The Augustine Podcast

Dr. Peter Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over 100 books on philosophy, theology, and the Chirstian life. Particularly, he is the author of I Burned for Your Peace: Augustine's Confessions Unpacked.https://ignatius.com/i-burned-for-your-peace-ibypp/https://peterkreeft.com/about.htm-My email, for questions, comments, and ideas, or if you just want to connect: Josh.Blanchard@ciu.eduMy website, for more information or to book speaking: JaBlanch.com

Dr Matthew Elia is assistant professor of theology, race, and environment at Saint Louis University. He is author of the Problem of the Christian Master, Augustine and theafterlife of slavery. My email, for questions, comments, and ideas, or if you just want to connect: Josh.Blanchard@ciu.eduMy website, for more information or to book speaking: JaBlanch.comMatt's Book:https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300266597/the-problem-of-the-christian-master/An Augustinian Christology:https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/an-augustinian-christology/47EBC75759B4A69319A53A6AB067A365

Dr Ty Monroe is Associate Professor and Department Chair of Theology at Assumption University. He holds a PhD from Boston College and is the author of Putting on Christ: Augustine's Early Theology of Salvation and the Sacraments. https://www.cuapress.org/9780813235493/putting-on-christ/

Toni Alimi is Assistant professor in Religion and the University Center for Human Values. He joined the faculty at Princeton in 2025. His research and teaching span ancient Roman philosophy (specializing in Lactantius and Augustine), intellectual history (focusing on freedom, slavery, law, rule, and authority), contemporary ethics and politics (idem), and philosophy of religion. He is the author of Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics (Princeton University Press, 2024). https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691244235/slaves-of-god?srsltid=AfmBOorC6bKsFzjaubW6uGtitgch0bepgrWUIv7sAvD6lpzBw05tDm25

Dr Andrew Chronister is Associate Professor of Patristics and Ancient Languages at Kenrick-Gennon Seminary in Saint Louis. He is the author of Augustine in the Pelagian Controversy: Defending Church Unity. Dr Chronister's Book: https://www.cuapress.org/9780813238722/augustine-in-the-pelagian-controversy/ Dr Elizabeth Klein - Augustine's Theology of Angels: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/augustines-theology-of-angels/9DA93A262D33E4D9984E898858920600 Dr Charles Kim - The Way of Humility: St Augustine's Theology of Preaching: https://www.cuapress.org/9780813237398/the-way-of-humility/

Dr Michael Cameron is Emeritus Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Portland and the Author of Christ Meets me Everywhere: Augustine’s Early Figurative Exegesis. Christ meets me Everywhere: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/christ-meets-me-everywhere-9780199751297 Sophie Van Der Meeren - Entrer en philosophie: La fonction psychagogique des premiers “Dialogues” d’Augustin: https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782851213235-1 Paul Kolbet – Augustine and the Cure of Souls: https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268033217/augustine-and-the-cure-of-souls/ Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception: https://www.degruyter.com/serial/ebr-b/html?lang=en

Dr J. Warren Smith, professor of historical theology, is interested in the history of theology broadly conceived from the apostles to the present, but his primary focus is upon patristic theology. Pursuit of Greatness is a work in the history of Christian theological ethics that examines how Ambrose's and Augustine's theological commitments influenced their different critiques, appropriations, and modifications of the language of magnanimityJ Warren Smith's Book:https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ambrose-augustine-and-the-pursuit-of-greatness/115A831D68D4A5FB84A90CF657A596ACDavid Maconi's, On Self-Harm, Narcissism, Atonement, and the Vulnerable Christ:https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/on-selfharm-narcissism-atonement-and-the-vulnerable-christ-9781501326202/

J. Patout Burns Jr. is the Edward A. Malloy Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Visiting Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Cyprian the Bishop and the Church's Bible volume Romans: Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators, and he is the coauthor, with Robin Jensen, of Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of Its Practices and Beliefs. Today we discuss his book, Augustine's Preached Theology: Living as the Body of Christ.Patout Burns - Augustine's Preached Theology:https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802880222/augustines-preached-theology/Ty Paul Munroe - Putting on Christ:https://www.cuapress.org/9780813235486/putting-on-christ/Andrew C Cronister - Augustine in the Pelagic Controversyhttps://www.cuapress.org/9780813238722/augustine-in-the-pelagian-controversy/Patrick H Byrne - Toward Environmental Wholeness:https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/Toward-Environmental-Wholeness

Joshua talks with Dr Kevin Grove about Augustine on Memory, Confession, and the Totus Christus. Dr Kevin Grove is Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame and a Member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Today we discuss his book, Augustine on Memory. Augustine on Memory: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/augustine-on-memory-9780197587218 Patout Burns: Augustine's Preached Theology https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802880222/augustines-preached-theology/

Joshua chats with Augustine M Reisenauer about Augustine and Resurrection. Augustine M. Reisenauer is a Dominican friar and Assistant Professor of Theology as Providence College in Providence Road Island. He is the author of Augustine's Theology of the Resurrection. Dr Reisenauer's Book: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/augustines-theology-of-the-resurrection/2F5EEE4CE70E18855279ACFB5980BE07 Maria Boulding's Gateway to the Resurrection: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/gateway-to-resurrection-9781441169518/ Kevin Grove: Augustine on Memory https://global.oup.com/academic/product/augustine-on-memory-9780197587218

Joshua speaks with Dr. Eric L Saak about Augustinianism in the Later Middle Ages. Dr. Saak is Professor of History at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. He is the author of High Way to Heaven. The Augustinian Platform between Reform and Reformation, 1292-1524. Brill Academic Publishers: Leiden (2002), and Creating Augustine. Interpreting Augustine and Augustinianism in the Later Middle Ages. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2012; Catechesis in the Later Middle Ages vol. 1: The Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer of Jordan of Quedlinburg, OESA (d. 1380)–Introduction, Text and Translation. Brill Academic Publishers: Leiden, 2015; Luther and the Reformation of the Later Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2017. Co-editor of and major contributor to The Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine, 3 vols. (Oxford, 2013). Dr Saak's Book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/creating-augustine-9780199646388 Rob Lane Fox: Augustine: Conversions to Confessions https://www.amazon.co.uk/Augustine-Conversions-Confessions-Robin-Fox/dp/0465022278#:~:text=Book%20overview&text=In%20Augustine%20%2C%20the%20acclaimed%20historian,and%20a%20life%20of%20celibacy.

Joshua speaks with Dr. Sarah Stewart-Kroeker on Pilgrimage, Ethics, and Beauty. Sarah Stewart-Kroeker is the Associate Professor of Early Christian Theology. She received degrees from McMaster University, Yale University, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Stewart-Kroeker's work has been largely focused on Augustine and Augustinianism (both historical and contemporary), Her most recent book is Pilgrimage as Moral and Aesthetic Formation in Augustine’s Thought. Dr. Stewart-Kroeker's book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/pilgrimage-as-moral-and-aesthetic-formation-in-augustines-thought-9780198804994 Toni Alimi - Slaves of God: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691244235/slaves-of-god Matthew Elia- The Problem of the Christian Master: https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300266597/the-problem-of-the-christian-master/

Joshua talks with Dr. Han-Luen Kantzer Komline about Augustine and the Will! Dr. Han-luen Kantzer Komline joined the faculty at Western Theological Seminary in 2014. She is the author of Augustine on the Will: A Theological Account (Oxford University Press, 2020; paperback edition, October 2023), which received the Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise in 2020. Her research focuses on early Christian theology. Many of her publications concern topics in Augustine or his relationship to other thinkers, ranging from Ambrose and Cyprian to Karl Barth and Marilynne Robinson. She has also published on more recent figures such as John Calvin, Jürgen Moltmann, and Erich Przywara. Kantzer Komline’s research has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Commission (2008-2009), the Louisville Institute (2015-2017), the Augustinian Institute at Villanova (2020), and the Humboldt Foundation (2022-2023). Her current book project, The Idea of the New in Early Christian Thought, analyzes how Christians of late antiquity conceptualized and defended the innovative character of the Christian faith. Dr. Kantzer-Komline's book:https://global.oup.com/academic/product/augustine-on-the-will-9780190948801?cc=gb⟨=en& Michael Cameron - Christ Meets Me Everythere: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/christ-meets-me-everywhere-9780199751297?cc=gb⟨=en& Kevin Grove - Augustine on Memory: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/augustine-on-memory-9780197587218?lang=en&cc=gb

Joshua sits down with Dr. Matthieu Pignot for a talk for which he's unqualified concerning catechumism in Late Antique Africa. Dr. Pignot is a historian by profession, currently serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Namur, Matthieu Pignot obtained his doctorate in history at the University of Oxford in 2016, with a thesis entitled: “The catechumenate in late antique Africa: Augustine of Hippo, his contemporaries and early reception (ca. 360-530 AD)”. Previously he completed a MSt at the University of Oxford in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies in 2012, a MA in Ancient Mediterranean and Near-Eastern Studies and a BA in History at the Université Catholique de Louvain in. His main interests lie in the history of late antique and early medieval Christianity in the West, in particular initiation to Christianity, Christian education, hagiography, sermons, the figure and works of Augustine of Hippo, and the reception of late antique works in the middle ages. Within the project he focuses on Latin evidence, in particular hagiography and literary sources from Italy and Gaul. He is particularly interested in the writing and re-writing of biographies and martyrdom accounts, and in their manuscript transmission in the middle ages. Today we are discussing his book The Catechumenate in late antique Africa. Dr Pignot's Book: https://brill.com/display/title/57595 Dr. Pignot's recommendation: Robin Fox's Augustine: Conversions and Confessions:https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/robin-lane-fox/augustine/9780465093854/

Joshua speaks with professor Charles T. Mathewes. Dr. Mathewes is the Carolyn M. Barbour Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, where he teaches religious ethics, theology, and philosophy of religion. He earned his B.A. in Theology from Georgetown University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from the University of Chicago. From 2006 to 2010, Professor Mathewes served as editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. He was Chair of the Committee on the Future of Christian Ethics for the Society of Christian Ethics, the inaugural Director of the Virginia Center for the Study of Religion, and he currently serves on the House of Bishops Theology Committee of the Episcopal Church. He is the author of Evil and the Augustinian Tradition, A Theology of Public Life, Understanding Religious Ethics, and The Republic of Grace: Augustinian Thoughts for Dark Times, as well as numerous articles on religion, with a distinct emphasis on Augustine. He has also taught two courses for the great courses, one of which is on the City of God. Dr. Mathewes' Books (Link to profile) https://religiousstudies.as.dev.artsci.virginia.edu/faculty/profile/ctm9d Dr. Mathewes' Recommendations: Completing Chirst - Joe Lenow https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/an-augustinian-christology/47EBC75759B4A69319A53A6AB067A365 The Innocence of Ponius Pilate - David Lloyd Dusenbury https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-innocence-of-pontius-pilate/

In this episode, Joshua talks with Dr. Alex Fogleman about catechesis in the first centuries of the Christian Church. Dr. Fogleman is Assistant Research Professor of Theology at the institute for studies of religion at Baylor University where he is the Project Manager for the Global Flourishing Study He received a BS in Business Administration from NC State University, an MDiv from Regent College, and a PhD in Historical theology and Patristics from Baylor University He is the author of three books in progress Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation; Becoming Christian: Catechesis in History, Theology, and Practice; and The Nature of Human Flourishing: Early Christian and Contemporary Perspectives. Co-authored with Thomas Breedlove. He has also written extensively on Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil of Caesarea, Tertullian, and Hilary of Poitiers. Dr. Fogleman's upcoming book: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/knowledge-faith-and-early-christian-initiation/461DF601709364F801FB7C6EC3960E77 Dr. Fogleman's Recomendations: Matthieu Pignot's The Catechumenate in Late Antique Africa https://brill.com/display/title/57595 Han-luen Kantzer Komline's Augustine on the Will https://global.oup.com/academic/product/augustine-on-the-will-9780190948801?cc=gb⟨=en&

In this episode, Joshua sits down to talk with Dr. Terence Sweeney. Dr. Sweeney is an assistant teaching professor in the Honors Program and Humanities Department at Villanova University. He received his PhD from Villanova, holds an MA in philosophy from Loyola Marymont Univeristy and an MA in Catholic Studies from the University of St Thomas, and a Bachelors in History from Providence College. God and the Soul: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/heyj.12166#:~:text=By%20reflecting%20on%20the%20beginning,very%20self%20of%20our%20selves. Politics of Pears https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/heyj.14202 Dr. Sweeney's recommendation: Augustine's Theology of the Resurrection, by Augustine M. Reisenauer O.P.

Professor James Wetzel, Ph.D. is a Professor of philosophy at Villanova University, where he holds the Augustinian Endowed Chair and is the Director of the Augustinian Institute. He holds a BA from Princeton University and a PhD from Columbia University. His research focuses on Augustine and Platonism, Moral Psychology, the metaphysics of evil, and mysticism and mythology. Professor Wetzel's books: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/augustine-and-the-limits-of-virtue/9A85F25B17BBE7CA32071BB0D7A4CE8A https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/augustine-a-guide-for-the-perplexed-9781847061966/ https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/augustines-city-of-god/C9407A9D6A04092C7193043C4338030C https://wipfandstock.com/9781608999453/parting-knowledge/ Professor Wetzel's recommendation: Queens of a Fallen World: The Lost Women of Augustine's Confessions. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kate-cooper/queens-of-a-fallen-world/9781541646001/?lens=basic-books

Today Joshua sits down to talk with Dr. Mary M Keys about her new book Pride, Politics and Humility in Augustine's City of God Dr. Keys is a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, focusing on the History of Christianity She holds a BA from Boston College and a MA and PhD from the University of Toronto. Her research and teaching interests span a broad spectrum of political theory, with a special focus in Christianity, ethics, and political thought. Her work includes articles and chapters in the American Journal of Political Science, History of Political Thought, Perspectives on Political Science, and The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's City of God. She has held various fellowships, including a NEH Fellowship supporting her ongoing research project on Humility, Modernity, and the Science of Politics, and she has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and the University of Chicago. She is the author of Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Promise of the Common Good (Cambridge). https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/aquinas-aristotle-and-the-promise-of-the-common-good/2486B9B4D889081C9BAAA68A17513E5E And importantly for our conversation today, Pride, Politics, and Humility in Augustine's City of God (Cambridge) which offers a new book length study of pride and humility in Augustine’s political thought. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/pride-politics-and-humility-in-augustines-city-of-god/202198353E3D4D61356F5B49967592D1

In this episode, Joshua sits down with Dr. John Cavadini to discuss his essays, teaching, and approach to intellectual life. John C. Cavadini is a Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, having served as Chair from 1997-2010. Since 2000 he has served as the Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame. He received a B.A. in 1975 from Wesleyan University; an M.A. in 1979 from Marquette University; M.A., 1981, M.Phil., 1983 and his Ph.D. in 1988 from Yale University. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1990, Cavadini teaches, studies and publishes in patristic and early medieval theology, the theology of Augustine, and the history of biblical and patristic exegesis. He has served a five-year term on the International Theological Commission (appointed by Pope Benedict XVI) and in 2018 received the Monika K. Hellwig Award from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Intellectual Life. As Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, he inaugurated the Echo program in catechetical leadership, the Notre Dame Vision program for high school students and is responsible for the continued growth and outreach of the McGrath Institute, which partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to address pastoral challenges with theological depth and rigor. https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Visioning+Augustine-p-9781119105749