On Augustine

Description

Since his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury and his return to academic life (Master of Magdalene College Cambridge) Rowan Williams has demonstrated a massive new surge of intellectual energy. In this new book he turns his attention to St Augustine. St Augustine not only shaped the development of Western theology, he also made a major contribution to political theory (City of God) and through his Confessions to the understanding of human psychology. Rowan Williams has an entirely fresh perspective on these matters and the chapter titles in this new book demonstrate this at a glance - ‘Language Reality and Desire’, ‘Politics and the Soul’, ‘Paradoxes of Self Knowledge’, ‘Insubstantial Evil’. As with his previous titles, Dostoevsky, The Edge of Words and Faith in the Public Square this new study is sure to be a major contribution on a compelling subject. Cover Contents Introduction Abbreviations and Note on Translations 1 ‘A Question to Myself’ Time and Self-Awareness in the Confessions 2 The Soul in Paraphrase: Augustine as Interpreter of the Psalms 3 Language, Reality and Desire: The Nature of Christian Formation 4 ‘Good for Nothing’? Augustine on Creation 5 Insubstantial Evil 6 Politics and the Soul: Reading the City of God 7 Augustine on Christ and the Trinity: an Overview 8 Wisdom in Person: Augustine’s Christology 9 The Paradoxes of Self-Knowledge in Augustine’s Trinitarian Thought 10 Sapientia: Wisdom and the Trinitarian Relations 11 Augustinian Love God in Search: A Sermon Index