Augustine on Israel and Jerusalem

This essay is written in view of the heartbreaking crisis in the Middle East, especially the terrible Gaza war. What did the influential (and for many still authoritative) church father Augustine think about Israel and Jerusalem? From his entire oeuvre, the texts in which he discusses Israel and Jer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of early Christian history
Main Author: Oort, Johannes van 1949- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023
In: Journal of early Christian history
Year: 2023, Volume: 13, Issue: 3, Pages: 115-129
IxTheo Classification:BH Judaism
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
HB Old Testament
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBL Near East and North Africa
NBQ Eschatology
Further subjects:B Augustine
B Jerusalem
B Zionism
B spiritual interpretation
B Israel
B Gaza war
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This essay is written in view of the heartbreaking crisis in the Middle East, especially the terrible Gaza war. What did the influential (and for many still authoritative) church father Augustine think about Israel and Jerusalem? From his entire oeuvre, the texts in which he discusses Israel and Jerusalem have been examined. The conclusion is that he considers their material significance to be of only temporary value: he emphasises their “spiritual” and “eternal” significance. In close connection with his view of salvation history, Augustine never speaks of a lasting land promise for Israel in Palestine: the true Israel is a spiritual entity, as is the true spiritual Jerusalem. Based on his Christian views, Augustine would reject any Zionist zeal for present-day Israel and Jerusalem; and, a fortiori, any current war practice.
ISSN:2471-4054
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian history
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2024.2311924