Abstracts

Augustiniana 61 (2011), 3-4

  • Gerald P. BOERSMA, "Exquisite and precious vessels" : doctrina in Book 1 of Augustine's Confessions, Augustiniana 61(2011)3-4, p. 187-205
In this essay I argue thtat Book 1 of the Confessions demonstrates Augustine's valuation of the liberal arts according to the register of "use". The classical doctrina in which Augustine was schooled is understood in the Confessions to be marked by pride (doctrinae superbiae) and signified by the veils that cloak the entrances of the academies; this doctrine's "use" is self-aggrandizement. By contrast, Augustine finds the teaching of humility signified in the humility of a child; the doctrina humilitatis finds its "use" in the praise of God. Still, in recounting his own childhood, Augustine seems eager to present himself with the classical tradition and a cultural savoir faire. I argue, however, that when considered the auspices of "use" Augustine's quotations of Virgil, references to Cicero and Plato, and allusions to Terence and Seneca do not entail he himself falls prey to doctrina superbiae, but rather his display of familiarity with the classical canon underscores my argument that Augustine values the liberal arts according to their "use". Augustine takes no umbrage with classical learning per se, but models appropriate "use" with intricate Latin rhetorical flourishes while weaving the story of his life into Virgil's Aeneid. In modeling appropriate "use" of the liberal arts Augustine demonstrates how they can be used as "exquisite" and precious vessels" intended for the praise of God or, conversely, can be filled with the "wine of error".
  • John PALETTA, The theme of ontological dependence in Confessions Book 7 Chapters 14-20, Augustiniana 61(2011)3-4, p. 207-223
In a recent article ("Saint Augustine's Milan vision reconstructed", Augustiniana 58 (2008), 151-180) I argued that in Confessions 7.10.16 Augustine uses the argument from dependence (which demonstrates that all beings are dependent upon Being Itself), in order to overcome his previous materialistic understanding of God. In this article I argue that a close analysis of Confessions 7.11.17-7.20.26 confirms this interpretation.
  • Gert PARTOENS, The earliest phase of the Jansenist controversy among the Flemish Capuchins. Part I : Hildebrand's interpretation and the case of Eugenius of Bruges, Augustiniana 61(2011), 155-185
The last and most thorough treatment of the Jansenist controversy among the Capuchins of the Flandro-Belgian Province was published in 1951/1957 by Hildebrand of Hooglede (O.F.M.Cap.). The present article, which consists of two parts and is based on a large selection of unedited or previously neglected documents, assesses Hildebrand's methodology and (some of his) conclusions. The first part (which was published in the previous issue of this journal) showed that Hildebrand' s account of the controversy depends to a high extent on the apologetic discourse that was used by one of the parties involved in the controversy and that was best illustrated by the Compendiosa et historica enarratio miserrimi status Prouinciae Flandro-Belgicae fratrum Minorum Capucinorum by Michael of Oudenbosch and Angelus of Antwerp (1700). In addition, it was shown that by using a purely formal definition of Jansenism, Hildebrand managed to deny the existence of any 'real' Jansenist among his predecessors of the 17th and 18th centuries. A detailed analysis of some works by Eugenius of Bruges (1680s) proves that the use of this purely formal definition has lead to historically untenable conclusions. The article's second part now examines a claim by Silvester of Hasselt in his Ad enarrationem compendiosam et historicam responsio fidelis et sincera (1700), according to which Augustinus of 's Hertogenbosch and especially Fulgentius of Maaseik were the first to propagate Jansenius' teaching within the Flandro-Belgian Province. It is shown against Hildebrand that the anti-Jansenist decree that was issued by Provincial Patricius of Hazebroek in 1668, had indeed been provoked by Fulgentius of Maaseik's theological course at Antwerp during the years 1665-1668. Just like his disciple Eugenius was to do in the 1680s, Fulgentius championed the doctrines presented in the Augustinus, the consequence being that Silvester of Hasselt and other anti-Jansenists, who were convinced that Jansenius' book was rightly condemned by Innocent X and Alexander VII, did have serious theological (and not only personal or political) motives for accusing him of having been a Jansenist heretic.
  • Lucas J. DORFBAUER, Commendaciones Augustini : Textsammlungen zum Lob des Augustinus aus dem Umfeld des Augustinereremitenordens. Mit einer Edition von pseudepigraphia, Augustiniana 61(2011)3-4, p. 271-333
A number of late medieval manuscripts related to the Order of the Augustinian Hermits contain so-called Commendaciones Augustini. These are compilations of excerpts from different texts, in which the Order's patron Augustine receives praise. Beside pieces from authentic works one finds in these Commendationes a major group of texts which claim to be excerpts from letters, sermons, or longer works written by persons related to Augustine or his late antique environment (like, for example, Possidius of Orosius); in these spurious excerpts the bishop of Hippo is praised in an absurdly excessive way. The pseudepigraphia seem to stem from a similar (or, at least partly, even from the same) background as the core group of the so-called Sermones ad fratres in eremo and the Epistulae spuriae which were critically edited by F. Römer in 1971/2. In the present article the sources and the transmission of some compilations of Commendaciones Augustini are examined (I.); content and language of the pseudepigraphic pieces are discussed (II.); finally, a critical edition of these curious texts is given (III.).

Augustiniana 61 (2011), 1-2

  • Dwayne MOORE, Truth and image in Augustinian epistemology 61(2011)1-2, p. 11-48 
Numerous authors have argued that an excessively Platonic view of the soul is discernible in AUgustine's early writings. Before long however, so the argument runs, Augustine shifts away from these positions and adopts the more orthodox stances that characterize his later works. In this paper, I follow this progressive interpretation, but take the additional step of outlining the effect that this transition has on Augustine's epistemological system. Namely, whereas many suppose Augustine has a largely static theory of knowledge throughout his forty years of publication, I argue that there is in fact a discernible shift in Augustine's epistemology. Specifically, in his early work Augustine follows the Platonic assumption that the soul possesses Truth within, not images. Before long, however, Augustine jettisons Truth from the soul, preferring instead to argue that the soul has a vision of Truth which is above the soul; whilst only images of Truth abide in the soul. How and why this shift occurs is the subject matter of this paper.

  • Neil ADKIN, Labor tam utilis : Sallust in Augustine on the Vulgate 61(2011)1-2, p. 49-53
Though the famous correspondence between Augustine and Jerome has recently been the object of much scholarly attention, commentators have failed to identify the reminiscence of Sallust's Jugurtha (4,3: tam ... utili labori) which Augustine employs in epist. 71,6 in order to acclaim Jerome's "Vulgate" text of the Gospels; the same phraseology is again echoed by Augustine in the same connection at epist. 82,35. Augustine's use of this Sallustian language would seem to have been suggested by Jerome's own allusion to the same passage of the Jugurtha in the preface to his LXX Job.

  •  John PALETTA, The ordo sapientiae : Augustine's program for philosophical study in his early works 61(2011)1-2, p. 54-74
In De Beata vita and De Ordine Augustine makes a distinction between rational knowledge of truth and rational knowledge of that upon which truth depends, and in both dialogues knowledge of that upon which truth depends is categorized as the higher form of the two. Knowledge of truth is attained through a version of the argument from judgement, that is, by reflecting on the immutable nature of reason. In regard to this argument Augustine notes that the knowledge it achieves is ambiguous because it does not establish whether the mind is truth or is in truth. The manner in which one arrives at knowledge of that upon which truth depends is left unexplained. Analysis of De lmmortalitate Animae, however, establishes the theoretical foundation for the distinction between truth and that upon which truth depends made in De Beata Vita and De Ordine. More specifically, Augustine overcomes the ambiguous form of knowledge arrived at via the argument from judgment and arrives at definitive knowledge concerning the nature of the soul and God in De lmmortalitate Animae through the use of the argument from dependence.
  • Gert PARTOENS, The earliest phase of the Jansenist controversy among the Flemish Capuchins. Part I : Hildebrand's interpretation and the case of Eugenius of Bruges 61(2011), 155-185
The last and most thorough treatment of the Jansenist controversy among the Capuchins of the Flandro-Belgian Province was published in 1951/1957 by Hildebrand of Hooglede (O.F.M.Cap.). The present article, which consists of two parts and is based on a large selection of unedited or previously neglected documents, assesses Hildebrand's methodology and (some of his) conclusions. The first part shows that Hildebrand' s account of the controversy depends to a high extent on the apologetic discourse that was used by one of the parties involved in the controversy and that is best illustrated by the Compendiosa et historica enarratio miserrimi status Prouinciae Flandro-Belgicae fratrum Minorum Capucinorum by Michael of Oudenbosch and Angelus of Antwerp (1700). In addition, it is shown that by using a purely formal definition of Jansenism, Hildebrand managed to deny the existence of any 'real' Jansenist among his predecessors of the 17th and 18th centuries. A detailed analysis of some works by Eugenius of Bruges (1680s) proves that the use of this purely formal definition has lead to historically untenable conclusions. The article's second part (which will appear in the next issue of this journal) will examine a claim by Silvester of Hasselt in his Ad enarrationem compendiosam et historicam responsio fidelis et sincera (1700), according to which Augustinus of 's Hertogenbosch and especially Fulgentius of Maaseik were the first to propagate Jansenius' teaching within the Flandro-Belgian Province. It is shown against Hildebrand that the anti-Jansenist decree that was issued by Provincial Patricius of Hazebroek in 1668, had indeed been provoked by Fulgentius of Maaseik's theological course at Antwerp during the years 1665-1668. Just like his disciple Eugenius was to do in the 1680s, Fulgentius championed the doctrines presented in the Augustinus, the consequence being that Silvester of Hasselt and other anti-Jansenists, who were convinced that Jansenius' book was rightly condemned by Innocent X and Alexander VII, did have serious theological (and not only personal or political) motives for accusing him of having been a Jansenist heretic.