Augustine and Hermes Trismegistus: An Inquiry into the Spirituality of Augustine’s ‘Hidden Years’

This paper draws attention to the possible role of Hermetic writings in the spiritual development of Augustine (354-430). It first places his knowledge of Hermetica within the context of both ‘orthodox’ African Christianity (Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lactantius) and contemporary Manichaeism. It...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Oort, Johannes van 1949- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis Group [2016]
In: Journal of early Christian history
Year: 2016, Volume: 6, Issue: 2, Pages: 55-76
RelBib Classification:BS Traditional African religions
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
KDH Christian sects
Further subjects:B Augustine
B City of God
B The Beautiful and the Harmonious
B Hermetica
B Manichaeism
B Against Faustus
B Arnobius
B Cyprian
B African Christianity (Tertullian
B Confessions
B African Paganism
B Lactantius)
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
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Summary:This paper draws attention to the possible role of Hermetic writings in the spiritual development of Augustine (354-430). It first places his knowledge of Hermetica within the context of both ‘orthodox’ African Christianity (Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lactantius) and contemporary Manichaeism. It then focuses on his dealing with Hermetic writings, ideas and expressions in writings such as the Confessions, the (now lost) The Beautiful and the Harmonious, and Against Faustus. In Augustine’s later writing the City of God, one finds a twofold appreciation of Hermes, which had a particular influence in subsequent centuries.
ISSN:2471-4054
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian history
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2016.1218998