AUGUSTINE AND THE TRINITY A ugustine of Hippo (–), whose accounts of the Trinity have heavily infl uenced much subsequent Western theology, has often been accused of over-emphasizing the unity of God and thus been maligned as a source of persistent problems in contemporary reli- gious thought. In Augustine and the Trinity , Lewis Ayres off ers a new treatment of this important fi gure, demonstrating how Augustine’s writings off er one of the most sophisticated early theologies of the Trinity developed after the Council of Nicaea (). Building on recent research, Ayres argues that Augustine was infl uenced by a wide variety of earlier Latin Christian traditions which stressed the irreducibility of the Father, Son and Spirit. Augustine combines these traditions with material from non-Christian Neoplatonists in a very personal synthesis. Ayres also argues that Augustine shaped a powerful account of Christian ascent towards understanding of, as well as participation in, the divine life, one that begins in faith and models itself on Christ’s humility.    is Bede Professor of Catholic Th eology at the University of Durham. He is co-editor with Frances Young and Andrew Louth of Th e Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature (). AUGUSTINE AND THE TRINITY   Bede Professor of Catholic Th eology University of Durham Associate Professor of Historical Th eology Emory University    Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press Th e Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/ © Lewis Ayres  Th is publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published  Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Ayres, Lewis. Augustine and the Trinity / Lewis Ayres. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.  ---- . Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. . Trinity. I. Title. .  ′.–dc   ---- Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. … cui trinitati pie sobrieque intellegendae omnis excubat vigilantia christiana et omnis eius provectus intenditur Th e goal of all Christian watchfulness and all Christian progress is a pious and sober understanding of the Trinity De libero arbitrio . . Contents Acknowledgements page x List of abbreviations xiii Introduction       Giving wings to Nicaea  On being and not being a ‘Platonist’  Olivier Du Roy’s thesis  A bridge too far: Du Roy’s method  Th e tripotent Father, Son and Spirit  De beata vita  Augustine’s engagements   From Him, through Him and in Him  Latin pro-Nicene theology  An anti-Manichaean Trinitarianism I: De moribus ecclesiae catholicae  An anti-Manichaean Trinitarianism II: Epistula    Faith of our fathers: D e fi de et symbolo  Augustine and Latin anti-Monarchianism  Persona , natura , substantia  ‘Most fi ttingly called his Word’  Spiritus , deitas , communio  Taking stock       Th e unadorned Trinity  Trinitas quae Deus est  Th e unadorned Trinity  vii viii Contents Towards understanding  Excursus : Th e dating of the D e trinitate   Per corporalia … ad incorporalia  Ascent and the liberal arts  Changing attitudes to the artes  Analogy in the C onfessiones   A Christological epistemology  Augustine fi nds his Panzer  Faith and contemplation  Faith, desire and Christ  Interlude: Augustine’s Panzer and the Latin tradition  Correspondence and mystery: the example of Moses  Faith and grace  Excursus : Polemical targets in the De trinitate         Recommending the source  A second rule  Th e meaning of sending  Revealing and saving  Augustine’s novelty?  Creator, creation and the angels  ‘You have made all things in Wisdom’ (Ps. .)   Essence from essence  Th e self-same, the identical  Th e simplicity of God  Predicating relation ( trin . . .–.)  Person and nature ( trin . . .–. and . .–.)  Wisdom from Wisdom (t rin . . .–. .)  Appropriation ( trin . . .)   Showing and seeing  subsistentia personarum (‘the existence of the persons’)  Father and Son: showing and seeing   Loving and being  Th e Spirit as agent of unity  Acts .  Th e Spirit and the life of the Divine Th ree  And ‘from’ the Son?  Subsisting relations?  Contents ix   ,      ‘But it’s not fur eatin’ …’  Introduction  De civitate Dei   De trinitate : the exordium  De trinitate . .–.: the paradox of self-knowing  De trinitate . .–.: verbum interior  Conclusion: the ghost at the banquet?   ‘… It’s just fur lookin’ through’  Setting up D e trinitate  : se nosse – se cogitare  De trinitate . .–.: m emoria , intellegentia and v oluntas  Reprise: De trinitate   A Ciceronian triad  Conclusion  Epilogue: catching all three  Bibliography  Scripture index   General index 