oa Augustinus en het manicheïsme

*Dit artikel – in zekere zin een vervolg op het artikel gepubliceerd in NTT 47(1993), 21-36 – geeft de bewerkte tekst van een voordracht gehouden te Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität, Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar; 30.6.1992) en Bochum (Ruhr-Universität, Bochumer Altertumswissenschaftliches Colloquium; 2.11.1992). Ik dank ook hier Prof. Dr. H.J. Klimkeit (Bonn) en Prof. Dr. W. Geerlings resp. Prof. Dr. G. Binder (Bochum) voor hun uitnodiging.

The aim of this article is to show that the life and work of the most influential Father of the Western Church were inextricably interwoven with Manichaeism. Two main points are discussed: 1. To what extant was Augustine, first as a Manichaean and later as a Catholic bishop, acquainted with Manichaeism and in what form did this ‘Religion of Light’ manifest itself to him?; 2. What can be said about the significance of this Manichaeism for Augustine’s theology, his philosophy, in short: for his whole thinking and being? The author concludes inter alia that without a thorough knowledge of Manichaeism Augustine’s theology and essential elements of Western theology as such can not be truly comprehended.