Preacher of Grace: A Critical Reappraisal of Augustine’s Doctrine of Grace in his __Sermones ad Populum__ on Liturgical Feasts and during the Donatist Controversy

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) became known as the ‘doctor of grace’. He developed his theory of divine grace mainly in his systematic treatises directed against the Pelagians (ca. 411-430). Did he however also preach about this complex, and at first sight ‘demoralizing’, issue in his sermons to the people? In his previous book (BSCH 59), Anthony Dupont studied the profile of the treatment of gratia in the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum. In a Preacher of Grace Dupont offers an account of the presence of the theme of grace in Augustine’s sermones not situated in the Pelagian controversy. He first studies sermons preached on important liturgical feasts, which belong to the (non-polemical) pastoral preaching genre. They are distributed throughout the 40 years of Augustine’s preaching activity, and are Christological in content and moralising in intention. Secondly, he examines sermons situated in the Donatist controversy, preceding the anti-Pelagian sermons chronologically and differing from them in terms of content. This research provides a global picture of the presence and treatment of gratia in Augustine’s sermones and clarifies the interaction between context, audience and preaching genre on the one hand, and the theme of grace as a whole on the other. It also contributes to the debate on (dis)continuity in Augustine’s thought on grace. Preacher of Grace 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 1 Christological Feasts 18 1 Christmas 20 a Secondary Literature for Christmas 20 b Primary Literature for Christmas (ss. 140, 184–196A, 369, 370, ?371?, ?372?) 23 1 Christological Themes 23 2 Grace on Christmas 28 2 Epiphany 33 a Secondary Literature for Epiphany 33 b Primary Literature for Epiphany (ss. 199–204A; 373–375) 35 1 Jews versus Gentiles 35 2 The Grace of Faith and of Christ 36 3 Easter Period 40 a Secondary Literature for the Easter Period 40 b Primary Literature for the Easter Period 46 1 Good Friday (‘The Passion of the Lord’: ss. 218–218C) 46 2 Easter Vigil (ss. 219–223K) 48 Vigil 48 Grace 51 3 Easter Day and the Easter Octave (ss. 224–260E, 272, 320, 375A–B–C, 376, 376A) 52 Eucharist 55 Baptism 58 Biblical Themes 60 Two Catches of Fish 60 Creation 62 Peter’s Denial 63 Noli me tangere 64 The Physicality of Christ 65 The Grace of Christ 66 The Imitation of Christ 70 Sin 72 Grace 74 4 Ascension 76 a Secondary Literature for Ascension 76 b Primary Literature for Ascension 79 1 Overviews of the Ascension Sermones 79 Sermo 261 79 Sermo 262 80 Sermo 263 [Sermo Guelferbytanus 21] 80 Sermo 263A [Sermo ab A. Mai editus 98] 81 Sermo 264 82 Sermo 265 84 Sermo 265A [Sermo a F. Liverani editus 8] 86 Sermo 265B [Sermo in bibliotheca Casinensus editus 2, 76–77] 87 Sermo 265C [Sermo Moriniani ex collectione Guelferbytana 20] 88 Sermo 265D [Sermo a G. Morin editus 17] 88 Sermo 265E [Sermo a C. Lambot editus 16] 90 Sermo 265F [Sermo a C. Lambot editus 25] 91 Sermo 377 91 2 Content Analysis of the Sermones on Ascension 91 Ascension Themes 91 Polemical Elements 94 Human Sin and Divine Grace 95 5 Conclusion 97 2 Pentecost 101 1 Thematic Overview 104 a Sermones without Explicit Reference to Pentecost: ss. 29, 29A, 29B & 272, 272A 104 b Sermones with Explicit Reference to Pentecost: ss. 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272B 108 2 Content Analysis 120 a Grace in Augustine’s Pentecost Sermones 120 1 Grace in General – Vague References 120 2 Digitus Dei 121 3 Grace in Specific – Aspects of Anti-Pelagian Doctrine of Grace 131 b Hoondert’s Evaluation 133 1 Authenticity of Sermo 378 Reconsidered 133 2 Clearly Distinguished Anti-Donatist and Anti-Pelagian Sermones? 136 3 Conclusion 138 4 Addendum I: Localization and Chronology of the Pentecost Sermones 138 5 Addendum II: Overview of Pentecostes in Augustine’s Writings 143 3 Martyrs 148 1 Augustine’s Thinking and Preaching on Martyrs 148 2 Anti-Donatist Sermones ad Populum 154 3 Anti-Pelagian Sermones ad Populum 159 a An Overview 159 b Sermo 299 163 c Sermo 335B 166 4 General Conclusion 170 4 Sermones Relating to the Donatist Controversy 171 1 Sin 175 a Sinners also Have a Place within the One Church 175 b The Sin of Breaking Ecclesial Unity 179 c The Sin of Pride 182 2 Anti-Donatist Treatment of Baptism and the Administers of Baptism 184 3 Grace 189 a Not Explicitly Anti-Donatist 190 1 Forgiving, Healing, Restoring Grace 190 2 Grace as Medicine against Pride 191 3 The Grace of the Christian Faith – Gratia Fidei 195 4 Assisting Grace – Gratia Christi 200 b Explicitly Anti-Donatist 200 1 Christ versus Adam 200 2 Law versus Grace 202 3 Forgiving Grace 203 4 Unmerited Grace against Pride 204 5 Assisting Grace 205 4 Conclusion 207 General Conclusions 210 Bibliography 216 Index of Scriptural Quotes 234 Index to the Works of Augustine 239 Index to Modern Authors 244 "Throughout the centuries, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) has become known as the 'doctor of grace'. He developed his theory of divine grace mainly in his systematic treatises directed against the Pelagians (ca. 411-430). Did he however also preach about this complex, and at first sight 'demoralizing', issue in his sermons to the people? In his previous book (Gratia in Augustine's Sermones ad Populum During the Pelagian Controversy), Anthony Dupont studied the profile of the treatment of gratia in the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum. In Preacher of Grace, Dupont offers an account of the presence of the themes of grace in Augustine's sermones not situated in the Pelagian controversy. He first studies sermons preached on important liturgical feasts, which belong to the (non-polemical) pastoral preaching genre. They are distributed throughout the 40 years of Augustine's preaching activity, and are Christological in content and moralizing in intention. Secondly, he examines sermons situated within the course of the Donatist controversy, preceding the anti-Pelagian sermons chronologically and differing from them in terms of content. This research provides a global picture of the presence and treatment of gratia in Augustine's sermones and clarifies the interaction between context, audience, and preaching genre on the one hand, and the theme of grace as a whole on the other. It also contributes to the debate on (dis)continuity in Augustine's thought on grace."--Back cover [Omslag] Throughout the centuries, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) has become known as the 'doctor of grace'. He developed his theory of divine grace mainly in his systematic treatises directed against the Pelagians (ca. 411-430). Did he however also preach about this complex, and at first sight 'demoralizing', issue in his sermons to the people? In his previous book (Gratia in Augustine's Sermones ad populum during the Pelagian controversy), Anthony Dupont studied the profile of the treatment of gratia in the anti-Pelagian sermones ad populum. In Preacher of Grace, Dupont offers an account of the presence of the theme of grace in Augustine's sermones not situated in the Pelagian controversy. He first studies sermons preached on important liturgical feasts, which belong to the (non-polemical) pastoral preaching genre. They are distributed throughout the 40 years of Augustine's preaching activity, and are Christological in content and moralising in intention. Secondly, he examines sermons situated in the Donatist controversy, preceding the anti-Pelagian sermons chronologically and differing from them in terms of content. This research provides a global picture of the presence and treatment of gratia in Augustine's sermones and clarifies the interaction between context, audience and preaching genre on the one hand, and the theme of grace as a whole on the other. It also contributes to the debate on (dis)continuity in Augustine's thought on grace In a Preacher of Grace Dupont offers an account of the presence of the theme of grace in Augustine of Hippo's sermones situated in the Donatist controversy or preached on important liturgical feasts (354-430)