Augustine of Hippo

Aurelius Augustinus, Augustine of Hippo ("The knowledgeable one") (November 13, 354–August 28, 430) is a saint and the pre-eminent Doctor of the Church according to Roman Catholicism, and is considered by Evangelical Protestants to be (together with the Apostle Paul) the theological fountainhead of the Reformation teaching on salvation and grace. He was the eldest son of Saint Monica. Works of Saint Augustine, an African by birth, a Roman by education, a Milanese by baptism, still inspire many Christians all over the world who follow the path of faith.

Augustine and the Jews

Augustine wrote in Book 18, Chapter 46 of The City of God http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF1-02/Augustine/cog/t103.htm (one of his most celebrated works along with The Confessions): "The Jews who slew Him, and would not believe in Him, because it behooved Him to die and rise again, were yet more miserably wasted by the Romans, and utterly rooted out from their kingdom, where aliens had already ruled over them, and were dispersed through the lands (so that indeed there is no place where they are not), and are thus by their own Scriptures a testimony to us that we have not forged the prophecies about Christ."

Related Topics:
The City of God - The Confessions - Him

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Augustine deemed this scattering important because he believed that it was a fulfillment of certain prophecies, thus proving that Jesus was the Messiah. This is because Augustine believed that the Jews who were dispersed were the enemies of the Christian Church. He also quotes part of the same prophecy that says "Slay them not, lest they should at last forget Thy law". Some people have used Augustine's words to attack Jews as anti-Christian, while others have used them to attack Christians as anti-Jewish. See Christianity and anti-Semitism.

Related Topics:
Messiah - Christianity and anti-Semitism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To appreciate the significance of Augustine's utterances one must relate them to the apologetic or polemic against Judaism of earlier Fathers, especially the Latin writers Tertullian (Adversus Iudaeos), Cyprian (Testimonia ad Quirinum), Pseudo-Cyprian (De Montibus Sina et Sion and other writings), Novatian, Commodian, Lactantius, Zeno of Verona, Ambrosiaster, Ambrose, Jerome, Prudentius, as well as to Origen's interpretation of the Old Testament which sees it as a book whose spiritual meaning the Jews cannot understand.

Related Topics:
Apologetic - Polemic - Fathers - Tertullian - Cyprian - Pseudo-Cyprian - Novatian - Commodian - Lactantius - Zeno of Verona - Ambrosiaster - Ambrose - Jerome - Prudentius - Origen - Old Testament

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An important work on this subject is Bernhard Blumenkranz, Die Judenpredigt Augustins, Paris 1973 (originally 1946).

Related Topics:
Bernhard Blumenkranz - 1973 - 1946

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~