Preserving the Double Mystery: Augustine's Confessions on Self and God
It is well attested that Augustine's notion of confession has the double sense of praise and acknowledging sin. However, little has thus far been said about precisely how this double sense bears on the understanding of self. This article proposes that the genre of confession sets a particular h...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
[2016]
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In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 2016, Volume: 30, Issue: 1, Pages: 99-111 |
IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity NBC Doctrine of God NBE Anthropology |
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Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | It is well attested that Augustine's notion of confession has the double sense of praise and acknowledging sin. However, little has thus far been said about precisely how this double sense bears on the understanding of self. This article proposes that the genre of confession sets a particular hermeneutic circularity into play which unfolds between self and God. This circularity does not, however, allow Augustine to arrive at any final knowledge with respect to the self and God. But if such non-knowledge can be conceived as one of Confessions central teachings, it is not a negative result, but rather a result that preserves the mysteries at the heart of its concerns. |
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ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/fru063 |