Premium
Augustine as Improvisational Theologian: The Musical Nature of Augustine's Thought
Author(s) -
Crawford Nathan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
new blackfriars
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-2005
pISSN - 0028-4289
DOI - 10.1111/nbfr.12003
Subject(s) - attunement , improvisation , musical , meaning (existential) , philosophy , reading (process) , order (exchange) , aesthetics , theology , epistemology , literature , art , visual arts , linguistics , finance , economics , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
In this article, I explore the nature of Augustine's theological thinking. My thesis is that Augustine is an “improvisational theologian,” meaning his theology begins from the place that an improvisational musician's thinkingdoes: attunement. In order to prove this thesis, I have three sections. The first is an analysis of the type of thinking that takes place in improvisational music, showing how it is predicated upon an idea of attunement. Second, I explore the improvisational nature of Augustine's thought by seeing how attunement is also at work in his thinking. In order to do this, I show how he develops a musical worldview in De Musica and how this guides his subsequent thinking in De Doctrina Christiana and Confessions . I conclude by briefly pointing to different contemporary theological issues that this reading of Augustine can enrich.