The Inner Life of Sinners: Saint Augustine on Penance as "Disciplina Morum"

Repentance emerged as an important theme in Augustine's works as early as 392 and continued to attract his attention for the rest of his life. While in Augustine's later works his interest in repentance as a sacramental rite was largely stimulated by his responsibility as a bishop for the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Augustiniana
Main Author: Moiseeva, Evgenïa 1984- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Peeters [2019]
In: Augustiniana
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Augustinus, Aurelius, Saint 354-430 / Confession of sin / Regret
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
NBE Anthropology
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Repentance emerged as an important theme in Augustine's works as early as 392 and continued to attract his attention for the rest of his life. While in Augustine's later works his interest in repentance as a sacramental rite was largely stimulated by his responsibility as a bishop for the reconciliation of sinners, in early works written during the time of Augustine's priesthood, significant attention is devoted to the personal dimension of penance. This essay explores Augustine's discourse on penance as a process of personal moral renewal, based on the works he wrote during his priesthood. After reviewing the background and context of Augustine's thinking on repentance, the article discusses three topics, namely, the relation between penance and will, emotions in the contrite soul, and the role of humility in the process of moral renewal. It will be shown that Augustine's insight in human psychology resulted in a profound understanding of the moral dimension of penance.
ISSN:2295-6093
Contains:Enthalten in: Augustiniana
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2143/AUG.69.1.3286701