This paper will explore why, when book 1 of De Doctrina Christiana is really about love, Augustine persisted in using the categories of signs and things, and use and enjoyment, even though they give rise to so many difficulties, and proved so inimical to what he actually wanted to say. It argues that, in fact, these classical categories are subverted and transformed by Augustine’s treatment of the double commandment of love of God and love of neighbour and his conviction that God can ultimately be known only by a ‘knowledge of the heart’- one which leads, not to an exercise of the intellect but to doxology or praise of the unknowable, ineffable God. It takes issue with recent trends in Augustine scholarship which, in examining Augustine’s debt to Stoicism, appear to have undermined his doctrine of grace and loving knowing.
Carol Harrison is Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Christ Church
Carol Harrison is Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Christ Church
RSS Feed
