Augustine, De Trinitate

Scott Dunham (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton)

Ed. by Jula Wildberger, American University of Paris, William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 400

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Religion and Spirituality (any)
- Religious writing
Treatise

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Recommended Reading

Augustine’s

De Trinitate

is one of his most important works and ranks alongside

The Confessions

and

The City of God

in terms of breadth and depth. Like many of his major works, it had an influence on medieval thought, even if it was not always understood. It contributed to language about the Trinity by placing an emphasis on the idea of relationship when discussing the distinctness of the three persons of the godhead. At the same time, Augustine’s search for an understanding of the Trinity by looking at analogies in human beings, understood to be the image of God according to Jewish and Christian scriptures, was an imaginative exploration of philosophical anthropology.

Augustine began writing De Trinitate around 399 and did not complete it until 420 or later. Drafts of the early books

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1577 words

Citation: Dunham, Scott. "De Trinitate". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 January 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16018, accessed 19 April 2024.]

View recommended reading for this article

Save this article