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2 - The Goal of Preaching

from Part I - Augustine’s Pastoral Task of Preaching Sermons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2025

Andrew Hofer, OP
Affiliation:
Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC
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Summary

Before considering the goal of Augustine’s preaching, this chapter first of all considers Augustine’s understanding of the nature of reality and of human beings as wholly dependent upon God’s grace. In this context, it argues that the question of the goal of preaching is effectively turned on its head: that it is not so much a question of what the human preacher should say or do – of what they should give in order to achieve a particular goal – but rather a question of how they are to receive what is given to them so that their goal can be achieved. It suggests that the answer is found in Augustine’s identification of grace as the love of God, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and demonstrates that love is the source, means, message and end, or goal, of preaching.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Further Reading

Arnold, Duane W. H., and Bright, Pamela, eds. 1995. De Doctrina Christiana: A Classic of Western Culture. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Dupont, Anthony. 2013. Gratia in Augustine’s Sermones ad Populum during the Pelagian Controversy: Do Different Contexts Furnish Different Insights? Brill’s Series in Church History, vol. 59. Boston: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dupont, Anthony. 2014. A Critical Reappraisal of Augustine’s Doctrine of Grace in his Sermones ad Populum on Liturgical Feasts and during the Donatist Controversy. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, vol. 177. Boston: Brill.Google Scholar
Fiedrowicz, Michael. 1997. Psalmus vox totius Christi: Studien zu Augustins “Enarrationes in Psalmos.” Freiburg: Herder.Google Scholar
Madec, Goulven. 1991. La Première Catéchèse: De catechizandis rudibus. Oeuvres de saint Augustin 11.1 Bibliothèque Augustinienne. Paris: Études Augustiniennes.Google Scholar
Reil, Elisabeth. 1989. Aurelius Augustinus ‘De catechizandis rudibus’: Ein religionsdidaktisches Konzept. St Ottilien: EOS Verlag.Google Scholar

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