Christian History, Dogmatics

Augustine: The Major Works

Church History/Systematics

This course will examine his major works, both in terms of size and influence, and close with a look at the doctrine for which he is most famous, predestination. Taught by Dr. Matthew Hoskin. Runs 4/12-6/18/21. 

Description

This Church History/Systematics course will be taught by Dr. Matthew Hoskin, and will run from April 12 through June 18. The syllabus is available here.

St Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is the greatest theologian of western/Latin Christianity, in terms both of the breadth of his thought and of his influence. His theology is foundational for Protestants as well as Roman Catholics, influencing not only the whole mediaeval tradition but Martin Luther, John Calvin, Richard Hooker, the collects of the Book of Common Prayer, Robert Bellarmine, and Teresa of Avila among many others. Even John Wesley, who famously rejected Augustine’s doctrine of predestination, cites Augustine more than any other church father. Not only this, he is also the ancient Latin writer with the largest surviving body of writings.

This course will examine his major works, both in terms of size and influence, and close with a look at the doctrine for which he is most famous, predestination. The goal is to understand Augustine on his own terms but with the aim of seeing him better for today.

Matthew Hoskin received his Ph.D. in the History of Christianity from the University of Edinburgh in 2015. His expertise is in the field of ancient Christianity (Patristics) with a focus on Leo the Great, Christology, and canon law in the fifth century, and he has a background in Classics and research that extends across the Middle Ages. He lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with his wife and children where he is Coordinator of Liturgy and Education at The Urban Abbey (www.urbanabbey.ca) and blogs semi-regularly at http://thepocketscroll.wordpress.com.

Online only, runs 10 weeks, meeting 2 hrs./wk. via videoconference + online discussion board. Register to reserve your spot and schedule will be set after a poll of participating students; if the class time does not fit your schedule, you will be eligible for a full refund. Note: all classes are offered dependent on demand and require a minimum of four participating students. This is a graduate-level seminar. Although a Bachelor’s degree is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.