Augustine and the Making of Christian Practice and Doctrine (400-1000)

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Extent: 280 pages

Publisher: Wiley-VCH

Subjects: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia

Language: English, Latin

Hardback (Forthcoming)

(January 2027)

ISBN: 9782503625478

Price: $88.00

This book presents nine chapters that explore Augustine’s influence on Western Christianity in relation to specific practices and ideas in the period before c. 1000 AD.


It is widely acknowledged that Augustine was extensively read from Antiquity onward and played a pivotal role in shaping normative practices and ideas that have influenced Christianity for centuries. But can we be more precise? Can Augustine’s impact be measured in specific practices such as oath-making, praying for the dead, preaching, and Sunday rest? How were his views on communal life, martyrdom, predestination, grace, the nature of the soul, Patristic authority and Christian rulership transmitted, received, and at times challenged? This volume brings together nine chapters by international specialists in late antique and early medieval Christianity to explore these questions, with a focus on the period up to c. 1000 AD. The first centuries after Augustine’s death were crucial in building his legacy: early readers engaged with his work in diverse ways, from wholehearted endorsement to selective adaptation, neglect, or outright rejection. Examining Augustine’s reception not only sheds light on his enduring influence but also reveals how significantly Western Christianity evolved during this formative period – an evolution driven, to a great extent, by creative debate, controversy, and the reexamination of ideas inherited from influential predecessors, among whom Augustine stands prominently.