The definitive compendium of Cavadini’s essays on Augustine Visioning Augustine offers readers an expertly selected collection of essays exploring the text and history of the theology of Saint Augustine. Prominent scholar and essayist, John Cavadini, offers modern audiences an innovative framework for understanding Augustine, integrating articles and essays on significant texts, historical and contemporary perspectives and insights into Augustine’s development as a theologian. Examining themes such as the transformation of the human will in De doctrina Christiana and Augustine’s critique of philosophy in City of God, Cavadini provides clear and accessible smaller-size essays that serve as entry points for those interested in Augustinian scholarship. The author’s meditations on Augustinian texts invite readers to re-evaluate their interpretations and learn about the subtle and sophisticated vocabulary of Augustine. An encounter with Augustine the Christian theologian, Cavadini contends, is not a narrowly focused parochial experience, but instead a challenge to enlarge our horizons. Written by one of the most prominent Augustinian scholars and essayists in the fieldAddresses ecumenical and cultural issues that weaken contemporary interest in Christian faithOffers modern readers historical context on Augustinian theologyProvides a single-volume collection of Cavadini’s essays on Augustine written over the course of more than two decadesAccessible prose and intellectual sensitivity to modern theological problemsmake Visioning Augustine an indispensable volume for graduate students, scholars and professionals in all areas of Christian theology.
John C. Cavadini is Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, and serves as McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life. He has served on the International Theological Commission, is the author of The Last Christology of the West and is editor of Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI and Mary on the Eve of the Second Vatican Council.
About the Author viiiForeword by Mark Therrien ixPreface by John C. Cavadini xixAbbreviations xxiv1 The Structure and Intention of Augustine’s De Trinitate 12 The Sweetness of the Word: Salvation and Rhetoric in Augustine’s De doctrina christiana 233 The Quest for Truth in Augustine’s De Trinitate 454 Augustine’s Book of Shadows 615 Simplifying Augustine 816 Feeling Right: Augustine on the Passions and Sexual Desire 1107 The Darkest Enigma: Reconsidering the Self in Augustine’s Thought 1388 The Sacramentality of Marriage in the Fathers 1569 Eucharistic Exegesis in Augustine’s Confessions 18410 Spousal Vision: A Study of Text and History in the Theology of Saint Augustine 21111 Trinity and Apologetics in the Theology of St. Augustine 23912 God’s Eternal Knowledge According to Augustine 285Index 309
“It is Cavadini’s own “rhetoric of unsettling,” which I think he has learned so well from Augustine, that brings us to these new encounters with his teacher and subject. An unsettled scholar brings an unsettled master to readers who, perhaps, may find themselves unsettled, too. Take, and read.” - Kevin L. Hughes, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, September 2020