The extent to which there is continuity or discontinuity in Augustine's theology of grace has been a subject of debate since the Pelagian controversy itself. Already in his Retractationes Augustine felt the need to chart some of the developments in his theology of grace, albeit as part of a narrative of broad continuity. In his debut monograph Bart van Egmond analyses in Augustine's writings, from the Cassiciacum dialogues to the Confessions, the function of God's judgement over sin in the process of salvation as a way to approach the broader question of development in Augustine's theology of grace.
Van Egmond locates his chronological study within three different contexts that he takes to inform Augustine's early understanding of the relationship between divine judgement and grace. First, the anti-Gnostic tradition represented by the likes of Clement, Irenaeus and Origen shaped ‘the framework’ of his thinking on divine justice and mercy, for he was aware from an early age of the strategy of this tradition to describe the pedagogical purpose of the divine punishment of sin. While drawing upon this tradition, Augustine describes God's justice as educational and restorative in order to maintain human freedom and God's goodness vis-à-vis the Manichees. Second, Augustine found in the classical pedagogical tradition of psychagogy the resources to describe how providence exercises the soul in virtue and how the soul is cured by the training of the mind in rational thought. Van Egmond rightly perceives Augustine's use of this tradition as being influenced by his gradually increasing assimilation of Scripture and the earlier Christian tradition. Third, Augustine's understanding of the function of temporal punishment as itself the product of divine providence and ecclesiastical discipline should inform how we interpret his account of the relationship between divine justice and grace. Van Egmond's primary contention, largely in continuity with the work of Joanne McWilliam, is that Augustine moves from positing a largely philosophical and pedagogical account of human salvation to a soteriology animated by faith in the crucified Christ.
The book contains six chapters, beginning in the first with an introduction to the three contexts of the work and ending with a sixth chapter containing summative conclusions. Chapters ii through v consider the redemptive function of divine judgement across four distinct stages within Augustine's early literary corpus. The second chapter analyses Augustine's understanding of the importance of God's discipline of human sin for his saving work in the Cassiciacum dialogues. Van Egmond outlines Augustine's account of divine providence as a Christianised version of the philosophical notion of fortuna by which God elicits sinful human persons to turn to himself. Augustine's identification of the salvific importance of God's corrective judgement is also evident, van Egmond shows, in the fear of punishment, which restrains pride within the very practice of dialogue between Augustine and his pupils.
In the third chapter van Egmond considers Augustine's writings from his baptism until his ordination. Van Egmond explores Augustine's development of a pedagogical notion of divine punishment for human sinfulness reminiscent of the anti-Gnostic tradition and directed against the Manichees. He also considers Augustine's reflections on the role of divine chastisement in salvation history and in his own forced ordination. Chapter iv covers Augustine's development during his priesthood up to his ordination as the bishop of Hippo (including Ad Simplicianum, Augustine's initial episcopal work), paying special attention to the importance of his increasing engagement with Paul's Epistles, his anti-Manichaean polemic and his experience as an officer of the Church at Hippo. Specifically, he considers Augustine's account of the ‘penal consequences’ of original sin, the relationship between the law and the grace of Christ, and the nature and function of different kinds of church discipline.
The fifth chapter analyses Augustine's Confessions, mapping the prior development of his understanding of the redemptive function of divine judgement onto this theological autobiography. Van Egmond argues in this final interpretive chapter that Augustine interprets his life in the light of the law of God chastising him as God taught him about his sinful condition, which merited condemnation until the faith Augustine expressed in the Milanese garden was confirmed in his baptism by which he is incorporated into Christ, given a new juridical position before God, and enabled to combat the effects of sin while no longer facing the condemnation of the law.
Three praiseworthy aspects of this study include the way in which van Egmond shows the importance of divine justice for understanding Augustine's soteriology in this early period; his analysis of the intertwined philosophical influences and polemical concerns, the emerging biblical spirituality and ecclesiastical considerations contributing to the development of Augustine's thought; and the rare concision and lucid prose with which he presents his multifaceted project. The book is well-organised as a chronological study containing clear summaries and efficiently addressing the many literatures, secondary and primary, which bear upon its contents. Nevertheless, I have a few residual questions for van Egmond. First, I wonder whether there is more complexity in Augustine's relationship to the anti-Gnostic tradition. Second, although I commend van Egmond's engagement with the juridical relationship between God and humanity in the face of modern-day suspicions, is the language of ‘penal substitution’ (pp. 156–7) the best way to designate Augustine's soteriology, or are there better ways to describe his penal account without using encumbered terms from within modern systematic theology? Third, I wonder if the project could have been simplified conceptually so that it did not require attending to so many different questions within Augustine's thought. Despite the distinctive polyvalence of this study, however, it makes noteworthy contributions in each area to which it attends while also calling for further focused analysis of each. It is worth concluding by noting that I find most welcome van Egmond's turn to Augustine to seek resources for how to relate God's justice and mercy in a modern world that refuses to believe in what Charles Taylor has called the ‘juridical-penal framework’ (pp. 1–2) of God's relationship to humanity.
