of Brescia and Augustine of Hippo to illuminate how they employed recognized techniques for the construction of textual authority. Through such close analysis, it is possible to trace the development of heresiology as technē, with each author drawing on both established classical tropes and also the writings of their predecessors in the genre to create their own distinctive rhetoric that advertised the reliable orthodoxy and intellectual supremacy of both writer and text.

The Influence of Eusebius’ Chronicle on the Apologetic Treatises of Cyril of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-711
Author(s):  
MATTHEW R. CRAWFORD
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
City Of God ◽  
Augustine Of Hippo ◽  
Cyril Of Alexandria ◽  
Biblical History ◽  
The City

In the early fifth century, both Cyril of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo used Eusebius of Caesarea's Chronicle in the writing of their respective apologetic treatises – Against Julian for Cyril and The city of God for Augustine. The present study compares the use that these two authors made of their predecessor and argues for two continuities between these acts of reception: the use of synchronisms between biblical and non-biblical history and the tracing of Mosaic monotheism through time. In both these respects, Cyril and Augustine were carrying forward themes of Christian apologetic that reached back to the second-century apologists.

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