Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
For the Joy Set Before Us : Augustine and Self-Denying Love - Gerald W. Schlabach

For the Joy Set Before Us

Augustine and Self-Denying Love

By: Gerald W. Schlabach

Hardcover | 1 April 2001

At a Glance

Hardcover


$90.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $22.69 with

 or 

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

Age-old debates over self-love and self-denial continue to preoccupy the Christian community. Many see self-love as incompatible with the self-sacrifice of Christ, while feminists and liberation theologians contest the notion that self-sacrifice is the test of authentic Christian love. The resolution to this dilemma, argues Gerald W. Schlabach, lies with St. Augustine.

In this engaging book, Schlabach examines how Augustine reconciled self-love and self-denial in a unified Christian love. He demonstrates the crucial role that continence played in Augustine's teaching, showing it to be more than an attitude toward sexuality; rather it is the operative mode of Augustinian caritas.

Addressing historical theology, contemporary Christian ethics, feminism, and pastoral considerations, Schlabach traces the role that self-denial played in Augustine's teaching. He argues that Augustine's integration of self-love and self-denial suggests that one can distinguish true Christian self-denial from mere victimization, and that the good we seek when we love -- whether directed toward neighbor, enemy, or self -- is not self-serving but rather a participation in a mutual relationship with God and his creation.

Through this critical retrieval of Augustine's thought, Schlabach shows that self-denial is meaningful only when ordered to a higher good, as when Christ endured the suffering of the cross "for the joy set before him". He demonstrates practical applications of how charity working through continence can maintain right self-love and proper self-denial in our daily lives, and proposes that Christian self-sacrifice is a willing acceptance of a good derived from working on behalf ofothers.

Schlabach rediscovers a unity of Christian love and opens up new resources even for skeptical readers who may not consider themselves Augustinians. His work offers provocative reading for all who are concerned with keeping their lives and work rooted in the Christian tradition.

Industry Reviews
Love is a key theme in Augustine, perhaps the key theme. In this consideration of Augustine's treatment of self-denying love Schlabach (religion and history, Bluffton Coll.) counters the traditional interpretation of Anders Nygren, builds on the work of John Burnaby and Oliver O'Donovan, and considers the question of feminism, critiquing his own Mennonite tradition with regard to the self-denial practiced by women. With a critical eye he tries to understand how Augustine reconciled self-love and self-denial. After studying the relevant texts, Schlabach considers what it would mean to reappropriate Augustine's idea of love in a contemporary context and presents seven theses concerning the relationship between self-love and self-denial. This model of the dialog that can take place when an classic author's thought is brought to bear on contemporary issues is recommended for theological collections and larger public libraries.DAugustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ

More in Ancient Western Philosophy

Letters from a Stoic : The Ancient Classic - Seneca

RRP $24.95

$21.75

13%
OFF
Collins Classics - The Republic : Collins Classics - Plato
On the Shortness of Life : The Stoic Classic - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

RRP $24.95

$21.75

13%
OFF
Letters from a Stoic : The Penguin Classics L210 - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

RRP $22.99

$20.75

10%
OFF
The Nicomachean Ethics : Penguin Classics - Aristotle
Meditations : The Philosophy Classic - Marcus Aurelius

RRP $24.95

$21.75

13%
OFF
Meditations : Popular Penguins : Popular Penguins - Marcus Aurelius
The Republic : Penguin Classics - Plato

RRP $17.99

$16.75

Meditations : A New Translation - Marcus Aurelius

RRP $45.00

$41.75

Meditations : Penguin Classics - Marcus Aurelius

RRP $17.99

$14.99

17%
OFF
Right Thing, Right Now : Good Values. Good Character. Good Deeds. - Ryan Holiday
The Nicomachean Ethics : Penguin Classics - Aristotle

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
How To Be A Stoic : Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living - Massimo Pigliucci