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see also G O'Daly, Augustine's City of God: a reader's guide Oxford: Clarendon 1999 ISBN 01982 63546 Anselm Cramer OSB Ampleforth Abbey, York [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Michael F. Hynes <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: 06 October 1999 17:24 Subject: RE: history and apocalyptic prophecy - was Book of Revelation topics > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [log in to unmask] >> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of >> [log in to unmask] >> Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 5:02 AM >> To: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: history and apocalyptic prophecy - was Book of Revelation >> topics >> >> >> Where does Augustine work through the seperation of history and >> revelation? I'd be interested to follow up this line of thought. >> I've been looking at the writings of Otloh of St Emmeram from a very >> different angle, but was interested to note that he also writes of >> the events of his own time (mainly the break-up of monastic estates >> c. 1040's) as the fulfilment of the prophets of the apocalypse that >> satan would be unleashed. >> >> Hannah Williams. >> Monash University >> Victoria >> Australia >> > >Dear Hannah, > >Augustine's City of God is a magisterial and extended >philosophical/theological theodicy in which he separates secular history >from sacred history. It is also an intensive treatment on the limits of >human reason to transcend the human condition. Sacred history is >impenetrable to human reason except as revealed by God; secular history >(including the history of the post-Pentecostal church), although relevant to >the Divine plan, appears to human beings as one damned thing after another >without rhyme or reason. The City of God is divided into 2 parts: A) >Apologetic (Books I X)-- a devastating critique of ancient political >theory/practice and historiography, and B) Thetic (Books XI-XXII). The >latter is subdivided into 3 parts: 1) The origin of the two cities (Books >XI-XIV); 2) The history of the two cities (Books XV-XVIII); and 3) The end >of the two cities (Books XIX-XXII). Book XIX is Augustine's teleology and >discusses the limited goals possible of attainment for temporal >institutions, including the church, versus the transcendental goals of the >two cities. Book XX is his eschatology. It is important to note that no >temporal institutions, including the church and empire, correspond to either >of the two cities. These institutions are a corpus mixtum made up of the >saved and the damned, and there is no way of knowing for certain who >(including ourselves) is a member of which city. And given what Augustine >has to say about the limitations of the finite creature to know and >understand the infinite/transcendent (see Book XII [?] on the difference >between finitude and infinity), it is not surprising that he denied all >knowledge of when the Final Judgement will occur. Thus, for Augustine, life >since the Pentecost is one long Middle Ages, the end of which we know not >when. In the meantime, life from our perspective appears as one damned thing >after another signifying nothing. All we can do is have faith that at the >level of the transcendent our experiences do indeed have meaning. The locus >classicus of all this is R.A. Markus, Saeculum: History and Society in the >Theology of St. Augustine (Cambridge, 1970). Augustine's views won out in >large measure because of the power and cogency of his argument. > >Mike > > >-- >**** Scanned for Viruses by Zen Internet Ltd. **** %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%