Jerusalem and Babylon : a study of Augustine’s City of God and the sources of his doctrine of the two cities [Paperback editon.] 9789004093232, 9004093230, 9789004246287, 9004246282

Table of contents :
Introduction --
Augustine and his City of God. The author --
The City of God --
The doctrine of the two cities --
The City of God as an apology and a catechetical work. The City of God as an apology --
The City of God as a thetic exposition --
The City of God as a catechetical work --
Conclusions --
Sources of Augustine's doctrine of the two cities. Manichaeism --
Platonism, Stoicism and Philo --
The Donatist Tyconius --
Christian, Jewish and Jewish-Christian traditions --
Conclusions --
Summary and final remarks.

Citation preview

Jerusalem and Babylon

Woodcut from: Augustinus De Civitate Dei cum commento [Thomae Valois et Nicolai Trivet], Basel, Johann Amerbach, 1489.

Jerusalem and Babylon A Study of Augustine’s City of God and the Sources of his Doctrine of the Two Cities

By

Johannes van Oort

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013

Cover illustration: Augustinus De Ciuitate Dei. (Plut. 12.19, c.1) Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana Piazza di San Lorenzo, 9, I-50123 Firenze. Photo made by Donato Pineider, Firenze. This paperback was originally published in hardback under ISBN 978-90-40-09323-2. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oort, J. van (Johannes)   Jerusalem and Babylon: a study into Augustine’s City God and the sources of his doctrine of the two cities / by Johannes van Oort.    p. cm. -- (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, ISSN 0920-623X; v. 14)    Originally presented in Dutch as the author’s thesis (doctoral) -- University of Utrecht, 1986.   Includes bibliographical references and indexes.   ISBN 90-04-09323-0 1. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. De civitate Dei. 2. Kingdom of God. 3. Apologetics--Early church, ca. 30-600. 3. Apologetics--Early church, ca. 30-600.I. Title. II. Series.   BR65.A65052 1990  239’.3--dc20 90-24319

ISBN 978-90-04-24628-7 (paperback) Copyright 1991 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper.

To Ineke To Gerdiene and Hans-Willem

PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION Writing a preface to the paperback edition of my very first book is a special experience. The time of its first edition seems to lie far back in the past and the year of its first appearance in Dutch as a dissertation to obtain the degree of Doctor (in Theology) at the University of Utrecht even more so. The Dutch edition was reprinted four times, and – apart from a brief addition to the Preface – remained unchanged. This does not mean that I did not find some (albeit small) corrigenda or remained unaware of possible addenda. The nature of Augustinian scholarship, with continuous intense activity worldwide, makes addenda possible almost immediately after the first appearance of any publication. In accordance with the principle of Brill’s paperback editions, but also because supplementation would have been endless, this English reprint remains unchanged as well. I do not find it difficult to consent to this modus operandi, because in the course of the years my view on the subject has not changed and, were I to write on the same subject today, my conclusions would be essentially the same. One element that I would have given a more prominent place in the overall argument would have been the occurrence of the idea of two ‘cities’ in early Jewish-Christian baptismal tradition. The original section I wrote on this subject was eventually omitted from the book because it appeared to me to interrupt the flow of the argument. (Besides, the original Dutch version in its printed form was a dissertation that had to be defended publicly, so it seemed wise to avoid additional ‘theses’!) If it is true that ‘on revient toujours a ses premiers amours’, I will return to this theme sometime in the future. Looking back at the reception of the book in international scholarship, I have much cause for gratitude. The faithful translation of a book is a challenging enterprise and I thankfully remember the work done by those who endeavoured with me to perform this task. For myself it meant hard work over many months, months I could (and, in my opinion then, should) have devoted to other work at hand. Translating and retranslating difficult passages from Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Coptic and other sources was time-consuming. Any English translation simply based on my Dutch translations turned out to be



preface to the paperback edition

inadequate, while the several English translations available in print proved inappropriate for illustrating my argument. I still feel very grateful for the training received from my Utrecht University professors, and also for the wide-ranging education once available at its flourishing Faculty of Theology. It enabled me not only to study Augustine from the best Latin editions, but also to read and interpret him within the broad context of Late Antiquity and the varieties of its emerging Christianity. Internationally this approach was well received, but its first impetus came from those masters in that intellectual environment. *** For several years Jerusalem and Babylon was also used as a course book, first for my students at Utrecht University and later also at Radboud University Nijmegen. For easy reference it was frequently called ‘J&B’, but it was only during my first lectures in South Africa that I learned that this abbreviation stood for some well-known brand of whisky as well. There and then, however, we cheerfully kept the short form. It is hoped that its contents, newly bottled so to say, will serve a useful purpose for both my international students and many a colleague as well. Last but not least, I am deeply grateful to be able to retain and even to underline the original dedication of this book. Meantime for over forty happy years, Ineke espoused my daily activities in her own and very special way, as did our beloved daughter and son. I’m glad to include here the names of our much-loved son-in-law Henri and grandchildren Lucas Johannes and Sophie. Pretoria, South Africa January 2, 2013

Johannes van Oort