“God” in Augustine’s Confessions
When reading through Augustine’s Confessions, one notices a striking variety of descriptions of God. The aim of this paper is to discern and – as far as possible – to interpret these various descriptions. Our main focus will be on pivotal texts from Books 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7. They document how much Man...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
Religion & theology
Year: 2023, Volume: 30, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 5-29 |
| Further subjects: | B
spatiality of God
B Augustine B Manichaeism B God as Spirit B doctrine of God B Confessions B God as body B Anthropomorphism B Neoplatonism B concepts of evil |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | When reading through Augustine’s Confessions, one notices a striking variety of descriptions of God. The aim of this paper is to discern and – as far as possible – to interpret these various descriptions. Our main focus will be on pivotal texts from Books 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7. They document how much Manichaean views played a part in Augustine’s quest, and how closely this quest was linked to his ideas about evil. Briefly stated, Augustine’s search went from anthropomorphic-spatial thinking about God to corporeal/material-spatial and even panentheistic ideas and then (mainly under the inspiration of Neoplatonic philosophy, i.e., in all likelihood Plotinus’s Enneads) to a strictly spiritual and non-spatial understanding. But in all this, Manichaean ways of thought and even concepts remained present until the end. A final conclusion draws out the significance of this study for conceptualising the formation of God/gods in the Christian tradition as well as in other religious formations. |
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| ISSN: | 1574-3012 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15743012-bja10048 |