Augustine and the Secular in Christendom and Modernity

This lecture addressed the growing relevance of Augustine in debates concerning secular space. Particular attention is given to how Augustine’s City of God delineates a positive conception of secular space and its role in civil society. A distinction between Augustinianism and Triumphalism is made to differentiate Augustine’s conception of the secular from the secularism and statism of many modern statist projects.

Biography

Craig Carter serves as Professor of Religious Studies at Tyndale University. His research interests have two main foci: systematic theology and Christianity and culture. In November 2006, Carter published a book on H. R. Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture entitled: Rethinking Christ and Culture: A Post-Christendom Perspective, and in 2001 The Politics of the Cross: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder. This book was the first scholarly, full-length, introduction to Yoder’s thought. It assesses his ecumenical importance, rather than treating him as a figure of interest to the Mennonite world only.