Bradley, Stephen Alexander (Author)
The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a survey of Augustine's approach to relating science and the Bible. While it is by no means comprehensive in terms of including all of the relevant passages from Augustine's works, it does address the entire Augustinian corpus, providing representative examples from all stages of Augustine's career that show his opinions on the relationship between the Bible and science, as well as instances in his works where there is interaction between natural philosophy and the testimony of Scripture. The primary sources for this dissertation are Augustine's treatises, letters, and sermons. Secondary sources are also utilized to gain an understanding of Augustine's thought and the state of scientific inquiry in his day. The first two chapters of the dissertation address Augustine's works in chronological order to highlight how his thought developed over time. The first section of chapter one, entitled Early Struggles: The Quest for a Reasonable Faith, begins by addressing briefly the overall philosophical and religious climate of Augustine's day, providing the reader with a framework for understanding how the young Augustine struggled early on to reconcile reason with faith, and the assertions of natural philosophy with the testimony of Scripture. The next section of chapter one, Tolle, Lege : Beginning to Take the Scriptures Seriously, examines Augustine's early works up until the time he became a priest in 391. The last section of this chapter, entitled, Augustine the Priest: Student of the Bible, covers the works Augustine produced while serving as a priest and co- adjutor bishop (391--396), including De doctrina christiana. A similar course of action is followed in chapter two, which addresses Augustine's works produced during his time as Catholic bishop in Hippo Regius (397--430). The first section, Exploration, includes key works such as Confessiones and De Genesi ad litteram, where Augustine directly addresses, in his treatment of the first three chapters of Genesis, the question of how one should go about relating scientific knowledge and the testimony of Scripture. The second section, Fortification, addresses De civitate Dei and other works produced around the same time. The last section, Meditation, considers works written toward the end of Augustine's career, such as Enchiridion ad Laurentium. The last chapter serves as an evaluative conclusion, and identifies three major relational categories that characterize Augustine's approach to relating science and Scripture. The first of these categories, Demystification: Desacralizing Nature, summarizes Augustine's own spiritual and intellectual pilgrimage, highlighting how Augustine's views changed over time and demonstrating how the mature Augustine sought to develop a desacralized and biblical view of the natural order that was both grounded in Scripture and scientifically reasonable. The second category, Apologetics: Reinforcing Christian Teaching, shows how Augustine utilized scientific knowledge to reinforce and defend Christian doctrines, and how he responded to materialistic attacks that questioned the veracity of the biblical witness. The third category, Biblical Exegesis: Rightly Dividing the Word, addresses how Augustine's knowledge of the natural order affected his interpretation of Scripture, and how his reading of Scripture influenced his approach to understanding the opinions of natural philosophers. At the end of the chapter, a section entitled Concluding Remarks summarizes the findings of this study and addresses the Draper-White characterization in light of the evidence presented.
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