The Process of Appropriation
chapter 5 The Process of Appropriation To comprehend the total picture of Augustine’s appropriation of Cyprian, it is necessary to uncover and examine the place(s) where Augustine first showed signs of using Cyprian exclusively as an authority to support his own views. This step was taken in Chapter 3, where I examined Augustine’s earliest ex- amples of appropriation: De doct. Chr., C. Faust., Conf., and especially S. 37, s. 305A, s. 313A, s. 313B, s. 313C, and s. 313E. Then, in Chapter 4, I presented a close analysis of Augustine’s first two major anti-Donatist works, C. ep. Parm. and De bapt. Yet that important analysis only told the beginning of a story that would last till Augustine’s death and beyond, as North African Christianity retained its Donatist-flavour well into the Islamic period. Evidence of Augustine’s most vigorous Cyprian-appropriation came only later, between 404 and 430. In this sense, we can say that what formally began in C. ep. Parm. and De bapt. really only drew to a close with Augustine’s C. Iul. imp., that is, with his death in 430. Tracing Augustine’s long-term reinterpretation of Cyprian is really the point where the two most career-altering dramas in Augustine’s life overlap, there- fore actually making them into a somewhat parallel set of controversies. So far each chapter has had as its main concern tracking the method by which Augustine entered into his anti-Donatist campaign, the influences that drove him, his own pastoral and theological responses, and the complexities that resulted.
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