Journal Title
Journal of Religion & Society (Supplement Series)
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
A Carthaginian deacon named Deogratias asked Augustine for advice on how to improve his teaching for inquirers. Augustine obliged by writing De catechizandis rudibus (On Instructing Beginners), a masterful survey of need-to-know essentials on the story of salvation, the unity of Scripture, and their deep center in Christ. But the work did more than teach the basics of faith. Augustine saw that the deacon needed not only more information but also more assiduous practice in giving his learners the humble Christian love that he was teaching about. Beginning with descriptions of God’s accommodating love to humanity in Christ, Augustine demonstrated the crucial role of love in the work of a Christian teacher by displaying it literarily to Deogratias by his kindly approach and way of writing. Not merely giving commands or spouting theories, Augustine’s De catechizandis rudibus subtly offered a model of love itself for the beginning teacher Deogratias to imitate.
Author Supplied Keywords
Deogratias, Love, Teacher, Humility, Christology, Beginner, Model
Subjects
Augustine, Saint, Catholic Church -- Doctrines; Preaching
Citation: Pilot Scholars Version (Modified MLA Style)
Cameron, Michael, "Love Actually Modeling Amor in Augustine’s De catechizandis rudibus: in Augustine on Heart and Life: Essays in Honor of William Harmless, S.J." (2018). Theology Faculty Publications and Presentations. 30.
https://pilotscholars.up.edu/the_facpubs/30
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Document Type
Journal Article
Included in
Practical Theology Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
Publication Information
© 2018 Michael Cameron
Archived version is final published version.