The ethical implications of Christian life in Saint Augustine of hippo's De sermone Domini in monte

Abstract

Although Augustinian ethics in general have received wide attention, those of De sermone Domini in montel have not. From the study of the comprehensive bibliography of De sermone prepared by the Augustinus-Institut of Wiirzburg in Germany, one can easily note that most of the entries are in the form of articles in reviews, and very few monographs have been produced on the work. Even so, the greater part of these studies discuss rather particular aspects of the commentary, the manuscript tradition or particular aspects of Augustine's ethics as applied in this treatise of 394. The majority of the entries in this bibliographical list on De sermone domini in monte, are commentaries on Augustine's commentary to the Our Father or the Beatitudes with particular emphasis on his theory of the sevenfold spiritual and ascetic ascent of the soul in Christian life. The ethics of St.Augustine's commentary on the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, have not yet been tackled in an exhaustive manner. The reasons for such lack of attention to this early work of Augustine could be various. The major being, in my opinion, the fact that it has always been considered as an early exegetical work rather than one belonging to Augustinian ethics.