Ashley Null
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198270218
- eISBN:
- 9780191683954
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198270218.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
For centuries historians have offered often bitterly contradictory answers to the question of who exactly was Thomas Cranmer. Although Cranmer was a key participant in the changes to English life ...
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For centuries historians have offered often bitterly contradictory answers to the question of who exactly was Thomas Cranmer. Although Cranmer was a key participant in the changes to English life brought about by the Reformation, his reticent nature and lack of extensive personal writings have left a vacuum that in the past has too often been filled by scholarly prejudice or presumption. For the first time, however, this book examines in depth little used manuscript sources to reconstruct Cranmer's theological development on the crucial Protestant doctrine of justification. The author explores Cranmer's cultural heritage, why he would have been attracted to Luther's thought, and then provides convincing evidence for the Reformed Protestant Augustinianism that Cranmer enshrined in the formularies of the Church of England. For Cranmer the glory of God was his love for the unworthy; the heart of theology was proclaiming this truth through word and sacrament. Hence, the focus of both was on the life of on-going repentance, remembering God's gracious love inspired grateful human love.Less
For centuries historians have offered often bitterly contradictory answers to the question of who exactly was Thomas Cranmer. Although Cranmer was a key participant in the changes to English life brought about by the Reformation, his reticent nature and lack of extensive personal writings have left a vacuum that in the past has too often been filled by scholarly prejudice or presumption. For the first time, however, this book examines in depth little used manuscript sources to reconstruct Cranmer's theological development on the crucial Protestant doctrine of justification. The author explores Cranmer's cultural heritage, why he would have been attracted to Luther's thought, and then provides convincing evidence for the Reformed Protestant Augustinianism that Cranmer enshrined in the formularies of the Church of England. For Cranmer the glory of God was his love for the unworthy; the heart of theology was proclaiming this truth through word and sacrament. Hence, the focus of both was on the life of on-going repentance, remembering God's gracious love inspired grateful human love.
A. M. C. Casiday
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297184
- eISBN:
- 9780191711381
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297184.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of St John Cassian's profile in historical theology. It argues that Cassian was a creative and synthetic thinker who was perfectly capable of ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of St John Cassian's profile in historical theology. It argues that Cassian was a creative and synthetic thinker who was perfectly capable of developing the themes that he learnt in one place, in order to deploy them in a subtly different form somewhere else; as such, he was an adept promoter of a monastic tradition of theology. Cassian's advocacy of the ascetic cultivation of Christian understanding, the problem of anachronistic interpretation of Cassian, and allegations for anti-Augustinianism and the consequences for reading Cassian are discussed. An overview of the chapters included in this volume is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of St John Cassian's profile in historical theology. It argues that Cassian was a creative and synthetic thinker who was perfectly capable of developing the themes that he learnt in one place, in order to deploy them in a subtly different form somewhere else; as such, he was an adept promoter of a monastic tradition of theology. Cassian's advocacy of the ascetic cultivation of Christian understanding, the problem of anachronistic interpretation of Cassian, and allegations for anti-Augustinianism and the consequences for reading Cassian are discussed. An overview of the chapters included in this volume is presented.
Risto Saarinen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199606818
- eISBN:
- 9780191729614
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606818.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to one's own better judgement, remains a prominent discussion topic in philosophy. The book covers the reflection on weakness of will between 1350 ...
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Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to one's own better judgement, remains a prominent discussion topic in philosophy. The book covers the reflection on weakness of will between 1350 and 1650. It deals not only with a broad range of Renaissance authors (e.g. Petrarch, Donato Acciaiuoli, John Mair, Francesco Piccolomini), but also with the theologically coloured debates of the Reformation period (e.g. Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin, Lambert Daneau). The book also discusses the impact of these authors on some prominent figures of early modernity (Shakespeare, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz). While most of the historical research on weakness of will has focused on the reception history of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the present study pays attention to the Platonic and Stoic discussions and their revival during the Renaissance and the Reformation. The study also shows the ways in which Augustine's discussion of the divided will is intertwined with the Christian reception of ancient Greek ethics. The theological underpinnings of early modern authors do not rule out weakness of will, but they transform the philosophical discussion and drive it towards new solutions. In addition to the Aristotelian explanations of weakness of will, the Platonic and Stoic-Augustinian explanatory models feature prominently in the Renaissance and the Reformation.Less
Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to one's own better judgement, remains a prominent discussion topic in philosophy. The book covers the reflection on weakness of will between 1350 and 1650. It deals not only with a broad range of Renaissance authors (e.g. Petrarch, Donato Acciaiuoli, John Mair, Francesco Piccolomini), but also with the theologically coloured debates of the Reformation period (e.g. Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin, Lambert Daneau). The book also discusses the impact of these authors on some prominent figures of early modernity (Shakespeare, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz). While most of the historical research on weakness of will has focused on the reception history of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the present study pays attention to the Platonic and Stoic discussions and their revival during the Renaissance and the Reformation. The study also shows the ways in which Augustine's discussion of the divided will is intertwined with the Christian reception of ancient Greek ethics. The theological underpinnings of early modern authors do not rule out weakness of will, but they transform the philosophical discussion and drive it towards new solutions. In addition to the Aristotelian explanations of weakness of will, the Platonic and Stoic-Augustinian explanatory models feature prominently in the Renaissance and the Reformation.
Peter J. Thuesen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195174274
- eISBN:
- 9780199872138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174274.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
In replacing monarchy with republicanism, the American Revolution set the stage for the growth of a variety of upstart groups united by their back‐to‐the‐Bible mentality and their conviction that ...
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In replacing monarchy with republicanism, the American Revolution set the stage for the growth of a variety of upstart groups united by their back‐to‐the‐Bible mentality and their conviction that scripture testified against Calvinist absolutism. This chapter examines this antebellum diversity, from the Universalists, who insisted that God would save all people in the end, to the Methodists, who taught that God granted prevenient grace enabling all people to choose or reject Christ. The chapter also surveys other groups driven by anti‐predestinarian zeal, including the founders of the Campbellites, Stoneites, Adventists, and Christian Scientists. The anti‐Calvinist backlash reached a dramatic culmination in Mormonism, which radically extended human free will into premortal and postmortal life. Yet the Mormon appeal to preexistence was not the era's only radical rebellion against Augustinianism. Opposition to predestination even led the era's most famous Protestant family, the Beecher clan, to reconsider the benefits of old heresies.Less
In replacing monarchy with republicanism, the American Revolution set the stage for the growth of a variety of upstart groups united by their back‐to‐the‐Bible mentality and their conviction that scripture testified against Calvinist absolutism. This chapter examines this antebellum diversity, from the Universalists, who insisted that God would save all people in the end, to the Methodists, who taught that God granted prevenient grace enabling all people to choose or reject Christ. The chapter also surveys other groups driven by anti‐predestinarian zeal, including the founders of the Campbellites, Stoneites, Adventists, and Christian Scientists. The anti‐Calvinist backlash reached a dramatic culmination in Mormonism, which radically extended human free will into premortal and postmortal life. Yet the Mormon appeal to preexistence was not the era's only radical rebellion against Augustinianism. Opposition to predestination even led the era's most famous Protestant family, the Beecher clan, to reconsider the benefits of old heresies.
Catherine Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199238811
- eISBN:
- 9780191716492
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238811.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Augustinian asceticism ceded in the course of the 17th century to a more accepting attitude towards pleasure and the enjoyment of corporeal beauty, including the beauty of women. Platonic ideas were ...
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Augustinian asceticism ceded in the course of the 17th century to a more accepting attitude towards pleasure and the enjoyment of corporeal beauty, including the beauty of women. Platonic ideas were often invoked in defense of love, but the Epicurean revival was also significant. Epicurean views on the equality of men and women and their capacity for mutual friendship stood in stark contrast to Aristotelian moral and social philosophy and patristic theology. Lucretius's descriptions of nature, his invocation of Venus, and his treatment of sexual passion helped to form and legitimate his readers' responses to the world. The Cartesian analysis of the passions as playing a functional role in human life, licensed emotional expression, and predicted the rise of the ‘man of feeling’ of the 18th century.Less
Augustinian asceticism ceded in the course of the 17th century to a more accepting attitude towards pleasure and the enjoyment of corporeal beauty, including the beauty of women. Platonic ideas were often invoked in defense of love, but the Epicurean revival was also significant. Epicurean views on the equality of men and women and their capacity for mutual friendship stood in stark contrast to Aristotelian moral and social philosophy and patristic theology. Lucretius's descriptions of nature, his invocation of Venus, and his treatment of sexual passion helped to form and legitimate his readers' responses to the world. The Cartesian analysis of the passions as playing a functional role in human life, licensed emotional expression, and predicted the rise of the ‘man of feeling’ of the 18th century.
David C. Steinmetz
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195130485
- eISBN:
- 9780199869008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195130480.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Staupitz is best known for his supervision and pastoral advice to Martin Luther, when Luther was an Augustinian friar. In his theology, Staupitz represented a form of late medieval Augustinianism ...
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Staupitz is best known for his supervision and pastoral advice to Martin Luther, when Luther was an Augustinian friar. In his theology, Staupitz represented a form of late medieval Augustinianism that separated him from nominalist theologians like Gabriel Biel, who Luther studied, and the Augustinianism of the Protestant reformers. Luther claimed to have been influenced by him in his view of grace, especially his doctrine of predestination, which contradicted Biel on several points that Luther found important.Less
Staupitz is best known for his supervision and pastoral advice to Martin Luther, when Luther was an Augustinian friar. In his theology, Staupitz represented a form of late medieval Augustinianism that separated him from nominalist theologians like Gabriel Biel, who Luther studied, and the Augustinianism of the Protestant reformers. Luther claimed to have been influenced by him in his view of grace, especially his doctrine of predestination, which contradicted Biel on several points that Luther found important.
Christopher Tilmouth
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199212378
- eISBN:
- 9780191707254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212378.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This book surveys ideas of passion, reason, appetite, and self-control in English literature and moral thought from 1580 to 1680. Drawing on tragedy, poetry, moral philosophy, and sermons, the book ...
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This book surveys ideas of passion, reason, appetite, and self-control in English literature and moral thought from 1580 to 1680. Drawing on tragedy, poetry, moral philosophy, and sermons, the book explores how Renaissance writers transformed their understanding of the passions, re-evaluating emotion so as to make it an important constituent of ethical life rather than the enemy within which allegory had traditionally cast it as being. Part One of the book describes various ethical positions available to early modern readers, including those of Erasmus, the Stoics, and Calvin. It then explores the role of psychomachia and a hostility to the passions in Spenser's Faerie Queene, before turning to plays by Shakespeare and Chapman (Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Bussy D'Ambois) which challenge the moral assumptions, and particularly the antipathy towards the emotions, prevalent in late Elizabethan England. It also examines the impact which Augustinianism and Aristotelianism had on the poetry of Herbert, Crashaw, and Milton. These latter traditions are shown to promote a positive evaluation of emotion when that emotion is inflected either by God's grace or by a principle of rational moderation. Part Two of the book traces the rise and fall of Restoration libertinism, particularly under the influence of Hobbes's philosophy and French libertinism. This tradition, which celebrated passion and appetite as natural, and accorded them free expression, is traced in works by Etherege, Dryden, and the Earl of Rochester. It is argued that such libertinism ultimately proved dissatisfying even on its own terms.Less
This book surveys ideas of passion, reason, appetite, and self-control in English literature and moral thought from 1580 to 1680. Drawing on tragedy, poetry, moral philosophy, and sermons, the book explores how Renaissance writers transformed their understanding of the passions, re-evaluating emotion so as to make it an important constituent of ethical life rather than the enemy within which allegory had traditionally cast it as being. Part One of the book describes various ethical positions available to early modern readers, including those of Erasmus, the Stoics, and Calvin. It then explores the role of psychomachia and a hostility to the passions in Spenser's Faerie Queene, before turning to plays by Shakespeare and Chapman (Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Bussy D'Ambois) which challenge the moral assumptions, and particularly the antipathy towards the emotions, prevalent in late Elizabethan England. It also examines the impact which Augustinianism and Aristotelianism had on the poetry of Herbert, Crashaw, and Milton. These latter traditions are shown to promote a positive evaluation of emotion when that emotion is inflected either by God's grace or by a principle of rational moderation. Part Two of the book traces the rise and fall of Restoration libertinism, particularly under the influence of Hobbes's philosophy and French libertinism. This tradition, which celebrated passion and appetite as natural, and accorded them free expression, is traced in works by Etherege, Dryden, and the Earl of Rochester. It is argued that such libertinism ultimately proved dissatisfying even on its own terms.
Michael Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291038
- eISBN:
- 9780191710599
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291038.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This book investigates psychological and ethical thought in 17th-century France, emphasizing both continuities and discontinuities with ancient and medieval thought. The ancient ethical vision that ...
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This book investigates psychological and ethical thought in 17th-century France, emphasizing both continuities and discontinuities with ancient and medieval thought. The ancient ethical vision that man achieves fulfilment by living his life according to reason — the highest element of his nature — survives even in Descartes’s thought. However, the revival of Augustinian theology, which focuses on the contradictions and disorders of human desires and aspirations, brings that vision into question. Human beings are increasingly seen as motivated by self-love: they are driven by the desire for their own advantage and take a narcissistic delight in their own image. Moral and religious writers emphasize the traditional imperative of self-knowledge, but in such a way as to suggest the difficulties of knowing oneself. Operating with the Cartesian distinction between mind and body, they emphasize the imperceptible influence of bodily processes on our thoughts and attitudes. They analyse human beings’ ignorance (due to self-love) of their own motives and qualities, and the illusions under which they live their lives. Their critique of human behaviour is no less searching than that of writers who have broken with traditional religious morality, such as Hobbes and Spinoza. The abstract and general analyses of philosophers and theologians (Descartes, Jansenius, Malebranche) are studied alongside the less systematic and more concrete investigations of writers like Montaigne and La Rochefoucauld, as well as the theatre of Corneille, Molière, and Racine.Less
This book investigates psychological and ethical thought in 17th-century France, emphasizing both continuities and discontinuities with ancient and medieval thought. The ancient ethical vision that man achieves fulfilment by living his life according to reason — the highest element of his nature — survives even in Descartes’s thought. However, the revival of Augustinian theology, which focuses on the contradictions and disorders of human desires and aspirations, brings that vision into question. Human beings are increasingly seen as motivated by self-love: they are driven by the desire for their own advantage and take a narcissistic delight in their own image. Moral and religious writers emphasize the traditional imperative of self-knowledge, but in such a way as to suggest the difficulties of knowing oneself. Operating with the Cartesian distinction between mind and body, they emphasize the imperceptible influence of bodily processes on our thoughts and attitudes. They analyse human beings’ ignorance (due to self-love) of their own motives and qualities, and the illusions under which they live their lives. Their critique of human behaviour is no less searching than that of writers who have broken with traditional religious morality, such as Hobbes and Spinoza. The abstract and general analyses of philosophers and theologians (Descartes, Jansenius, Malebranche) are studied alongside the less systematic and more concrete investigations of writers like Montaigne and La Rochefoucauld, as well as the theatre of Corneille, Molière, and Racine.
Michael Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291038
- eISBN:
- 9780191710599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291038.003.0012
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
The key themes of the book are recapitulated in the course of a general assessment of the relationship of Augustinianism and Cartesianism in 17th-century moral thought. The writers discovered are ...
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The key themes of the book are recapitulated in the course of a general assessment of the relationship of Augustinianism and Cartesianism in 17th-century moral thought. The writers discovered are defended against the Sartrean-Barthesian critique that they concentrate on psychological and moral issues, and thus obscure social and political ones. Nicole in particular develops a theory of the working of an individualist (‘modern’) society, in which he draws on an Augustinian ethic that prevents him from justifying this state of affairs. There is a link between theology and a critical social vision.Less
The key themes of the book are recapitulated in the course of a general assessment of the relationship of Augustinianism and Cartesianism in 17th-century moral thought. The writers discovered are defended against the Sartrean-Barthesian critique that they concentrate on psychological and moral issues, and thus obscure social and political ones. Nicole in particular develops a theory of the working of an individualist (‘modern’) society, in which he draws on an Augustinian ethic that prevents him from justifying this state of affairs. There is a link between theology and a critical social vision.
Michael Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291038
- eISBN:
- 9780191710599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291038.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
Scholars have attempted to understand 17th-century writers’ interest in self-knowledge and self-deception in historical terms by linking it to ideological conflict with a class dimension (Paul ...
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Scholars have attempted to understand 17th-century writers’ interest in self-knowledge and self-deception in historical terms by linking it to ideological conflict with a class dimension (Paul Bénichou), or to the emergence of an absolutist state centred on the court (Jean Rohou). The stress on self-deception in a Jansenist writer like Nicole has been linked to a Jansenist hostility to mysticism. This view is queried and it is pointed out that mystical writers themselves (St François de Sales, Fénelon) are strongly aware of the perils of self-deception. Augustinian moral theology and Cartesian dualism also nourish this awareness in different ways. There is no one school of thought, ideology, or social factor that can explain 17th-century writers’ fascination with the difficulty of self-knowledge and the risk of self-deception.Less
Scholars have attempted to understand 17th-century writers’ interest in self-knowledge and self-deception in historical terms by linking it to ideological conflict with a class dimension (Paul Bénichou), or to the emergence of an absolutist state centred on the court (Jean Rohou). The stress on self-deception in a Jansenist writer like Nicole has been linked to a Jansenist hostility to mysticism. This view is queried and it is pointed out that mystical writers themselves (St François de Sales, Fénelon) are strongly aware of the perils of self-deception. Augustinian moral theology and Cartesian dualism also nourish this awareness in different ways. There is no one school of thought, ideology, or social factor that can explain 17th-century writers’ fascination with the difficulty of self-knowledge and the risk of self-deception.
Eric Saak
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199646388
- eISBN:
- 9780199949960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646388.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History, Theology
This chapter problematizes the interpretation of Augustine and Augustinianism on theoretical and historiographical grounds. It argues that when we seek to understand the Augustine of the past, ...
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This chapter problematizes the interpretation of Augustine and Augustinianism on theoretical and historiographical grounds. It argues that when we seek to understand the Augustine of the past, contemporary interpretations cannot be the basis for the analysis. The problem is one of hermeneutics. Moreover, Augustine created himself in his Confessions, thus making the endeavour to recover Augustine himself fallacious. This makes the interpretation of ‘Augustinianism’ all the more confused, as scholars have used the term to refer to different historical phenomena, including a political Augustinianism. If a late medieval Augustinianism is to be identified, it must be based on the historical understanding of Augustine, which is to be found in the late medieval understandings of the religio Augustini, rather than in what has been seen as the schola Augustiniana moderna. Thus the Introduction sets the stage for the entire work in pointing to a historical understanding of Augustinianism.Less
This chapter problematizes the interpretation of Augustine and Augustinianism on theoretical and historiographical grounds. It argues that when we seek to understand the Augustine of the past, contemporary interpretations cannot be the basis for the analysis. The problem is one of hermeneutics. Moreover, Augustine created himself in his Confessions, thus making the endeavour to recover Augustine himself fallacious. This makes the interpretation of ‘Augustinianism’ all the more confused, as scholars have used the term to refer to different historical phenomena, including a political Augustinianism. If a late medieval Augustinianism is to be identified, it must be based on the historical understanding of Augustine, which is to be found in the late medieval understandings of the religio Augustini, rather than in what has been seen as the schola Augustiniana moderna. Thus the Introduction sets the stage for the entire work in pointing to a historical understanding of Augustinianism.
Eric Saak
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199646388
- eISBN:
- 9780199949960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646388.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History, Theology
The Conclusion sums up the argument, and offers definitions of the terms ‘Augustinianism’, ‘Late Medieval Augustinianism’, and ‘Augustinian’, based on the historical reconstruction of the historical ...
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The Conclusion sums up the argument, and offers definitions of the terms ‘Augustinianism’, ‘Late Medieval Augustinianism’, and ‘Augustinian’, based on the historical reconstruction of the historical referents. ‘Late Medieval Augustinianism’ must be based, for a historical interpretation, on the religio Augustini and the textual matrix of the late medieval OESA. This thenalso has consequences for our understanding of Augustine himself, and of his reception, influence, and appropriation in the later Middle Ages. It then points to the ramifications of this reinterpretation and new understanding, offering points of departure for future research, which needs to reinterpret Augustine’s late medieval heritage, as well as its relationship to Martin Luther and the emergence of the Reformation in light of the evidence for the requisite heremeutics here presented.Less
The Conclusion sums up the argument, and offers definitions of the terms ‘Augustinianism’, ‘Late Medieval Augustinianism’, and ‘Augustinian’, based on the historical reconstruction of the historical referents. ‘Late Medieval Augustinianism’ must be based, for a historical interpretation, on the religio Augustini and the textual matrix of the late medieval OESA. This thenalso has consequences for our understanding of Augustine himself, and of his reception, influence, and appropriation in the later Middle Ages. It then points to the ramifications of this reinterpretation and new understanding, offering points of departure for future research, which needs to reinterpret Augustine’s late medieval heritage, as well as its relationship to Martin Luther and the emergence of the Reformation in light of the evidence for the requisite heremeutics here presented.
Arnoud S. Q. Visser
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199765935
- eISBN:
- 9780199895168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765935.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter introduces the reader to Augustine of Hippo and his varied reception in the long sixteenth century. It explains the aims, scope, and organization of the book and situates its main ...
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This chapter introduces the reader to Augustine of Hippo and his varied reception in the long sixteenth century. It explains the aims, scope, and organization of the book and situates its main arguments in the context of recent research in the fields of Reformation history (including the confessionalization paradigm, the concept of Augustinianism and recent studies of the reception of the Church fathers), Renaissance Humanism, and the history of reading.Less
This chapter introduces the reader to Augustine of Hippo and his varied reception in the long sixteenth century. It explains the aims, scope, and organization of the book and situates its main arguments in the context of recent research in the fields of Reformation history (including the confessionalization paradigm, the concept of Augustinianism and recent studies of the reception of the Church fathers), Renaissance Humanism, and the history of reading.
Christopher Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152080
- eISBN:
- 9781400842414
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152080.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter tracks the changing fortunes of a fundamental opposition between more Stoic and more Augustinian perspectives on human life, showing that as the seventeenth century gave way to the ...
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This chapter tracks the changing fortunes of a fundamental opposition between more Stoic and more Augustinian perspectives on human life, showing that as the seventeenth century gave way to the eighteenth, the patterns of Augustinian anti-Stoicism had often found expression in a more secular, Epicurean register. What Jean-Jacques Rousseau attempts, more strenuously than any other thinker of the period, is an extraordinary synthesis of Epicurean, Augustinian, and Stoic argumentative currents. In common with the modern Epicureans, Rousseau uses claims about self-love to illuminate all areas of human behaviour in modern times. But by presenting that self-love as inflamed amour-propre, Rousseau tilts sharply towards the more critical Augustinians than towards those Epicurean writers who were making their apology for commercial society.Less
This chapter tracks the changing fortunes of a fundamental opposition between more Stoic and more Augustinian perspectives on human life, showing that as the seventeenth century gave way to the eighteenth, the patterns of Augustinian anti-Stoicism had often found expression in a more secular, Epicurean register. What Jean-Jacques Rousseau attempts, more strenuously than any other thinker of the period, is an extraordinary synthesis of Epicurean, Augustinian, and Stoic argumentative currents. In common with the modern Epicureans, Rousseau uses claims about self-love to illuminate all areas of human behaviour in modern times. But by presenting that self-love as inflamed amour-propre, Rousseau tilts sharply towards the more critical Augustinians than towards those Epicurean writers who were making their apology for commercial society.
Michael Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199589371
- eISBN:
- 9780191728808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199589371.003.0016
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, European Literature
The Maximes went through much revision. Among the most important changes are the discarding of the original prefatory discourse by La Chapelle-Bessé and the inclusion of expressions such as ‘souvent’ ...
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The Maximes went through much revision. Among the most important changes are the discarding of the original prefatory discourse by La Chapelle-Bessé and the inclusion of expressions such as ‘souvent’ or ‘d’ordinaire’ which imply that the reductive analysis of the virtues admits of exceptions. The implications of these changes are analysed. They break, it is argued, the link between the text and the Augustinian critique of the pagan virtues. In particular the exact relationship of the Maximes to Augustinian thought is assessed. It is argued that though they can be said to draw on an Augustinian view of human nature, their critique of false virtue is very different from that propounded by Jansenist theologians, and has little distinctively Augustinian. The conception of virtue it presupposes is more akin to Aristotle’s and indeed Montaigne’s.Less
The Maximes went through much revision. Among the most important changes are the discarding of the original prefatory discourse by La Chapelle-Bessé and the inclusion of expressions such as ‘souvent’ or ‘d’ordinaire’ which imply that the reductive analysis of the virtues admits of exceptions. The implications of these changes are analysed. They break, it is argued, the link between the text and the Augustinian critique of the pagan virtues. In particular the exact relationship of the Maximes to Augustinian thought is assessed. It is argued that though they can be said to draw on an Augustinian view of human nature, their critique of false virtue is very different from that propounded by Jansenist theologians, and has little distinctively Augustinian. The conception of virtue it presupposes is more akin to Aristotle’s and indeed Montaigne’s.
William Hasker
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199590629
- eISBN:
- 9780191731280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590629.003.0018
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter sets forth a theodicy of natural evil. General characteristics of theodicy are discussed, including the distinction between general‐policy theodicies and specific-benefit theodicies. ...
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This chapter sets forth a theodicy of natural evil. General characteristics of theodicy are discussed, including the distinction between general‐policy theodicies and specific-benefit theodicies. There is also consideration of the relationship between theodicy and different theories of providence, including Augustinianism, Molinism, and open theism. It is argued that the ‘skeptical theist defense’ against the problem of evil should be rejected because it leads to an unacceptable moral skepticism. A theodicy of natural evil is presented, and it is argued that open theism makes the prospects for such a theodicy better than they are for either Augustinianism or MolinismLess
This chapter sets forth a theodicy of natural evil. General characteristics of theodicy are discussed, including the distinction between general‐policy theodicies and specific-benefit theodicies. There is also consideration of the relationship between theodicy and different theories of providence, including Augustinianism, Molinism, and open theism. It is argued that the ‘skeptical theist defense’ against the problem of evil should be rejected because it leads to an unacceptable moral skepticism. A theodicy of natural evil is presented, and it is argued that open theism makes the prospects for such a theodicy better than they are for either Augustinianism or Molinism
Dale K. Van Kley
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780300228465
- eISBN:
- 9780300235616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300228465.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter presents anti-Jesuitism as the negative face of Reform Catholicism while making a case for the utility of this concept in revisionist opposition to the current one of “Catholic ...
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This chapter presents anti-Jesuitism as the negative face of Reform Catholicism while making a case for the utility of this concept in revisionist opposition to the current one of “Catholic enlightenment.” While one component of Reform Catholicism does indeed consist in those aspects of the European Enlightenment compatible with religious belief, these aspects are different from those appropriated by Jesuits, many of whom have an equal claim to have been “enlightened.” The other and more obviously anti-Jesuitical elements of Reform Catholicism are the liberties of both the secular state and the national churches vis-à-vis the papacy known as Gallican, in combination with the morally rigorist Augustinianism known as Jansenism.Less
This chapter presents anti-Jesuitism as the negative face of Reform Catholicism while making a case for the utility of this concept in revisionist opposition to the current one of “Catholic enlightenment.” While one component of Reform Catholicism does indeed consist in those aspects of the European Enlightenment compatible with religious belief, these aspects are different from those appropriated by Jesuits, many of whom have an equal claim to have been “enlightened.” The other and more obviously anti-Jesuitical elements of Reform Catholicism are the liberties of both the secular state and the national churches vis-à-vis the papacy known as Gallican, in combination with the morally rigorist Augustinianism known as Jansenism.
Eric Leland Saak
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199646388
- eISBN:
- 9780199949960
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646388.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History, Theology
The term ‘Augustinianism’ has been used by scholars for over a century to refer to trends in medieval philosophy, theology, and politics, which had a major effect on the transformations of European ...
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The term ‘Augustinianism’ has been used by scholars for over a century to refer to trends in medieval philosophy, theology, and politics, which had a major effect on the transformations of European culture and society from the Middle Ages to the onset of modernity. Yet in each of these three disciplines ‘Augustinianism’ means something different, and the lack of clarity only increases when the debates over the relationship between a late medieval Augustinianism and Martin Luther are also considered. Based on historical, philological, and iconographic analysis, this study adopts a hermeneutical approach drawn from philosophical hermeneutics, religious studies, and literary and sociological theory to argue for a historical, as distinct from a philosophical or theological referent for the term ‘Augustinianism’. The central argument of the book is that the interpretation of a late medieval Augustinianism can only be based historically on the newly created image of Augustine discerned in the writings of the Augustinian Hermits in the early fourteenth century, rather than on our own interpretations of Augustine himself. Recognizing the diverse dimensions of this created image is requisite to a historical understanding of Augustine’s late medieval reception and impact. As such, the book sets its sights beyond the later Middle Ages to encompass approaches to interpreting Augustine’s influence in general, for Augustine remains, today as in the later Middle Ages, a created saint.Less
The term ‘Augustinianism’ has been used by scholars for over a century to refer to trends in medieval philosophy, theology, and politics, which had a major effect on the transformations of European culture and society from the Middle Ages to the onset of modernity. Yet in each of these three disciplines ‘Augustinianism’ means something different, and the lack of clarity only increases when the debates over the relationship between a late medieval Augustinianism and Martin Luther are also considered. Based on historical, philological, and iconographic analysis, this study adopts a hermeneutical approach drawn from philosophical hermeneutics, religious studies, and literary and sociological theory to argue for a historical, as distinct from a philosophical or theological referent for the term ‘Augustinianism’. The central argument of the book is that the interpretation of a late medieval Augustinianism can only be based historically on the newly created image of Augustine discerned in the writings of the Augustinian Hermits in the early fourteenth century, rather than on our own interpretations of Augustine himself. Recognizing the diverse dimensions of this created image is requisite to a historical understanding of Augustine’s late medieval reception and impact. As such, the book sets its sights beyond the later Middle Ages to encompass approaches to interpreting Augustine’s influence in general, for Augustine remains, today as in the later Middle Ages, a created saint.
Risto Saarinen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199606818
- eISBN:
- 9780191729614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606818.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The chapter starts with an analysis of Petrarch’s Secretum. In addition to its obvious Augustinian features, this work is influenced by the medieval debates on the will, coming close at times to ...
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The chapter starts with an analysis of Petrarch’s Secretum. In addition to its obvious Augustinian features, this work is influenced by the medieval debates on the will, coming close at times to Henry of Ghent’s voluntarism. Donato Acciaiuoli’s commentary on Aristotle’s Ethics is Thomist, but it also applies Walter Burley’s views. The influence of Aquinas and Burley is also evident in Virgilius Wellendorffer’s forgotten but erudite commentary. Thomist intellectualism likewise permeates John Versor’s and Lefèvre d’Étaples’s discussions of akrasia. More original is the influential discussion of Josse Clichtove, who quotes extensively Medea’s lines in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 7 to establish a commonplace Platonist view. According to this view, reason struggles with emotions in the akratic mind. The chapter closes with John Mair, who refines the late medieval position of John Buridan, and argues that Aristotle’s syllogistics is compatible with the Christian view of free will. Many Renaissance discussions on akrasia employ the term ‘struggle’ (pugna), but it seldom figures prominently.Less
The chapter starts with an analysis of Petrarch’s Secretum. In addition to its obvious Augustinian features, this work is influenced by the medieval debates on the will, coming close at times to Henry of Ghent’s voluntarism. Donato Acciaiuoli’s commentary on Aristotle’s Ethics is Thomist, but it also applies Walter Burley’s views. The influence of Aquinas and Burley is also evident in Virgilius Wellendorffer’s forgotten but erudite commentary. Thomist intellectualism likewise permeates John Versor’s and Lefèvre d’Étaples’s discussions of akrasia. More original is the influential discussion of Josse Clichtove, who quotes extensively Medea’s lines in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 7 to establish a commonplace Platonist view. According to this view, reason struggles with emotions in the akratic mind. The chapter closes with John Mair, who refines the late medieval position of John Buridan, and argues that Aristotle’s syllogistics is compatible with the Christian view of free will. Many Renaissance discussions on akrasia employ the term ‘struggle’ (pugna), but it seldom figures prominently.
Eric Saak
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199646388
- eISBN:
- 9780199949960
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646388.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History, Theology
This chapter details the religious identity of the OESA, based on the imitation of Augustine and following the religio Augustini. It examines how the Hermits sought to embody Augustine as the rule ...
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This chapter details the religious identity of the OESA, based on the imitation of Augustine and following the religio Augustini. It examines how the Hermits sought to embody Augustine as the rule and exemplar of their every action, thus giving evidence of the religionization process in the later Middle Ages. The works of Henry of Friemar and Jordan of Quedlinburg come to the fore, espeically Jordan’s Liber Vitasfratrum, which was intended to serve as a mirror for members of the OESA to determine the extent of their ‘being’ Augustinians. The new appropriation of Augustine evidenced in the 1320s and 1330s served not only as the catalyst for the Augustinian Renaissance, but also as the hermeneutical principle of the religio Augustini, which provided the historical referent for the term ‘Augustinianism’ in the later Middle Ages.Less
This chapter details the religious identity of the OESA, based on the imitation of Augustine and following the religio Augustini. It examines how the Hermits sought to embody Augustine as the rule and exemplar of their every action, thus giving evidence of the religionization process in the later Middle Ages. The works of Henry of Friemar and Jordan of Quedlinburg come to the fore, espeically Jordan’s Liber Vitasfratrum, which was intended to serve as a mirror for members of the OESA to determine the extent of their ‘being’ Augustinians. The new appropriation of Augustine evidenced in the 1320s and 1330s served not only as the catalyst for the Augustinian Renaissance, but also as the hermeneutical principle of the religio Augustini, which provided the historical referent for the term ‘Augustinianism’ in the later Middle Ages.
