"Misisti manum tuam ex alto": Manichaean Imagery of Christ as God’s Hand in Augustine’s "Confessions"?

The article first explores Augustine’s conspicuous references to ‘God’s Hand’ in his Confessions by presenting a fresh translation and brief commentary of the relevant texts. In the commentary special attention is given to the possible signifiance of these texts to (former) Manichaean readers. It is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vigiliae Christianae
Main Author: Oort, Johannes van 1949- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2018
In: Vigiliae Christianae
IxTheo Classification:BF Gnosticism
HA Bible
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
NBF Christology
Further subjects:B Augustine Confessions Manichaeism imagery metaphorical language Christian Hand of God Ambrose
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:The article first explores Augustine’s conspicuous references to ‘God’s Hand’ in his Confessions by presenting a fresh translation and brief commentary of the relevant texts. In the commentary special attention is given to the possible signifiance of these texts to (former) Manichaean readers. It is concluded that Augustine’s eye-catching imagery is not only inspired by biblical language and—in all likelihood—by predecessors in the Christian tradition such as Irenaeus and especially Ambrose, but also strikingly coincides with an essential metaphor of the Manichaeans. This feature once again underlines the importance of the Manichaean element in Augustine’s Confessions.
ISSN:1570-0720
Contains:In: Vigiliae Christianae
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700720-12341336