Abstract (eng)
The thesis intends to trace ecclesiological topics and ideas within selected sermons of Saint Augustine about the Eucharist.
In a first step the spiritual and historical background of Augustine is explored in order to contextualise his thinking. Therefore, Tertullian and Cyprian of Carthage are taken into consideration as well as the pars Donati, since the conflict with this group plays an important role in the development of Augustine’s view on the church, and the catechumenate at the time of Saint Augustine’s.
Augustine’s inner motives are presented along De doctrina christiana, as this work deals with two main themes that will show up in Augustine’s sermons again. The definition of caritas turns out to play an important role, as well as the theory of signs and the differentiation between res and signa.
Finally, the analysis of six sermons of Saint Augustine forms the main part of the thesis. All six have been delivered to neophytes, i.e. members of the church that have just been baptised, and explain the Eucharist. As Augustine has developed his teachings on sacraments in close relation to his ecclesiology these sermons contain notes on his teachings on the church as well. After having presented the sermons one by one and having identified the ecclesiological topics, the main ideas are put in a systematic order.
A prospect for theological questions that might be raised following the ecclesiological findings – the question for the corpus permixtum and the ecclesia ab Abel – concludes the project.