• DOI:10.1177/004056395801900201
• Corpus ID: 170987704

St. Augustine and Cosmic Redemption

@article{Clarke1958StAA,
  title={St. Augustine and Cosmic Redemption},
  author={Thomas Ernest Bennett Clarke},
  journal={Theological Studies},
  year={1958},
  volume={19},
  pages={133 - 164}
}

• T. E. Clarke
• Published 1 May 1958
• Philosophy
• Theological Studies

I THE contemporary effort to elaborate a theology of the temporal, the name of St. Augustine is frequently enough invoked. Reference is usually made to one or other classic theme: his conception of time and eternity, of uti and frui, scientia and sapientia. His theology of history is discussed, especially in connection with the master idea, the civitas Dei. When consideration focuses more particularly on the theme of cosmic redemption, however, interest in his contribution appears to slacken. There may be a passing reference to his unique reading of the famous "groaning of creation" passage in St. Paul (Rom 8:19-23) and perhaps a mention of the fear of Manicheism which led him to reject a cosmic interpretation. But rarely in the flood of Augustinian scholarship does one see proposed the general question: Is there for St. Augustine any solidarity of man and cosmos in sin and redemption? The chief reason for this neglect may well be the hazardous nature of the inquiry. It is always risky to seek in an ancient writer the answer to a question which he never explicitly put to himself; anachronism has made the history of scholarship a road weighted with ugly corpses. Moreover, Augustine would appear to be so disinterested in the material world, so exclusively intent on God and the soul, as to render antecedently sterile any search for a theology of the cosmos. There is, however, both validity and value in such an investigation, provided it be cautiously pursued. Genius enriches even by what it leaves implicit. And in the present instance the materials are not lacking for a balanced estimate of the mind of the Bishop of Hippo. 1 On the acceptability of this expression, cf. G. Thils, Thiologie des riaHtis terrestres 1: Preludes (Bruges-Paris, 1947) 110 f. 2 Cf. the excerpt from H. Marrou at the end of this article. 8 Because, on the broad topic which is our primary concern, there is no radical development in Augustine's thought, we have chosen, with due regard for chronology, a topical rather than a genetic exposition. Further, we make no attempt to offer a bibliography on the question of cosmic redemption.