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Augustine of HippoOn Christian Doctrine
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Index of Terms
Church Fathers
Church Fathers is a designation given to men such as Cyprian, Ambrose, and Jerome (and eventually Augustine himself), who were important theologians and leaders in the early history of the Catholic Church. As the term suggests, these men were deemed “fathers” because of their authority and wide-ranging impact upon the development of Catholicism in both doctrinal and ecclesiastical terms. When Augustine references the works of such men in On Christian Doctrine, he does so both to lend more authority to his own work and to help establish a historical lineage for the still relatively new Christian faith.
Figurative Language
Figurative language is language that uses metaphors, similes, allegories, and other literary devices to give words a significance beyond their literal meaning. As Augustine writes in On Christian Doctrine, language is figurative when “the proper names [of things] are used to signify something else” (119). Figurative language and how best to interpret it are recurring themes throughout the work, as Augustine knows that obscure passages in the scriptures can lead to misinterpretation or even heresy amongst untrained readers. One of the main aims of On Christian Doctrine is to address such issues by providing guidance to Christian readers, so that they may learn how to recognize figurative language and interpret it accordingly.
Love
Love, for Augustine, in the ultimate commandment for all Christian believers: the believer is to love his neighbor as himself, and to love God with all his heart and soul as the supreme good. But it is important to remember that Augustine uses love in a very specific, spiritual sense that is not romantic or worldly in nature. To love selflessly, to do good to others, and to demonstrate loyalty and love towards God and his commandments is, Augustine asserts, the most important lesson that the scriptures teach Christian believers.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion rooted in techniques of writing or speaking that move an audience to accept the speaker’s point of view or to feel a certain emotion. Rhetorical skills were highly prized throughout the ancient world and were of primary importance in the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. As the heir to this tradition and a former teacher of rhetoric himself, Augustine devotes much of Book 4 in On Christian Doctrine to explaining how rhetoric can be used to spread the Christian faith. While Augustine acknowledges the importance of rhetoric in pagan culture—and even references Cicero, the most famous orator in Roman history—he repeatedly stresses that a Christian use of rhetoric will always take as its end the spiritual edification of the audience and never just be eloquence for the sake of mere style or vainglory.
The Trinity
The Trinity is a central component of Augustine’s thought and of Catholic theology more generally. The doctrine of the Trinity is the belief that God exists in three manifestations—the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit—that are distinct and also part of one unified godhead. The doctrine of the Trinity was one of the defining features of Catholicism in comparison to other rival Christian sects of the time. Augustine’s references to the Trinity in On Christian Doctrine therefore reveal his own theological views while also emphasizing his adherence to the Roman Catholic faith.
Related Titles
By Augustine of Hippo
