Impulse aus der Augustinforschung

Abstract

Abstract Research in Augustine is manifold. Recent scholarship in Germany focused upon Augustine‘s heresiology (esp. against Manichaeism, but also Pelagianism, Donatism, Priscillianism), the controversy with Neoplatonism, his exegesis (esp. in sermons and in de Genesi ad litteram), emotions (esp. for the description of sin and grace), and his widespread correspondence. As important impulses for modern theology, his concept of God may be of special interest. God establishes his will in time and history and cannot be urged against his will. This is the presupposition not only for Augustine’s christology and pneumatology, but also for his understanding of history and his doctrine of grace. The latter takes into consideration the social context of human beings, the emotional character of voluntary decisions and the ongoing development of individual identity. Furthermore, good and evil are not equal options, but the good is only possible if God enables the individual to act according to his insights and exerts a direct influence upon one's will. Insights or knowledge are not salvific by themselves, but belong to one’s development that leads to a better understanding of creation and revelation exactly when it is orientated towards God’s salvific operations.