Rereading Historical Theology

"For years Margaret Miles has been patiently honoring the question of the body in historical theology. In this collection of sixteen of her best essays, she tracks the ambivalences in Augustine's love of the flesh, finds a Platonism with an earthly pull, sustains her sense of an antique social location, and finishes with a flourish of mystics and reformers--all successors to an Augustinian passion. An historian of great cultural sensitivity, Miles is not afraid to meet the past under the skin of contemporary life (where it, in fact, has always been). In the art of critical sympathy, she has no peer."

--James Wetzel, Villanova University



"Margaret Miles has long been one of the most imaginative and suggestive readers of Augustine and his thought. Combining the highest standards of critical historical scholarship with an extraordinary ability to penetrate to the heart of Augustine's thought, Miles is always worth reading and reading over. These essays should be required reading for all interested in Augustine and--equally importantly--in his legacy in the Christian tradition."

--Lewis Ayres, Candler School of Theology, Emory University



"This book does what few academic books attempt--a real engagement and conversation with an ancient author, letting our thoughts and views interact with his. As Miles touches on diverse topics of interest to any modern person, others are also brought into the conversation--not just Augustine, but also Plato, Aristotle, Calvin, and Luther. Whether one wishes to discredit or to appropriate Augustine's views, one will find here much material that challenges and leads to further discussion."

--Kim Paffenroth, Iona College



"Reading Miles reading Augustine is a delight and a window on the development of modern critical theory applied to historical theology. Miles is simply brilliant and her Augustine shines with a brilliance borne of Miles's careful and close reading, important new theories, and her love of Augustine that brings the ancient theologian to life. This is a significant collection of essays that no serious historian of theology should miss."

--Richard Valantasis, Candler School of Theology, Emory University



"In these sixteen essays, Miles claims--against an 'escapist transcendence'--that bodies are central to theological knowledge. She explores themes of desire, beauty, and happiness in their relation to the body in the writings of Augustine's philosophical predecessors, of Augustine (our 'fellow pilgrim') himself, and of some of his medieval and early modern successors. Miles enlists art and material remains, in addition to texts, to elaborate her thesis that the 'core of any religion is its teaching on human being.' Whether discussing women (from Augustine's unnamed partner to the 'heretic' Marguerite Porete to the Virgin Mary), sexuality, resurrection, or relics, she keeps her focus on the body. These lively essays, accessible to non-specialist readers, sum up in engaging fashion Miles's interests and contributions over nearly three decades."

--Elizabeth A. Clark, Duke University



"From the beginning Margaret Miles has been a wise and astute reader of Augustine, and a pellucid writer on his thought in its context. As one of the earliest feminist thinkers to engage seriously with the great Father, her work has always been surprisingly charitable and politically insightful. This collection of essays--on Augustine, Augustine's antecedents and context, and several of Augustine's more prominent conceptual inheritors--deepens and nuances her view of Augustine's thought and age, revealing an even more shaded and subtle assessment than before. This collection of essays underscores Miles's gifts as an interpreter and confirms her place as one of the best and most mature thinkers in the contemporary academy engaging with Augustine's thought."

--Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia