"Non poena sed causa": Augustine's Anti-Donatist Rhetoric of Martyrdom
This article examines Augustine's anti-Donatist claim that it is not the punishment but the cause (non poena sed causa) that makes a martyr. Augustine's non poena sed causa argument arises as part of the larger rhetoric of martyrdom that recent scholarship has highlighted in late antiquity...
| Published in: | Augustinian studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Philosophy Documentation Center
[2018]
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| In: |
Augustinian studies
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| IxTheo Classification: | KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity KCD Hagiography; saints KDH Christian sects |
| Further subjects: | B
Tyrannicide
B Rhetoric B Bishops B Christianity B Martyrdom |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article examines Augustine's anti-Donatist claim that it is not the punishment but the cause (non poena sed causa) that makes a martyr. Augustine's non poena sed causa argument arises as part of the larger rhetoric of martyrdom that recent scholarship has highlighted in late antiquity. I argue here that a more specific look at classical rhetorical techniques can provide a better understanding of what Augustine is up to in his particular rhetoric of martyrdom. To that end, after providing an overview of North African martyr discourse, I turn to forensic rhetoric and issue theory as described in Cicero and Quintilian. I show that two types of forensic arguments - one on the issue of definition and other on the contested interpretation of a legal text - shaped Augustine's non poena sed causa approach to the Donatists' claims to be the church of the martyrs. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-7917 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Augustinian studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5840/augstudies20173926 |