Augustine and the Bible

Based on the acclaimed French volume Saint Augustin et la Bible, this translation with additional selections honors the beautifully wrought monument to the scholarly research of Anne-Marie la Bonnardire and her colleagues. Editor Pamela Bright offers the first English-language edition of this volume in the highly regarded series Bible de Tous les Temps, published by Beauchesne Editeur in Paris. This volume presents the findings of eminent scholars on the Bible in Augustines letters, in his preaching, in polemics, in the City of God, and as a source for Christian ethics, following the chronological order of Augustines works from the mid-380s to just before his death in 430. Part I examines what can be known of the stages of Augustines encounter with the biblical texts and which texts were formative for him before he assumed his ministry of the Word. Part II is devoted to a very different kind of encounterAugustines grappling with the hermeneutical method originating in the province of Africa. Part III describes Augustines first foray into the field of biblical polemics when he opposes the Manichees, the very group who first introduced him to a study of the obscurities of the biblical text. And in Part IV, the reader encounters the most familiar voice of Augustinethat of the tireless preacher of the Word. Contributors include: Anne-Marie la Bonnardire, Mark Vessey, Michael Cameron, Pamela Bright, Robert A. Kugler, Charles Kannengiesser, Roland J. Teske, S.J., Gerald Bonner, Joseph Wolinski, Michel Albaric, O.P., Constance E. McLeese, and Albert Verwilghen.