During Augustine’s early years in ministry, he promoted the idea of using the pen rather than the sword when it comes to converting those who were not Christians. However, during the Donatist Controversy. Augustine advocated the use of violence to convince the Donatists to return to the Catholic fold. This dissertation argues that disgust played a crucial role in Augustine’s change of heart. Emotions play a huge part in an individual’s decision-making process. Studies on disgust discuss its role in interpersonal conflict and in religious violence. The dehumanizing language present in Augustine's letters when he describes the Donatists helps create an atmosphere where disgust's strong presence can be felt. The question of purity became an important question since both groups argued that they were the “true, pure Church.” Both groups traced their spiritual lineage to Cyprian as proof that they belonged to the true African Church. By examining Augustine's Letters, one can see the shift in tone and characterization of the Donatists by Augustine. Over the years, the disgust felt by Augustine led to a shift in his attitude, leading him to sanction the use of violence against the Donatists. Initially, the role of disgust was to prevent humans from coming into contact with harmful pathogens. As a result, humans developed a strong revulsion against harmful substances in order to protect themselves from harm. While disgust has this physical component, it also has a sociomoral component where it manifests itself against disgusting stimulus. Within this schema, anything that it deems as a moral transgression, especially as it involves question of purity, is considered as a stimulus to be avoided and rejected strongly and vehemently. While it poses no problem for a human to avoid what it deems as a disgusting stimulus such as a cockroach, it does pose a problem when another human being is seen and labelled as a cockroach. Disgust has the power to “other” human beings and creates a very strong us-vs-them mentality. Once this us-vs-them mentality is enforced, it is only natural to label another group as a "cockroach” and kill them as such. In examining Augustine's relationship with the Donatists, it is important to acknowledge disgust’s role in this particular theological and historical event. This dissertation will conclude with a contemporary application of disgust in modern theological controversies, especially as it relates to homosexuality and the role of women in leadership. Disgust’s ability to elicit such a strong and violent response in humans is a reminder of the strength of emotions to govern our actions. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

During Augustine’s early years in ministry, he promoted the idea of using the pen rather than the sword when it comes to converting those who were not Christians. However, during the Donatist Controversy, Augustine advocated the use of violence to convince the Donatists to return to the Catholic fold. This dissertation argues that disgust played a crucial role in Augustine’s change of heart. Emotions play a huge part in an individual’s decision-making process. Studies on disgust discuss its role in interpersonal conflict and in religious violence. The dehumanizing language present in Augustine’s letters when he describes the Donatists helps create an atmosphere where disgust’s strong presence can be felt. The question of purity became an important question since both groups argued that they were the “true, pure Church.” Both groups traced their spiritual lineage to Cyprian as proof that they belonged to the true African Church. By examining Augustine’s Letters, one can see the shift in tone and characterization of the Donatists by Augustine. Over the years, the disgust felt by Augustine led to a shift in his attitude, leading him to sanction the use of violence against the Donatists. Initially, the role of disgust was to prevent humans from coming into contact with harmful pathogens. As a result, humans developed a strong revulsion against harmful substances in order to protect themselves from harm. While disgust has this physical component, it also has a sociomoral component where it manifests itself against disgusting stimulus. Within this schema, anything that it deems as a moral transgression, especially as it involves question of purity, is considered as a stimulus to be avoided and rejected strongly and vehemently. While it poses no problem for a human to avoid what it deems as a disgusting stimulus such as a cockroach, it does pose a problem when another human being is seen and labelled as a cockroach. Disgust has the power to “other” human beings and creates a very strong us-vs-them mentality. Once this us-vs-them mentality is enforced, it is only natural to label another group as a “cockroach” and kill them as such. In examining Augustine’s relationship with the Donatists, it is important to acknowledge disgust’s role in this particular theological and historical event. This dissertation will conclude with a contemporary application of disgust in modern theological controversies, especially as it relates to homosexuality and the role of women in leadership. Disgust’s ability to elicit such a strong and violent response in humans is a reminder of the strength of emotions to govern our actions. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

O donatismo, uma dissidência religiosa cristã, ocupou um lugar de destaque na cristandade africana entre os séculos IV e V, dividindo-a e polarizando-a em duas vertentes, sendo o foco da atenção de importantes pensadores do período, como Agostinho de Hipona e Optato de Milevo. Sua singularidade advém de se tratar, em sua gênese, de uma querela quanto à conduta moral do clero. Em uma época de dissidências doutrinárias principalmente trinitárias, o donatismo foi considerado como um desdobramento das perseguições perpetradas por Diocleciano; estas teriam deixado vestígios indeléveis, sementes para novos desentendimentos geradores de cismas e divisões. O presente estudo busca explorar as noções básicas de retórica, ou retórica cristã (conforme esta era entendida por Agostinho), e a delimitação do ethos constituído para a vertente donatista pelo bispo de Hipona, seu adversário. A partir da premissa de que o que estava realmente em jogo na querela era a definição de qual das vertentes era verdadeiramente a portadora do legado de Cristo, a presente pesquisa procura abordar duas questões fundamentais na gênese da mesma: a concepção de via salvífica e o batismo. Almeja-se, portanto, investigar o ethos retórico imputado aos donatistas por Agostinho por meio de uma consideração da representação e das justificativas da dissidência presentes nos tratados anti-donatistas desse tão célebre autor. / Donatism was a particularly significant Christian dissidence within African Christianity between the 4th and 5th centuries AD, one that split Christians into two highly polarized factions and became an object of study for important thinkers of the period, such as Augustine of Hippo and Optatus of Milevis. Its uniqueness comes from the fact that it originally consisted of a quarrel concerning the moral conduct of members of the clergy. At a time of doctrinarian disagreements that were mostly of a Trinitarian nature, Donatism was regarded as having unfolded from the religious persecutions perpetrated by Diocletian; the latter were seen as having left an indelible mark upon Christianity, and as having sowed the seeds for future discord and schisms. It is the intention of the present study to investigate the basic notions of rhetoric, particularly as applied to Christian values, present in the thought of Augustine, as well as the characteristics of the ethos said author gradually built for his adversaries, the Donatists. Starting from the premise that what was really at stake in the controversy was determining which of the two factions was the true bearer of the legacy of Christ, the investigation seeks to approach two issues at the heart of the quarrel: namely, the notion of a true path to salvation and the sacrament of baptism. Its aim is, therefore, to analyze the rhetorical ethos Augustine characterized the Donatists with by means of a consideration of the way this particular dissidence was portrayed in the anti-Donatist treatises produced by the celebrated bishop of Hippo.

O donatismo, uma dissidência religiosa cristã, ocupou um lugar de destaque na cristandade africana entre os séculos IV e V, dividindo-a e polarizando-a em duas vertentes, sendo o foco da atenção de importantes pensadores do período, como Agostinho de Hipona e Optato de Milevo. Sua singularidade advém de se tratar, em sua gênese, de uma querela quanto à conduta moral do clero. Em uma época de dissidências doutrinárias principalmente trinitárias, o donatismo foi considerado como um desdobramento das perseguições perpetradas por Diocleciano; estas teriam deixado vestígios indeléveis, sementes para novos desentendimentos geradores de cismas e divisões. O presente estudo busca explorar as noções básicas de retórica, ou retórica cristã (conforme esta era entendida por Agostinho), e a delimitação do ethos constituído para a vertente donatista pelo bispo de Hipona, seu adversário. A partir da premissa de que o que estava realmente em jogo na querela era a definição de qual das vertentes era verdadeiramente a portadora do legado de Cristo, a presente pesquisa procura abordar duas questões fundamentais na gênese da mesma: a concepção de via salvífica e o batismo. Almeja-se, portanto, investigar o ethos retórico imputado aos donatistas por Agostinho por meio de uma consideração da representação e das justificativas da dissidência presentes nos tratados anti-donatistas desse tão célebre autor. / Donatism was a particularly significant Christian dissidence within African Christianity between the 4th and 5th centuries AD, one that split Christians into two highly polarized factions and became an object of study for important thinkers of the period, such as Augustine of Hippo and Optatus of Milevis. Its uniqueness comes from the fact that it originally consisted of a quarrel concerning the moral conduct of members of the clergy. At a time of doctrinarian disagreements that were mostly of a Trinitarian nature, Donatism was regarded as having unfolded from the religious persecutions perpetrated by Diocletian; the latter were seen as having left an indelible mark upon Christianity, and as having sowed the seeds for future discord and schisms. It is the intention of the present study to investigate the basic notions of rhetoric, particularly as applied to Christian values, present in the thought of Augustine, as well as the characteristics of the ethos said author gradually built for his adversaries, the Donatists. Starting from the premise that what was really at stake in the controversy was determining which of the two factions was the true bearer of the legacy of Christ, the investigation seeks to approach two issues at the heart of the quarrel: namely, the notion of a true path to salvation and the sacrament of baptism. Its aim is, therefore, to analyze the rhetorical ethos Augustine characterized the Donatists with by means of a consideration of the way this particular dissidence was portrayed in the anti-Donatist treatises produced by the celebrated bishop of Hippo.

Nos séculos IV e V ocorreram contínuos esforços por uma unificação e homogenização do credo cristão, algo que provocou o embate e o confronto entre as diversas vertentes, cada qual arrogava para si o título de verdadeiros cristãos e imputando aos seus adversários a alcunha de falsos cristãos. O ethos retórico cristão é constituído a partir da premissa de que haveria uma única Verdade, assim sendo, na medida em que ser cristão é, por definição, empreender a imitatio Christi, tentava-se determinar aquele que advoga por Cristo do dito herege. Em meio a estas intensas disputas retóricas, Agostinho de Hipona foi um dos autores de maior destaque, participando dos principais debates de sua época. O donatismo, o arianismo e o pelagianismo foram três dos seus principais adversários. Cada qual representando um diferente desafio, Agostinho necessitava responder e enfrentar estas vertentes na defesa do que ele acreditava ser a verdadeira via salvífica cristã. O donatismo foi considerado como um desdobramento das perseguições perpetradas por Diocleciano; estas teriam causado um cisma político e doutrinário, cindindo a Igreja cristã na África romana. O arianismo, uma dissidência trinitária e protagonista inconteste do século IV, defendia uma hierarquia dentro da Trindade e contestava sua própria definição. O pelagianismo, uma frequente preocupação de Agostinho nos seus últimos 20 anos, negava o conceito do pecado original e questionava papel da Graça divina na salvação. A partir da premissa de que o que estava realmente em jogo era a definição de qual das vertentes era verdadeiramente a portadora do legado de Cristo, a presente pesquisa procura comparar o processo de construção do ethos retórico destas três vertentes. Almeja-se, portanto, investigar o ethos retórico imputado por Agostinho aos seus adversários, cotejando os tratados polêmicos feitos pelo bispo de Hipona contra donatista, arianos e pelagianos. / There were continuous efforts in the 4th and 5th centuries aiming to unify and homogeneity of the Christian faith, causing clashes between different doctrines each one claiming to be the true Christians and calling the adversaries as false Christians. The Christian rhetorical ethos is constituted by the fundament that there is only one Truth: to be Christian is, by definition, undertaking the imitatio Christi. Then it would be possible to distinguish the one who preached for Christ and the one so -called heretical. Among those intense rhetorical disputes, Augustine of Hippo was one the most prominent authors, contributing to the greatest discussions from his time. Donatism, Arianism, and Pelagianism were his main enemies. Each one of them representing a different challenge, Augustine needed to answer and defy those three branches in defence of his own belief as the Christian redemption. The Donatism was seen as a development from the persecutions made by Emperor Diocletian, causing a political and doctrinal breaking causing the Christian Roman African Church division. The Arianism, a Trinitarian schism and without any doubt protagonist of the 4th century doctrinal debate, defending a hierarchy among the people of the Trinity, challenging its own concept. Pelagianism, a recurrent Augustines preoccupation in his last twenty years of life, denied the idea of original sin and defied the role of divine grace in the redemption. Based on the starting point the was actually in dispute was which one of these three branches were the true bearer of Christ legacy, this research aims to compare the construction process of the rhetoric ethos from those tree branches. In order to do that, this thesis investigates the rhetoric ethos ascribed for Augustine of Hippo to his adversaries, focusing on the polemic tracts made by Augustine of Hippo against the Donatists, Arians, and, Pelagians.

Nous voyons apparaître, ces dernières années, ce que l'on nomme « les nouvelles spiritualités » : phénomène de société pour les uns ; danger alarmant pour les autres. Toutefois il n'est pas aisé de se faire un avis objectif sur la question, dans la mesure où chacun pense détenir une part de vérité qu’il s’obstine à défendre contre celle de l'autre. Il faudrait pourtant s’éléver au-dessus de toutes ces passions, dépasser le simple cadre de ces confrontations pour voir jaillir une vérité plus universelle.Ce sujet de recherche est une histoire ; une histoire qui commence avec « le baptême dans la Correspondance de Cyprien de Carthage » et qui s’est poursuivi avec « la querelle sur le baptême et les divisions de l’Église chrétienne africaine de Cyprien de Carthage à Augustin ». Il s’agit d’une histoire ascentionelle qui prend source dans la question du rebaptême si cher à Cyprien à la suite des lapsi, qui enchaîne avec la remise en cause de l’idée du rebaptême, pour déboucher sur la préoccupation de la paix dans l’unité avec Augustin. C’est la question centrale du «combat contre l’hérésie chez Augustin [dans] la campagne anti-manichéenne et anti-donatiste».Dans le cadre de ces recherches, j’ai surtout voulu aborder, par l’étude des documents essentiels des oeuvres d’Augustin d’Hippone [plus précisément l’ample « dossier » anti-manichéen et encore le plus ample « dossier » anti-donatiste], la façon dont l’histoire des communautés chrétiennes, à une certaine époque de l’antiquité, a été impactée dans son évolution sociale et idéologique par la pluralité des pensées qui se sont développées en son sein.Le choix du sujet imposait une nouvelle approche à l’étude et exploitation des sources afin de mieux appréhender les stratégies de combat développées par Augustin dans son offensive contre l’hérésie en Afrique et à l’époque théodosienne. Ainsi, dans ce travail de recherche j’ai eu à coeur de souligner l'information originale qui découle des oeuvres anti-manichéennes et anti-donatistes d'Augustin, en particulier sur les effets de la fonction préventive des pénalités, la terreur des lois et l’action des évêques pour découvrir les hérétiques. J’ai en outre eu à coeur de souligner que, dans le cas des manichéens, Augustin a toujours agi avec la rigueur et la méfiance d’une personne convertie, bien qu'il n’ait pas pu éviter l'empreinte du manichéisme dans certains de ses concepts. Quant au donatisme, j’ai mené mes investigations dans le cadre conceptuel du conflit religieux et des tensions ecclésiologiques.Ce travail est d’une certaine originalité. Une originalité davantage développer et perceptible dans la troisième partie grâce notamment à l'étude comparative de l'intervention d'Augustin avec les deux formes de dissidence. / We see appear, these last years, what we is called « the new spiritualities » : social phenomenon for some; danger alarming for the others. However it is not easy to make an objective opinion on the question, as far as each think hold a part of the truth which persists in defending against that of the other one. It would be necessary nevertheless to go over all these passions, to exceed the simple framework of these confrontations to see springing the truth more universal.This research topic is a history ; a story which begins with « the baptism in the Correspondence of Cyprian of Carthage » and that continued with « the quarrel on the baptism and the divisions of the african christian church from Cyprian of Carthage to Augustine ». It is about a climb story which takes its source in the question of the second baptism so expensive to Cyprian following lapsi, which continues with the questioning of the idea of the second baptisme, to lead to the concern about the peace in the unity with Augustine. It is the central question of « Augustine’s fight against the heresy [in] the anti-manichean campaign and anti-donatist ».In the framework of these researches, I especially wanted to approach, by the study of the essential documents of the works of Augustin of Hippo [more exactly the ample anti-manichean « file » and still the most ample « file » anti-donatiste], the way the history of the christian communities, in a certain period of the antiquity, was impacted in its social and ideological evolution by the plurality of the thoughts which developed within it.The choice of the subject required a new approach on the study and the exploitation of sources in order to better apprehend the strategies of fight developed by Augustine in its offensive against the heresy in Africa and in the period theodosian. So, in this research work I was eager to underline the original information which ensues from anti-manichean works and anti-donatist of Augustine, in particular on the effects of the preventive function of the penalties, the terror of the laws and the action of the bishops to discover the heretics. I was besides eager to underline that, in the case of the manicheans, Augustine always acted with the rigor and the distrust of a converted person, although he was not able to avoid the imprint of the manichaeism in some of his concepts. As for the donatism, I led my investigations in the conceptual framework of the religious conflict and the ecclesiological tensions.This work is of a certain originality. An originality futrther develop and perceptible in the third part in particular to the comparative study of the intervention of Augustine with both forms of dissident.

Il s’agit d’une thèse en cotutelle élaborée dans la cadre d’une coopération francotunisienne, entre l’Université de Tunis et de Lyon 2, sous la conjointe direction de Dr. Samir Aounallah et de Dr. Paul Mattei. Le travail, commencé en mois d’avril 2010, se rapporte sur l’action de l’Église d’Afrique dans la cité de l’édit de tolérance constantinien jusqu’à l’invasion vandale. Le manque d’un travail approfondi et spécifié en ce qui concerne ce thème compte parmi les raisons qui nous ont poussé à entamer cette recherche. Au niveau thématique, nous avons essayé de déterminer en quoi la définition du terme abstrait auctoritas et du son nom d’agent auctor qui (celui qui donne la garantie et le concours à ses dépendants) peut exprimer l’action de l’évêque préoccupé de l’intérêt de ses fidèles. En ce qui concerne les différentes manifestions de l’autorité judiciaire civile de l’Église,nous avons essayé d’examiner attentivement les différences de sens entre audientia episcopalis et iudicium ecclesiasticum. L’audientia episcopalis se charge des litiges civils entre laïcs ; le iudicium ecclesiasticum s’occupe des litiges privés et des crimes publics mais relevant du for clérical, impliquant des clercs. De plus, la composition de l’audientia episcopalis, telle que nous l’avons précisé, est originale : elle se réduisait à un seul juge, l’évêque. Dans le domaine social, l’autorité de l’Église se manifeste essentiellement dans l’assistance aux pauvres. Pour mieux comprendre l’action de l’Église, nous avons d’abord essayé de définir la pauvreté en Afrique, en prenant en considération le paramètre économique. Sur le plan linguistique, nous avons pu remarquer l’emploi capital et générique de l’adjectif pauper et de ses divers dérivés dans la signification de la pauvreté à l’époque tardive en Afrique. En outre, l’enquête sur les termes signifiant la pauvreté économique dans les textes de saint Augustin nous a permis de dresser la liste suivante : debilis ; egens ; esuriens ; indigens ; inferior ; infirmus ; inops ; mediocris ; mendicus ; miser ; pauper ; plebs ; tenuis. Pareillement, l’emploi massif de pauper durant toute la période qui nous intéresse tendrait à prouver l’empreinte chrétienne sur le droit romain. En effet, nous dénombrons 20 occurrences du mot pauper dans le Code théodosien, dont 10 en rapport avec l’Église. Cependant, il est permis de dire que les textes tardifs se sont inspirés de ceux du Haut-Empire où le mot pauper apparaît, à 17 reprises. L’examen de l’œuvre de saint Augustin a permis de faire le portrait du pauvre en tenant compte d’un certain nombre de conditions différentes : condition matérielle (le pauvre est celuiqui a faim, qui est sans logis, qui vit dans la nudité et dont les vêtements sont très rudimentaires) et incapacité physique. Il faudrait aussi se fonder sur le paramètre juridique quand on est appelé à parler des esclaves, des colons et des étrangers. Dans la même optique, de nombreux traits ont contribué, à leur tour, au portrait exact du pauvre. La pauvreté peut concerner les détenus des prisons publiques, les captifs, les prostituées, les veuves, les orphelins, les mineurs et les victimes de l’usure. De plus, nous avons établi une échelle de la pauvreté : 1. l’entière pauvreté. 2. la pauvreté due aux contraintes de l’oppression et des crises accidentelles dans les zones urbaines aussi bien que dans les zones rurales. 3. la pauvreté relative : celle qui concerne les personnes qui disposent de ressources à peine suffisantes ou modestes (mediocres) pour vivre. Les textes africains montrent que, en Afrique, les pauvres opprimés étaient issus de milieux aussi bien urbains que ruraux, alors que les sources italiennes montrent que, en Italie, les pauvres opprimés viennent surtout des zones rurales.De surcroît, toujours en Afrique, des faits cités en rapport avec la prise en charge des pauvres, on déduit que les nécessiteux qui recourent àl’assistance de l’Église se concentrent dans les villes.... / This thesis was elaborated in the framework of a Franco-Tunisian cooperation between the University of Tunis and Lyon 2, under the joint direction of Dr. Samir AOUNALLAH and Dr. Paul MATTEI. The work which begun in April 2010 refers to the action of the Church in Africa in the city from the tolerance edict of Constantine until the Vandal invasion. The lack of a detailed and specified work regarding this subject is among the reasons that led us to begin this research. Thematically speaking, we have tried to determine how the definition of the term auctoritas and his agent name auctor (who gives the guarantee and support to its dependent) may express the bishop's action preoccupied by the interests of his faithfuls. As regards to the different manifestations of the civil judicial authority of the Church, we have tried to examine the differences in meaning between audientia episcopalis and iudicium ecclesiasticum. The audientia episcopalis takes care of the civil disputes between laity ; the iudicium ecclesiasticum was occupied by the private disputes and public crimes but evolving from the clerics. Moreover, the composition of the audientia episcopalis, as we mentioned, is original : it was reduced to a single judge : the bishop. In the social sphere, the Church's authority occurs mainly in helping poor. To better understand the action of the Church, we first tried to define poverty in Africa, taking into consideration the economic setting. Linguistically, we have noticed the capital employment and generic adjective pauper and its various derivatives in the meaning of poverty in the late period in Africa. Furthermore, the investigation of the terms mean economic poverty in St. Augustine texts enabled us to draw up the following list : debilis ; egens ; esuriens ; indigent ; inferior ; infirmus ; inops ; mediocris ; mendicus ; miser ; pauper ; plebs ; tenuis. Similarly, the massive use of pauper throughout the relevant period would tend to prove the Christian imprint on Roman law. Indeed, we count 20 occurrences of the word pauper in the Theodosian Code, 10 of which related to the Church. However, it is allowed to say that the later legal texts were inspired by those of the High Empire where the word pauper appears 17 times. The review of the work of St. Augustine has enabled us to portray the poor taking into account a number of different conditions : physical condition (the poor is one who is hungry, who is homeless, living in the nudity and whose clothes are very rudimentary) and physical disability. We should also be based on the legal parameter when we speak of slaves, colonos and foreigners. In the same meaninig, many features have contributed to explain the exact portrait of the poor. Poverty can concern prisoners, prostitutes, widows, orphans, minors and victims of usury. In addition, we have established a scale of poverty : 1. the entire poverty. 2. poverty due to constraints of oppression and accidental crises in urban areas as well as in rural areas. 3. relative poverty : it concerns people who have modest resources (mediocres) to live. African texts show, that in Africa, the poor were oppressed in both urban and rural areas,while Italian sources show the oppressed poor come mostly from rural areas in Italy. Moreover, always in Africa, we deduce that the needy who use the Church's assistance are concentrated in cities, while documents are mute, apparently, on the Church's assistance in rural areas. Therefore, we found a lack of charitable institutions of the Church in the rural areas where its action is concentrated mainly on the fight against injustice. We have also showed that the Church in Africa has established an assistance system based on a triple base : biblical, imperial and canon law. Then, we have found the constitution of the necessary bases from assistance to action, i.e. to enrich the church’s assets, establishment of the charitable institutions, admonition to help those in need....

Héritier de la culture classique antique et ancien professeur de rhétorique, Augustin d'Hippone (354-430) est l'auteur d'une oeuvre vaste et variée où il s'illustre comme un théologien, philosophe, pasteur à la pensée originale et puissante. Il n'est pas connu cependant comme historien et n'est pas l'auteur d'ouvrages spécifiquement historiques. Pourtant, comme évêque africain et autorité intellectuelle reconnue de ses contemporains, il a été amené à s'engager dans des controverses pour lesquelles il a utilisé une argumentation historique construite avec rigueur.Les méthodes avec lesquelles Augustin rassemble et critique ses sources et interprète l'histoire sont étudiées à partir de la Cité de Dieu et des traités anti-donatistes. Elles sont analysées en fonction du contexte culturel antique, à l'aide des réflexions historiographiques contemporaines. De quelle façon Augustin répond-il aux exigences d'un travail historique lorsqu'il aborde l'histoire de Rome et de l'Église ?Les recherches ont été menées en trois étapes pour envisager tout d'abord Augustin comme historien de Rome et particulièrement de la République romaine, puis comme historien du rôle de la religion (païenne et chrétienne) à Rome, et enfin comme historien du schisme donatiste en Afrique. Ces axes d'études permettent d'approfondir l'analyse des méthodes d'Augustin et de mettre en valeur une progression, d'un travail accompli à partir de sources secondaires sur une époque éloignée, à un travail mené partir d'une documentation qu'il réunit lui-même sur l'histoire de l'Église de son temps. / Steeped in ancient classical culture and a former professor of rhetoric, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is considered as a distinguished theologian, philosopher, and pastor, with original andpowerful thoughts. He is not known as a historian, and is not the author of historical works.However, as a bishop and an intellectual authority recognized by his contemporaries, he wasconducted to conduct controversies during which he used a rigorously built historicalargumentation.The way Augustine collects and criticizes his sources, and interprets history, are studied based onCity of God and anti-Donatist writings. These are analyzed taking account to ancient culturalcontext, and using contemporary historiographical approach. Does Augustin reach the historicalwork standard when he addresses the history of Rome and the Church ?The research was conducted in three stages ; first considering Augustine as an historian of Romeand especially of the Roman Republic, then as an historian of the role of pagan and Christianreligion in Rome, and finally as an historian of the Donatist schism in Africa. These steps revealthe progression of Augustine methods, from a work based on secondary sources dealing with anancient period, to a work conducted from documents that he personnally gathers on thecontemporary history of the Church.

Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante– Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos. / Thesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante– Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos. / Thesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.