Putting on Christ: Augustine`s Early Theology of Salvation and the Sacraments

Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-309) and index.

Subject(s): Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430 | Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430. Confessions | Salvation -- Christianity | Sacraments
Via Humilitatis: The soteriology of the confessions
Toward a theology of humilitas

"Putting on Christ aims to situate Augustine's early soteriology and sacramental theology within the context of his personal history and intellectual development. Beginning with an extended analysis of the theology of salvation and sacramental efficacy contained within Augustine's Confessions (ca. 400), the study then traces the maturation of his views on these matters, beginning with his earliest extant works, the Cassicacum dialogues (ca. 386). The journey entails treating Augustine's earliest discussions of Christ's person and his saving work, as well as the believer's subjective experience of conversion and salvation. As Augustine's corpus shifts from philosophical dialogues to explicitly apologetic and scriptural-exegetical works, so too does his soteriological lexicon expand to include concepts and terms that will later become his stock-in-trade, such as the virtue of humilitas. And as his roles in the North African Church come to include participation in the presbyterate and the episcopacy, so too does his engagement expand to a wider set of polemical contexts, both anti-Manichaean and anti-Donatist"-- Provided by publisher.