Table of contents:
page 7 Acknowledgments
11 1. Introduction
19 2. Non scripta sed tradita: the commemoration of the dead in the ancient world before Augustine
22 2.1. Death and burial in the Old Testament and ancient Judaism
27 2.2. Graeco-Roman pietas and care for the dead
35 2.3. The rise of the distinctively Christian cult of the dead
38 2.3.1. Prayer for the departed
46 2.3.2. Commemoration of the departed in the eucharist
50 2.3.3. Almsgiving as relief to the departed
51 2.3.4. The tomb as a rest chamber
52 2.3.5. Feast days for the dead
53 2.4. Confrontation between two different religious systems
57 2.5. Summary and conclusions
61 3. Pietas pro mortuis: Augustine's pastoral teaching on the cult of the dead
62 3.1. The problem of convivia
62 3.1.1. An old African custom
64 3.1.2. Augustine's reform in Hippo 392-395
71 3.1.3. Some subsequent remarks
72 3.1.4. Explanations of Augustine's reform
77 3.2. Burial ad sanctos
77 3.2.1. A reply to Paulinus of Nola
79 3.2.2. The role of the corpse
81 3.2.3. The act of remembering
83 3.2.4. A theology of burial?
85 3.3. Pompa funeris
85 3.3.1. Augustine's critique of contemporary funerary customs
91 3.3.2. Mors prima - mors secunda
95 3.3.3. Augustine's approval of local customs
98 3.4. Subsidia mortuorum: a trio of aids for the dead
98 3.4.1. Augustine's prayer for Monica's soul
101 3.4.2. The fate of unbaptized children
103 3.4.3. The formation of Augustine's views
107 3.5. Summary and conclusions
111 4. Quod illo significatur: theological viewpoints on the cult of the dead
112 4.1. Fidei testimonium: applications of Augustine's notion of signs
112 4.1.1. Augustine's doctrine on signs
117 4.1.2. Sacramenta ln Augustine's thought
121 4.1.3. The cult of the dead as a sign
124 4.2. Tempus interpositum: the state of the dead
124 4.2.1. The relationship of the cult of the dead with the intermediate state
125 4.2.2. The place of the interim in Augustine's eschatology
128 4.2.3. The state of souls between death and resurrection
130 4.2.3.1. Biblical illustrations
133 4.2.3.2. The judgement of individuals
134 4.2.4. Purgatorial fire
138 4.2.5. The classiflcation of souls
141 4.2.6. The mystery of salvation
143 4.3. Two excursus
143 Excursus 1: Tolerabilior damnatio - the idea of the mitigation of pain after the Last Judgement
145 Excursus 2: Appearances of the dead - another view of the relationship between the living and the dead
150 4.4. Sancta societas: ecclesiology and predestination in the context of death
150 4.4.1. Corpus Christi
151 4.4.1.1. Corpus mysticum
152 4.4.1.2. Ecclesia toto orbe diffusa
153 4.4.1.3. Vinculum caritatis
157 4.4.1.4. Corpus permixtum
159 4.4.1.5. Ecclesia et civitas Dei
160 4.4.2. Predestination
161 4.4.2.1. The development of Augustine's thought
164 4.4.2.2. Preaching, prayer, and predestination
166 4.4.3. Cultus in saeculo
169 4.5. Summary and conclusions
173 5. General conclusions
Abbreviations:
179 1. Periodicals, serials, editions, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and miscellanea
181 2. Other abbreviations
Bibliography
183 1. Original sources
183 1.1. Works by Augustine with the abbreviations used for them
184 1.2. Other patristic authors
187 1.3. Other ancient authors
187 1.4. Collections of texts and inscriptions
189 2. Secondary works
211 Index