Augustine and Modern Law

St. Augustine and Roman law are the two bridges from Athens and Jerusalem to the world of modern law. Augustine's almost eerily modern political realism was based upon his deep appreciation of human evil, arising from his insights into the human personality, the product of his reflections on his own life and the history of his times. These insights have traveled well through the ages and are mirrored in the pages of Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Hannah Arendt. The articles in this volume describe the life and world of Augustine and the ways in which he conceived both justice and law. They also discuss the little recognized Augustinian contributions to the field of modern hermeneutics - the discipline which informs the art of legal interpretation. Finally, they include Augustine's valuable discussion of church/state relations, the law of just wars, and proper role and limits of coercion, and the procreative dimensions of marriage. The volume also includes an extremely useful, definitive bibliography of Augustine and the law, and will leave readers with an increased appreciation of the contributions which Augustine has made to the history of jurisprudence. No one can read Augustine and these articles on his view of the law without taking away a new view of the law itself.

Contents: Introduction; Selected bibliography, Carl Yirka; Part I Augustine: His Life and His World: The life and religion of Saint Augustine, Whitney J. Oates; Life, culture and controversies of Augustine, Robert Markus. Part II Two Cities: Justice in the Early and Divine Community: A Two Cities: The two cities in Augustine's political philosophy, Rex Martin; The origin and dynamics of society and the state according to St Augustine, D.J. MacQueen; B. Justice: Augustine's critique of human justice, Gaylon L. Caldwell; Justice as the foundation of the political community: Augustine and his pagan models, Ernest L. Fortin; C. Church-State Relations: The problem of service to unjust regimes in Augustine's City of God, Peter Burnell; Pluralism and secularism in the political order: St Augustine and theoretical liberalism, Michael J. White. Part III Augustine's Philosophy of Political Authority and Law: The fundamental ideas in St Augustine's philosophy of law, Anton- Hermann Chroust; Two conceptions of political authority: Augustine, De Civitate Dei xix. 14-15, and some 13th-century interpretations, R.A. Markus; Roman law in the works of St Augustine, Francesco Lardone. Part IV Selected Fundamental Principles of Jurisprudence and Political Theory: A. Augustine's Political Realism: Will and Order: the moral self in Augustine's De Libero Arbitrio, Eric O. Springsted; Augustine's political realism, Reinhold Niebuhr; B. Augustine's Historical Vision: St Augustine and the Christian idea of progress: the background of the City of God, Theodor E. Mommsen; Augustine's philosophy of history, Rüdiger Bittner; C. Interpretation and Rhetoric: Augustine's Confessions and the poetics of law, Eugene Vance; Augustine and the problem of Christian rhetoric, Ernest L. Fortin. Part V Applications of Augustine's Thought to Selected Legal Topics: A. Law of a Just War: Saint Augustine on war and killing: the problem of the innocent, Richard Shelley Hartigan; Coge intrare: the Church and po

Richard O. Brooks is Professor Emeritus of Law, Vermont Law School, USA and James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government, Dartmouth College, USA