Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis outlines Augustine’s thought on justice as articulated in The City of God: against the Pagans. The purpose of the study was to investigate the place and role of his convictions about justice in his apologetic project. To this end, Books 19-22 of The City of God were read within the historical, religious and ideological contexts of Augustine’s day. Aspects deemed relevant to the stated goals of the thesis and which were therefore surveyed, were pagan-Christian relations and Neo-Platonism in the fifth century; the sacking of Rome in AD 410, a perceived injustice which occasioned rampant calumnies against the Christians and questions regarding the justice of God; secular jurisprudence and legal practice, with a focus on the role of bishops in dispensing justice; biblical perspectives on justice. A reading of Books 19-22 of the City of God was then done, in which it was found that justice was viewed by Augustine as subordinate to, but straining toward the Supreme Good, identified as peace. Moreover, it was shown that Augustine’s perspective on justice is inextricably linked with his eschatological convictions. These are that God is set to establish an eternal City, composed of those who, throughout history, have pledged allegiance to Him. That city is characterised by peace and justice, as determined by God. Any peace or manifestation of justice in the present age was shown to flow from humankind’s predisposition toward self-love (egotism). As such, they are presented by Augustine as a poor reflection of the perfect peace and justice that will be established by God. With regard to Augustine’s defence of the Christian faith, it was found that he employs a model of argumentation which takes as its point of departure the worldviews of his opponents, showing up cracks in their thinking. He then presents his own perspective as the better alternative. The juxtaposition of the current age, fraught with injustice and chaos, against the eternal peace and justice to be established by God, were shown to be important selling-points for Augustine. For him, life in the eternal City of God was an irresistible offer, which he sought to hold out to his opponents. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis skets Augustinus se denke oor geregtigheid soos geartikuleer in Die Stad van God: teen die Heidene. Die doel van die studie was om die plek en die rol van sy oortuigings oor geregtigheid in sy apologetiese projek te ondersoek. Met hierdie doel is Boeke 19-22 uit Die Stad van God gelees binne die historiese, godsdienstige en ideologiese kontekste van Augustinus se tyd. Aspekte wat as relevant beskou is tot die vermelde doelwitte van die tesis en wat dus ondersoek is, is verhoudings tussen heidene en Christene asook Neo-Platonisme in die vyfde eeu; die plundering van Rome in 410 n.C., ’n vermeende onreg wat aanleiding gegee het tot onbeteuelde laster teenoor die Christene en vrae oor die geregtigheid van God; sekulêre wetsgeleerdheid en regspraktyk, met die fokus op die rol van biskoppe in die beoefening van regspraak; bybelse perspektiewe op geregtigheid. ’n Vertolking van Boeke 19-22 uit Die Stad van God is daarna gedoen, waarin daar bevind is Augustinus het gemeen dat geregtigheid ondergeskik is aan, maar wel streef na, die Hoogste Goed, wat naamlik as vrede geïdentifiseer word. Verder is daar getoon dat Augustinus se perspektief op geregtigheid onlosmaaklik verbind is aan sy eskatologiese oortuigings. Hierdie oortuigings is dat God ’n Ewige Stad sal vestig wat saamgestel is uit dié wat deur die geskiedenis heen trou aan Hom gesweer het. Daardie stad word deur vrede en geregtigheid gekenmerk, soos dit deur God bepaal is. Daar word gewys daarop dat enige vrede of manifestasie van geregtigheid in daardie tyd bloot voortgevloei het uit die mens se geneigdheid tot selfliefde (egotisme). Dít word deur Augustinus voorgehou as ’n swak weerspieëling van die volmaakte vrede en geregtigheid wat deur God ingestel sal word. Wat betref Augustinus se verdediging van die Christelike geloof, is daar bevind dat hy ’n redeneringsmodel gebruik wat die wêreldbeskouings van sy opponente as uitgangspunt gebruik, en só die foute in hul denke uitwys. Hy bied dan sy eie perspektief as die beste alternatief aan. Die naasmekaarstelling van die huidige era, vol ongeregtigheid en chaos, teenoor die ewige vrede en geregtigheid wat deur God ingestel sal word, is uitgewys as belangrike verkoopspunte vir Augustinus. Vir hom was die lewe in die Ewige Stad van God ’n onweerstaanbare aanbod wat hy aan sy opponente wou voorhou.

Within recent political theory, political liberalism has answered the question of how to deal with pluralism in contemporary society largely in terms of tolerance. Prompted by the same question, agonistic political theory has been in search of a way to move beyond liberal invocations of tolerance to a deeper celebration of difference. This project tells the story of the move within political theory from tolerance to difference, and the concomitant move from epistemology to ontology, through an exposition of the work of liberal theorists John Rawls and Richard Rorty and of agonistic, or post-Nietzschean, political theorists Chantal Mouffe and William Connolly. From a theological perspective, the ontological turn within recent theory can be seen as a welcome development, as can the desire to expand our capacity to engage with difference and to augment our current political imagination given contemporary conditions of pluralism. Yet the sufficiency of the answers and ontology put forward by both political liberalism and post-Nietzschean political thought needs to be seriously questioned. Indeed, the ontological turn in political theory opens the way for a theological turn, for theology is equally concerned with questions of human being and 'what there is' more generally. To make this 'theological turn,' I look to Saint Augustine, and the ontology disclosed though his writings, to see what theological resources he offers for an engagement with difference. Through this discussion we re-discover Augustine's Heavenly City as the place in which unity and diversity, harmony and plurality can come together in ways that are not possible outside of participation in the Triune God. Yet this does not mean that the Heavenly City is to take over the earthly city. By putting Augustine into conversation with more recent theologians such as John Milbank, Karl Barth, and William Cavanaugh, we consider the relationship between the Heavenly City and the earthly city and we offer a picture in which renewed and expanded conceptions of 'public' and 'conversation' open the way for rich engagement between the many different particularities that constitute a pluralist society.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Augustine of Hippo remains one of the most prominent and influential figures in the world of Catholicism, famous for his many writings and sermons on Catholic Christianity as well as his ardent defence of it. His debate with Fortunatus, a member of the Manichaean faith presented Augustine with one of his defining moments as a member of the Catholic clergy. This is because Augustine had only been a presbyter in the Church at Hippo for a few months when this debate took place and therefore had much at stake against his wily opponent. To make matters even more complicated for Augustine, he himself had been a Manichee for at least nine years and knew Fortunatus as a skilled debater. But rhetoric, or the art of persuasion, was a field in which Augustine excelled, having both a natural proclivity for speaking as well as the formal education behind it. Chapter one begins with an introduction to the debate, the primary characters, and the religions involved. Chapter two continues with an exposition of Augustine and his association with Manichaeism and then goes on to describe Augustine‟s anti-Manichaean works. From this point, chapter two continues with a section on Manichaeism, its spread, its myth and its practice. From this contextual basis, chapter three deals with the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis and the three most important characters in the form of Halliday, Fairclough and van Dijk. This chapter is followed by another chapter on theory: Argumentation Theory. Chapter four includes subsections on van Eemeren and his methodologies of Pragma-Dialectics and Strategic Maneuvering. The analysis chapters of this dissertation begin with chapter five which deals with concepts from Critical Discourse Analysis and Argumentation Theory. This chapter includes subsections on categories of enquiry, followed by a section on a number of recurring devices, namely: answering questions, changing the topic and quoting scripture. A Critical Discourse Analysis section follows with subsections that include difference, evaluation and knowledge as a common ground component of contexts. This in turn is followed by sections on Argumentation Theory and Strategic Maneuvering, which include subsections on economy, efficacy and coherence; realism and wellfoundedness; logical reasoning process and pragmatic inferences; reasonableness versus effectiveness; the rhetorical perspective; discussion strategies; dialectical aims versus rhetorical aims and deceptive manoeuvring. The final analysis chapter, the Contra Fortunatum in context, includes subsections on the opening of the debate, the structure of the debate and the topics of discussion. Within this last section subsections on the Nebridian conundrum, the origin of evil, and free will occur. The next subsection dicusses topics not mentioned in the debate: the Manichaean myth, Mani and the previous friendship between Fortunatus and Augustine. Following this there are sections on Manichaeism presenting itself as a form of Christianity, the debaters talking past each other and the issues of audience composition and power relations between the various role players. Chapter seven takes a concluding look at the issue of who should be designated the winner of the debate. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Augustinus van Hippo bly een van die mees prominente en invloedryke figure in die wêreld van die Katolisisme, bekend vir sy vele skrywes en preke oor die Katolieke Christendom sowel as sy ywerige verdediging daarvan. Sy debat met Fortunatus, ʼn lid van die Manichese geloof, het aan Augustinus een van die bepalende oomblikke in sy rol as Katolieke geestelike besorg. Die rede hiervoor is dat Augustinus ten tyde van die debat nog net ʼn paar maande ʼn presbiter in die kerk in Hippo was; daarom was daar baie op die spel in die debat teen hierdie gedugte opponent. Om dinge selfs nog meer ingewikkeld vir Augustinus te maak, was hy self vir ten minste nege jaar 'n Manicheër en was hy bekend met Fortunatus se retoriese vermoëns. Retoriek, of die kuns van oorreding, was egter 'n veld waarin Augustinus uitgeblink het. Hy het beide ʼn natuurlike aanvoeling vir redevoering sowel as ʼn formele opleiding gehad. Hoofstuk een van die proefskrif begin met ʼn inleiding tot die debat, die hoofkarakters en die gelowe wat betrokke is. Hoofstuk twee gaan voort met ʼn uiteensetting van Augustinus en sy assosiasie met die Manichese geloof en beskryf ook Augustinus se anti-Manichese werke. Van hier af gaan hoofstuk twee dan verder met 'n afdeling oor die Manichese geloof, die mitologie en lewenswyse, sowel as die verspreiding van die Manicheïsme. Met hierdie kontekstuele agtergrond as basis handel hoofstuk drie oor die metodologie van Kritiese Diskoersanalise en die drie belangrikste eksponente van hierdie teoretiese rigting, Halliday, Fairclough en Van Dijk. Hierdie hoofstuk word gevolg deur nog ʼn teoretiese hoofstuk wat handel oor Argumentasieteorie. Hoofstuk vier sluit onderafdelings in oor Van Eemeren en sy metodologieë van Pragma-Dialektiek en Strategiese Maneuvers. Die ontledingshoofstukke van hierdie proefskrif begin by hoofstuk vyf wat handel oor Kritiese Diskoersanalise en Argumentasieteorie. Hierdie hoofstuk sluit onderafdelings in oor kategorieë van ondersoek, opgevolg deur ʼn gedeelte oor 'n aantal herhalende tegnieke: die beantwoording van vrae, die verandering van die onderwerp en skrifaanhalings. ʼn Volgende afdeling oor Kritiese Diskoersanalise volg daarop met onderafdelings wat verskil, evaluasie en kennis as ʼn gemeenskaplike komponent op die terrein van konteks insluit. Hierop volg 'n afdeling oor Strategiese Maneuvers. Laasgenoemde sluit onderafdelings in oor ekonomie, doeltreffendheid en koherensie; realisme en gegrondheid; logiese denkprosesse en pragmatiese gevolgtrekkings; redelikheid versus effektiwiteit; die retoriese perspektief; besprekingstrategieë; dialektiese doelwitte versus retoriese doelwitte en maneuvers van misleiding. Die finale ontledingshoofstuk, getiteld die Contra Fortunatum in konteks, sluit onderafdelings in oor die openingsreëls van die debat, die struktuur van die debat en tematiek daarvan. In die laaste afdelings word die kwessies van die Nebridiese vraagstuk, die oorsprong van boosheid en die vrye wil ingesluit. Die volgende onderafdeling bevat onderwerpe wat nie in die debat behandel word nie: die Manichese mite, Mani en die vroeëre vriendskap tussen Fortunatus en Augustinus. Daarop volg die afdelings oor die Manichese strategie om hierdie godsdiens as Christelike godsdiens voor te stel, die deelnemers se taktiek om verby mekaar te praat asook oor die samestelling van die gehoor en kwessie van die magsverhoudinge tussen die onderskeie rolspelers. Die laaste hoofstuk sluit samevattend af met 'n kort bespreking van die kwessie van wie as die wenner van die debat beskou moet word.