Political Augustinianism: Modern Interpretations of Augustine's Political Thought

365 Pages·2014·15.591 MB·English

by  Michael J. S. Bruno

Political Augustinianism

Political
Augustinianism
Modern Interpretations of Augustine's Political Thought
Michael J. S. Bruno
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
POLITICAL AUGUSTINIANISM
Modern Interpretations of Augustine’s Political Thought
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Nihil Obstat: Reverend John P. Cush, S.T.L.
Diocesan Censor
Imprimatur: Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.
Bishop of Brooklyn
Brooklyn, New York November 26, 2013
Cover image: Historiated initial “I” depicting St. Augustine (vellum), Master of
San Michele of Murano (early 15th century)/Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris,
France/Giraudon/Bridgeman Images
Cover design: Laurie Ingram
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Print ISBN: 978-1-4514-8269-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4514-8758-9
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
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This book is lovingly dedicated to my father,
Michael J. Bruno.

Contents
Foreward ix
Robert Dodaro
Abbreviations xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1. French Interpretations of Augustine’s Social and 15
Political Thought
2. From Realism to Justice Ethics 63
The Early Anglo-American Reception of the
“Political Augustinian” Discussion
3. Disputing the Saeculum 119
Robert Markus, John Milbank, and Contemporary
Augustinian Interpretations
4. Recovering Augustine’s Vision of Public Life and 171
Virtue
The Debate Entering the 21st Century
5. Interpreting Augustine’s Political and Social 225
Thought
Hermeneutical Issues and Contemporary
Applications
Conclusion 307
Bibliography 313
Index 333
Foreward
Robert Dodaro
“Political Augustinianism,” the subject of the present volume by
Father Michael Bruno, involves a chronological, analytical and
comparative reading of twenty-five scholars whose writings span the
period from the beginning of the twentieth century until today and
whohavetreatedAugustine’spoliticaltheologyandethicsalongwith
its relevance in the modern world. No treatment of this question
has ever covered the breadth and provided the detailed analysis of
the various positions assumed by these authors as has this effort by
Michael Bruno. He provides a summary of the important theological
andethicalconsiderationsthateachofthesescholarsincorporatesinto
his interpretation of Augustine’s political thought. He also compares
their positions, thus providing readers of this book with a careful,
indispensable map detailing the principal points of a discussion that
began 110 years ago in France, England and Germany, and which
today has become an important conversation in the Catholic and
Protestant communities of North America.
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