{"product_id":"9780271040516","title":"Language and Love: Introducing Augustine's Religious Thought Through the Confessions Story","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the first work to combine an introduction to Augustine's \u003cem\u003eConfessions\u003c\/em\u003e with a larger outline of his mature theology. Mallard provides guidance for reading the narrative \u003cem\u003eConfessions\u003c\/em\u003e (Books I–IX) and at the same time, by certain extensions and comments, reveals the three major topical divisions within Augustine's thought: creation, salvation, and the City of God. Mallard is able to do this because Augustine's affirmation of the good of Creation, his view of the human will and God's grace (and the nature of evil), his sense of a religious people's identity and their hope, and his view of faith and reason were all essentially in place at the time of the \u003cem\u003eConfessions\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMallard argues that Augustine was not \"in search of himself\" in a modern sense but in search of a language of prayer, praise, and truth that would locate him within God's grace. That language turned out to be the language of Incarnation, which remains compelling and inviting today. As a classic work, the \u003cem\u003eConfessions\u003c\/em\u003e is a monument to its own time, but it has striking resonances for our own. Mallard's interpretation will challenge readers to begin working out their own. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eConfessions\u003c\/em\u003e endures because it is a story that illumines the stories of many, even to the present day. To analyze how it is like, and unlike, modern experiences is to exercise both mind and heart. In that respect, \u003cem\u003eLanguage and Love\u003c\/em\u003e is a kind of theological meditation on the Confessions testing out a horizon of belief. Mallard views Augustine as a master of the spoken word in an age of broken and abused language and the \u003cem\u003eConfessions\u003c\/em\u003e as a historic masterpiece of rhetoric. He contends that Augustine is the ancestor of many today who offer social and political hope through fresh rhetorical vitality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penn State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47125019492592,"sku":"9780271040516","price":16.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780271040516_p0.jpg?v=1765232875","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780271040516","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}