Augustine and Contemporary Social Issues

Augustine and Contemporary Social Issues
Author: Paul L. Allen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2022-07-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1000617661

This book focuses on applying the thought of Saint Augustine to address a number of persistent 21st-century socio-political issues. Drawing together Augustinian ideas such as concupiscence, virtue, vice, habit, and sin through social and textual analysis, it provides fresh Augustinian perspectives on new—yet somehow familiar—quandaries. The volume addresses the themes of fallenness, politics, race, and desire. It includes contributions from theology, philosophy, and political science. Each chapter examines Augustine’s perspective for deepening our understanding of human nature and demonstrates the contemporary relevance of his thought.

Augustine and Social Justice

Augustine and Social Justice
Author: Teresa Delgado
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2015-01-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1498509185

This volume brings into dialogue the ancient wisdom of Augustine of Hippo, a bishop of the early Christian Church of the fourth and fifth centuries, with contemporary theologians and ethicists on the topic of social justice. Each essay mines the major themes present in Augustine's extensive corpus of writings—from his Confessions to the City of God— with an eye to the following question: how can this early church father so foundational to Christian doctrine and teaching inform our twenty-first century context on how to create and sustain a more just and equitable society? In his own day, Augustine spoke to conditions of slavery, conflict and war, violence and poverty, among many others. These conditions, while reflecting the characteristics of our technological age, continue to obstruct our collective efforts to bring about the common good for the global human community. The contributors of this volume have taken great care to read Augustine through the lens of his own time and place; at the same time, they provide keen insights and reflections which advance the conversation of social justice in the present.

Political Augustinianism

Political Augustinianism
Author: Michael J. S. Bruno
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2014
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1451482698

[Omslag] The thought of Saint Augustine stands as one of the central fountainheads of not only theology but Western social and political theory. Political Augustinianism examines modern political readings of Augustine, providing an extensive account of the pivotal French, British, and American schools of interpretation. Bruno guides readers through these modern strands of interpretation, examines their historical, theological, and socio-political context, and discusses the hermeneutical underpinnings of the modern discussion of Augustine's social and political thought.

Called to Reconciliation

Called to Reconciliation
Author: Jonathan C. Augustine
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2022-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149343537X

Nationally recognized speaker and church leader Jay Augustine demonstrates that the church is called and equipped to model reconciliation, justice, diversity, and inclusion. This book develops three uses of the term "reconciliation": salvific, social, and civil. Augustine examines the intersection of the salvific and social forms of reconciliation through an engagement with Paul's letters and uses the Black church as an exemplar to connect the concept of salvation to social and political movements that seek justice for those marginalized by racism, class structures, and unjust legal systems. He then traces the reaction to racial progress in the form of white backlash as he explores the fate of civil reconciliation from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement. This book argues that the church's work in reconciliation can serve as a model for society at large and that secular diversity and inclusion practices can benefit the church. It offers a prophetic call to pastors, church leaders, and students to recover reconciliation as the heart of the church's message to a divided world. Foreword by William H. Willimon and afterword by Michael B. Curry.

Augustine and Politics

Augustine and Politics
Author: John Doody
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780739110096

The essays in this volume take stock of recent scholarly developments and revisit old assumptions about the significance of Augustine of Hippo for political thought. They do so from many different perspectives, examining the anthropological and theological underpinnings of Augustine's thought, his critique of politics, his development of his own political thought, and some of the later manifestations or uses of his thought in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and today. This new vision is at once more bracing, more hopeful, and more diverse than earlier readings could have allowed.

Addiction and the Captive Will

Addiction and the Captive Will
Author: Cynthia Geppert
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2024-05-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567713539

Twenty-first century neuroscience has discovered that in some severe cases, addiction may so constrain human freedom that the will is only able to choose to use substances of abuse. At this advanced stage, substance use has become the primary driver of salience, co-opting and subsuming other moral priorities and human rewards. Scholars have investigated Aristotle's concept of akrasia as an ancient mirror of this understanding and there have been some preliminary discussions of Augustine's concept of the divided will as it bears on addiction. No detailed and comprehensive exploration of the work of Augustine has yet been undertaken as it relates to three contemporary models of addiction: the choice, learning, and brain disease models. Augustine's psychological awareness, his mastery of ancient theological and philosophical thinking, and his enormous and enduring influence on both Catholic and Protestant theology, make him an ideal subject for such research. This incisive book argues that Augustine's doctrine of the captive will offers a theological parallel of each of these contemporary models of addiction.

God After the Church Lost Control

God After the Church Lost Control
Author: Jan-Olav Henriksen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2022-07-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1000623602

This book combines insights from sociology of religion and theology to consider the fundamental changes that have taken place in how people think about God in contemporary Western society. It can be said that God has become irrelevant for many people, often as a result of well-grounded ethical critique of churches. Here the authors argue for the necessity of rethinking God-talk in a pluralist and changing context and for thinking critically about hegemonic ways of speaking about God from a moral and experiential perspective, not only from the point of view of abstract theology. Drawing on empirical material from a Norwegian setting, the book advocates a critical-constructive theology with a notion of God that takes human experience and social change seriously. It depicts a God who is an enabler of moral maturity rather than an authoritarian moral instructor, a God who is on the side of the marginalized and poor, and a challenge to unjust hierarchies.

Augustinianism For Beginners

Augustinianism For Beginners
Author: Nicky Huys
Publisher: Nicky Huys Books
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2024-05-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

"Augustinianism For Beginners" offers an accessible and insightful exploration of the influential theological and philosophical tradition of Augustine of Hippo. From his profound reflections on human nature and the divine to his impact on Christian thought, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to Augustinianism. Delving into key concepts such as original sin, divine grace, and the City of God, it invites readers on a journey of discovery and understanding. Whether you're new to theology or seeking to deepen your knowledge, this book is a valuable guide to the enduring legacy of Augustinianism.

Religion and Intersex

Religion and Intersex
Author: Stephanie A. Budwey
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2022-08-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0429671040

This book considers the situation of intersex people who have faced erasure in the areas of science, law, culture, and theology due to the assumption that all humans are either ‘female’ or ‘male.’ Centered in interviews conducted with German intersex Christians, this book argues that moving from a paradigm of sexual dimorphism to sexual polymorphism will help promote the full humanity and flourishing of intersex people by creating a world where intersex individuals are no longer coerced and/or forced to undergo non-consensual, medically unnecessary treatment, no longer experience human rights violations because of their lack of legal protection, no longer feel inhuman and Other due to epistemic injustice that stems from socio-cultural norms and stereotypes, are no longer told they are not made in God’s image as a result of a sexually dimorphic understanding of Genesis 1:27, and no longer feel excluded and invisible in worship services that do not recognize them. This combination of the practical and the spiritual allows for a reconsideration of the medical treatment and pastoral care that should be available to intersex people. This book will be helpful to those in the disciplines of science, law, culture, and theology, particularly those in gender and theological studies and those already in and studying for lay and ordained ministry.

The Theological Imperative to Authenticity

The Theological Imperative to Authenticity
Author: Christy Capper
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2022-11-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1000778886

From a theological viewpoint, this book explores the junction between the philosophical existential idea of the authentic self and its cultural appropriation. The text builds on the theology of John Macquarrie and the narrative formation of identity to construct a theological definition of authentic selfhood. It then contrasts this definition with the common idea that authenticity, in the moral sense, can be used to justify any action. The author argues that this is not genuine authenticity. Instead, they consider that authenticity rests upon loyalty to something greater than oneself, and for Christians this is the character of the God in whose image they are created and are being formed. This book is illuminating reading for students and scholars of theological anthropology, pastroral theology, ethics and moral philosophy.