Reading and Wisdom
The De doctrina christiana of Augustine in the Middle Ages
Edward D. English
Notre Dame Conferences in Medieval Studies
Augustine’s De doctrina christiana has long been recognized as a significant work for understanding the balanced interaction between classical learning and Christianity, as a handbook for spiritual development, and as a guide to the homiletic and exegetical principles of preaching and sacred scripture. More recently, the work has also been interpreted as laying the groundwork for the study of semiotics and hermeneutics.
Contributors to this volume consider Augustine’s seminal work in the context of medieval and Renaissance culture. They examine the exegesis both of scripture and pagan texts, concepts of allegory and aesthetics, and Christian humanism. The authors also discuss the use of classical texts and rhetorical principles in pastoral communication and instruction, as well as the roles of reading, language, and writing within, and for, a Christian community.
”. . . [T]he reader comes away not only with fresh insights into important areas of contemporary concern such as semiotics, textuality, hermeneutics, spirituality, and the interreligious dialogue, but also with a new appreciation for the genius of Augustine himself and the contributions of independent thinkers like the Victorines, Aquinas, Bacon, and Petrarch.” —Karlfried Froehlich, Princeton Theological Seminary
Reviews
“This is the first major consideration of this essential work of Western Christendom to appear this century. These studies are essential to any contemporary appreciation of this classic of Augustine’s summary of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.” — The Reader’s Review
