Augustine and the Bible - (Bible Through the Ages) by Pamela Bright (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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 Bonnardière 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 Augustine's letters, in his preaching, in polemics, in the City of God, and as a source for Christian ethics, following the chronological order of Augustine's works from the mid-380s to just before his death in 430. Part I examines what can be known of the stages of Augustine's 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 encounter--Augustine's grappling with the hermeneutical method originating in the province of Africa. Part III describes Augustine's 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 Augustine--that of the tireless preacher of the Word.

Contributors include: Anne-Marie la Bonnardière, 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.

From the Back Cover

"The University of Notre Dame Press has rendered a real service in making available this fine state-of-the-art collection of essays, which is at the same time accessible to the non-specialist and the beginning student." --Journal of Early Christian Studies

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 Bonnardiere and her colleagues. Editor Pamela Bright offers the first English language edition of the highly regarded Bible de Tous les Temps, published by Beauchesne Editeur in Paris. This volume presents the findings of eminent scholars on the Bible in Augustine's letters, in his preaching, in polemics, in the City of God, and as a source for Christian ethics, following the chronological order of Augustine's works from the mid-eighties of the fourth century to just before his death in 430. Part I examines what can be known of the stages of Augustine's 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 encounter--Augustine's grappling with the hermeneutical method originating in the province of Africa. Part III describes Augustine's 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 Augustine--that of the tireless preacher of the Word.

Contributors include: Anne-Marie la Bonnardiere, Mark Vessey, Michael Cameron, Pamela Bright, Robert Kugler, Charles Kannengiesser, Roland J. Teske, S.J., Gerald Bonner, Joseph Wolinski, Michel Albaric, O.P., Constance E. McLeese, and Albert Verwilghen.

Pamela Bright is chair of the theology department at Concordia College, Montreal. She is the editor and translator of The Books of Rules of Tyconius: It's Purpose and Inner Logic (University of Notre Dame Press, 1988).

Review Quotes

"Bright's translation is a beautifully wrought literary and theological monument to the scholarly research of Anne-Marie la Bonnardière and her colleagues. Augustine and the Bible is an invaluable addition to Augustinian and biblical studies." --Midwest Book Review

"The University of Notre Dame Press has rendered a real service in making available this fine state-of-the-art collection of essays, which is at the same time accessible to the non-specialist and the beginning student." --Journal of Early Christian Studies

"This English translation is to be commended." --Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

About the Author

Dr. Pamela Bright was the Chair of the Theological Studies Department at Concordia University from 1995 until 2006 and a Professor of Historical Theology. Her undergraduate studies were in classics, history and theology at the University of Queensland, Australia. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, with an MA in 1983 and then a PhD in 1987.