Evil and the Augustinian Tradition

This book focuses on Christian interpretations of evil, beginning with Augustine and culminating in Niebuhr.

Charles T. Mathewes (Author)

9780521035446, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 February 2007

284 pages
22.9 x 15.1 x 1.7 cm, 0.431 kg

'While constantly demonstrating the author's impressive erudition and capacity for complex argumentation, this eloquent treatise never loses its readability. Whether or not they ultimately accept the book's persuasive argument, readers will find their thought productively stimulated by this rich volume.' Reviews in Religion and Theology

This explores the 'family biography' of the Augustinian tradition by looking at Augustine's work and its development in the writings of Hannah Arendt and Reinhold Niebuhr. Mathewes argues that the Augustinian tradition offers us a powerful, though commonly misconstrued, proposal for understanding and responding to evil's challenges. The book casts light on Augustine, Niebuhr and Arendt, as well as on the problem of evil, the nature of tradition, and the role of theological and ethical discourse in contemporary thought.

Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction: reaching disagreement
Part I. Preliminaries: Evil and the Augustinian Tradition: 1. Modernity and evil
2. The Augustinian tradition and its discontents
Part II. Genealogy: Remembering the Augustinian Tradition: 3. Sin as perversion: Reinhold Niebuhr's Augustinian psychology
4. Evil as privation: Hannah Arendt's Augustinian ontology
Part III. The Challenge of the Augustinian Tradition to Evil: 5. Demythologising evil
Conclusion: realising incomprehension, discerning mystery
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Christian theology [HRCM]