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(2017) N. Kamimura, ‘Augustine’s Sermones ad Populum and the Relationship Between Identity/ies and Spirituality in North African Christianity.’ In G. Partoens, A. Dupont, Sh. Boodts, and M. Lamberigts (eds.), Praedicatio Patrum. Studies on Preaching in Late Antique North Africa, Ministerium Sermonis III, Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia 75 (Turnhout: Brepols) 429–460. DOI 10.1484/M.IPM-EB.5.114062
- Abstract
- In contributing to the debate on the changes of the Christian world in late antiquity, some scholars have claimed that the boundaries between religious groups were blurred with shifting, in that, for instance, the identity of Christians in the late Roman society was not characterised by clear indications of religious belief, observance, and practice. After a significant commitment to the discussion of the Christian identity (R. Markus, 1990. The End of Ancient Christianity, Cambridge), more recently, interesting surveys have shown that the difference between Christians and pagans can be seen as part of a discursive binary (see M. Kahlos, 2007. Debate and Dialogue: Christian and Pagan Cultures, c. 360-430, Aldershot; É. Rebillard, 2012. Christians and Their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200-450 CE, Ithaca). While the North African evidence of their identity allows us to consider the question of what it means to be a Christian, it is interesting to note that there is a comprehensive framework for the understanding of human behaviour and thought: the ‘spiritual exercise’ in the Greco-Roman tradition. It has drawn increasing attention from not only those with an interest in Christian spirituality but scholars working in the late antiquity, in particular when we appreciate Pierre Hadot’s work (1993. Exercises spirituels et philosophie antique, Paris), in which he illustrates a complex set of modes of the exercises and defines it as a ‘metamorphosis of our personality’. Some scholars have often considered it as the intellectual training of the intelligence or mind. Primary attention should be given to it. All the same, the simplistic approach merits careful deliberation. Hadot emphasises the need to investigate a wider diversity of the training within the very context of involving all facets of human thought and behaviour. In the fourth- and fifth centuries, Christian thinkers began to pursue the matter in a more detailed way, despite the fact that the modification of these exercises appears from the result of reflection in classical antiquity according to the circumstances of Greek or Hellenistic philosophy. A crucial stage of the development seems to be prepared by Augustine. Provided some erudite and illuminating studies consider the ‘spiritual exercise’ as being linked with the context of Augustine’s concern for the identity of Christians and pagans, the correlation remains in question. It is legitimate to revisit the subject in his works. The intention of this paper is, therefore, to focus on the evidence for his view of the ‘spiritual exercise’ in the sermons of Augustine, thereby coming to some understanding of the horizons on which he made use of the dimension and goal in speaking about the exercise. I shall consider how it might have affected his idea of the Christian code of behaviour, and then seek to analyse whether or not they were Christians who would understand their identity as closely connected with those that Augustine had hoped for.
- Paper proofs in PDF format.
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