Gratia in Augustine's Sermones ad Populum during the Pelagian Controversy

Anthony Dupont (Ph.D. Theology, Leuven, 2009) is as a post-doctoral researcher of the FWO (Research Foundation Flanders) attached to the Research Unit History of Church and Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of the KU Leuven, Belgium. He has published articles on Augustine’s doctrine of grace and his preaching. His field of research and teaching is Late Antiquity and Early Christianity.

• AcknowledgementsBibliographyAuthors Christian AntiquityAugustineWritingsLettersSermonsConsulted critical editionsCritical editions of sermones ad populum used in this monographTranslations of sermones ad populumGermanEnglishItalianDutchSpanishConsulted translations of AugustineBibliography secondary literatureIntroductionChapter 1. Status quaestionis on research into Augustine’s sermones ad populum and gratia1. Augustine’s sermones ad populum1. 1 Augustine’s formation as homilist1. 2 Genre, occasion, context, public and significance of a sermo1. 3 Preparation and style of Augustine’s sermones1. 4 The content of Augustine’s sermones and the importance of their study1. 5 Chronology and dating of the sermones ad populum1. 5. 1 A. Kunzelmann1. 5. 2 Date lists1. 5. 3 P.-M. Hombert1. 5. 3. 1 Hombert’s method1. 5. 3. 2 Hombert’s re-dating1. 5. 3. 3 Some remarks on Hombert’s method2. Gratia and the Pelagian Controversy2. 1 The Pelagian controversy: a historical overview2. 1. 1 The first phase: Caelestius and Pelagius2. 1. 2 Second phase: Julian of Aeclanum2. 1. 3 The third phase: so-called ‘semi-Pelagianism’2. 1. 4 Concluding observations on the Pelagian controversy2. 2 An evolution in Augustine’s thought on gratia?2. 3 The treatment of gratia in anti-Pelagian sermones ad populumChapter 2. Fides as gratia and as human task1. The gratia status of fides in Augustine’s thought2. Fides in the sermones 143, 144, 1682. 1 Sermo 1432. 2 Sermo 1442. 3 Sermo 1683. Overview of the thematization of the gratia fidei within the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum3. 1 Sermo 3653. 2 ‘Early’ traces, prior to 416/4173. 3 ‘Later’ traces, after 416/4174. Scriptural comparisons4. 1 Jn. 16,8-114. 2 Jn. 1,124. 3 Hab. 2,4 (Rom. 1,17, Gal. 3,11)4. 4 Gal. 5,64. 5 Eph. 3,174. 6 Rom. 4,54. 7 Jn. 6,445. ConclusionChapter 3. Sermones 293-294: Baptismus Paruulorum in the First Phase of the Pelagian Controversy1. Augustine’s theology of infant baptism and original sin prior to sermo 2942. Sermones 293 and 2942. 1 Context of sermones 293 and 2942. 2 Sermo 2932. 3 Sermo 2942. 4 A comparison of two tractates from the same period2. 5 The baptismus paruulorum continued: the debate with Julian3. Infant baptism in the sermones ad populum3. 1 Sermones ad populum situated in Carthage 4133. 2 Infant baptism in the corpus of the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum4. Scriptural comparisons4. 1 Mt. 9,12-13 (Lk. 5,31-32; Mk. 2,17)4. 2 Mt. 1,214. 3 Jn. 3,54. 4 Jn. 3,135. ConclusionChapter 4. Prayer as indication of human sinfulness1. The meaning of prayer in Augustine’s thought2. Five paradigmatic anti-Pelagian sermons on prayer2. 1 Sermo 1152. 2 Sermo 3512. 3 Sermo 348A2. 4 Sermo 1812. 5 Sermo 1143. Other traces of prayer in the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum3. 1 Prayer leads to understanding and faith3. 2 Prayer as a remedy against sin3. 2. 1 The universal need for help3. 2. 2 Help in the struggle against concupiscentia3. 2. 3 The connection to Mt. 6,124. Scriptural comparisons4. 1 Mt. 6,94. 2 Mt. 6,124. 3 Mt. 6,134. 4 Lk. 18,10-144. 5 Lk. 18,1-74. 6 2 Cor. 13,75. ConclusionChapter 5. The theme of human sinfulness in the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum1. Augustine’s concept of sin2. Augustine’s sermones on peccatum2. 1 Connection with other themes in Augustine’s anti-Pelagian sermones2. 2 Excursus I: early sermones on sin2. 2. 1 Sermo 2832. 2. 2 Sermo 1252. 2. 3 Sermones 72A, 2 and 1422. 3 Excursus II: Sermones 151 - 156 and their exegesis of Rom. 7,5 - 8, 172. 3. 1 Sermo 1512. 3. 2 Sermo 1522. 3. 3 Sermo 1532. 3. 4 Sermo 1542. 3. 5 Sermo 1552. 3. 6 Sermo 1562. 3. 7 Sermo 154A2. 4 Eight sermones on sin in the Pelagian controversy2. 4. 1 Sermo 1742. 4. 2 Sermo 1762. 4. 3 Sermo 2992. 4. 4 Sermo 302. 4. 5 Sermo 1632. 4. 6 Sermo 163A2. 4. 7 Sermo 1702. 4. 8 Sermo 335B3. Sin in the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum as a whole4. Scriptural comparisons4. 1 1 Tim. 1,15-164. 2 Gal. 5,16-174. 2. 1 Gal. 5,16-174. 2. 2 Gal. 5,174. 3 Rom. 6,12-134. 4 1 Jn. 1,8-95. ConclusionsConclusion1. Scripture2. Liturgy5563. The Art of Preaching4. Concrete Context and Target Group5. Unique Thematisation6. Chronological Continuity7. Lacunae?8. Further Research9. Conclusion

"Ein Paradestück der neueren Augustinus-Forschung... Insgesamt bestätigt die Arbeit von Dupont die Fruchtbarkeit des eingangs skizzierten Neuansatzes in der Augustinus-Forschung, speziell in der Gnadenlehre. Die Erhellung augustinischer Texte vor dem Hintergrund ihrer historischen und pragmatischen ‹Kon-Texte› erweist sich als überaus ertragreich, nicht zuletzt beim Bemühen, wirkliche oder vermeintliche Antinomien des augustinischen Bergmassivs – bzw. besser: des augustinischen Organismus – der ‹Gnadenlehre› besser zu verstehen und sich produktiver an ihnen abzuarbeiten."Christof Müller in Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 124 (2013)