THEO 201: Sacred Scripture

Augustine & Scripture: St. Augustine’s Confessions is one of the most enduring and influential works of Christian literature, one that speaks about the relation between God and man in an unprecedented way. Augustine makes his confession to God by telling the story of his life, and he casts the mysteries of theology in terms of his own experience. As we explore the philosophical, theological, and literary dimensions of this remarkable work, we will consider the particulars of Augustine’s story and the way those particulars set the stage for Augustine’s very intimate reflection on Sacred Scripture. Throughout the Confessions, Augustine’s use of scripture is continuous and seamless and at times hardly noticeable. In particular, we will be paying very close attention to how Augustine uses scripture in the ‘literal’ and the ‘spiritual’ senses, and will learn to distinguish between them. We will also study the canon of scripture, the historical role Augustine (and others) played in the formation of the canon, the authenticity and authorship of the Gospels, the divinely inspired nature of Sacred Scripture, and we will also study select passages from the Old Testament, especially those pertaining to the story of David.