Theological Anthropology

by J. Patout Burns

"Treated thematically under the headings 'The Gnostic Movement,' 'Christian Platonism,' and 'Fourth Century Developments,' it is possible to see how different ideas of humanity could lead to varieties of theological interpretation."
--Donald Skyes

Genres: Theology, Church History, History, Anthropology, Philosophy, Religion, Textbooks

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 1981

Reviews

[Scott Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

The work is commendable but overly saturated with Augustine’s perspectives, leading to a loss of engagement midway. Its significant contribution lies in acquainting readers with Gnosticism, Asceticism, Christian Platonism, and Augustinian thought. Particularly benefitted by diving into primary sources like Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Pelagius.

[Taylor Swift Scholar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange book. Supposedly a collection of writings about what it means to be human (what is free will? grace? the fall? etc.,) a HUGE chunk of this book is just Augustine. It was interesting to see how the Church's doctrine of grace developed over time, though.

[G Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably the weakest volume in the series... too Western, too Augustinian, and not very catholic or ecumenical... doesn't take into account the much richer and more comprehensive anthropology that was in place by the time Augustine was even on the scene... Ehhh... Don't waste your time.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent collection of ancient writing about the effects of sin on humankind. A bit biased toward Augustine.

[Micah999 · Rating 3 out of 5]

From this book I read Irenaeus: “Against Heresies”, Pelagius: “Letter to Demetrias”, and Augustine: “On the Grace of Christ” and “On Rebuke and Grace”. I'm honestly not too sure about the formatting of this because I didn't have the physical copy cuz something happened with the bookstore so Prof. Upton sent us the excerpts that we needed to read in an email. So I dunno but a good to think about what theology/philosophy was going around at that time.

[Welton Bonner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful reader.

It sets out the development of the doctrine well and gives primary source materials from Pelagius, Augustine, and others. Reading Pelagius firsthand makes you see his charisma and also his deception.

[Luke Daghir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are my thoughts:

1. I recommend reading the first few chapters of the Church Fathers. There writing is clear and easy to understand.

2. The section with Pelagius and Augustine is helpful but I found it to be dense and an uphill read for me.

[Brit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is largely a reproduction and translation of Augustine with a small nod to the surrounding context of his writings. While it's an insightful work, it doesn't effectively reproduce the richness of the conversation by sufficiently providing varying viewpoints.

[Wendyle Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to theological anthropology

[Zach Hollifield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Augustine’s treatises here have proved to be some of the most formative in my theological thinking.

[January]

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