For Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Christian teachers who surrender self in loving humility for the sake of their hearers capture a core dimension of the faith that they teach. The same humility that Christ models, that Scripture communicates, and that seekers germinate as they come to be taught, teachers also share in.
This teaching seminar, featuring renowned Augustine scholar Dr. Michael Cameron, explores the pedagogical dynamics of humility in Augustine’s great treatise, De catechizandis rudibus (On the Instruction of Beginners), showing it to be the treatise’s hidden crux, in two senses: both as a central theme of Christian teaching, and, paradoxically and counterintuitively, as the mainspring of the teaching act.
Aimed especially for those in teaching vocations, whether in the church or the academy, this seminar will provide a unique opportunity to study Augustine’s On the Instruction of Beginners with Dr. Cameron in greater detail. Those who register by September 1 will receive a free copy of the book, translated by Raymond Canning (New City Press, 2005). The teaching seminar will be capped at 20 participants, and will also include coffee and light snacks throughout the afternoon.
This event will be an engaging and edifying foray into the craft of teaching in dialogue with one of the greatest theological minds of the Christian past—St. Augustine of Hippo.
Cost: $40
Location: TBA
NB: A free copy of Augustine’s Instructing Beginners in the Faith will be sent to those who sign up by September 1, 2023
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Michael Cameron (Professor Emeritus, University of Portland)
Michael Cameron (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at the University of Portland. A leading scholar of St. Augustine, especially on Augustine’s interpretation of Scripture, Dr. Cameron is the author of Christ Meets Me Everywhere: Augustine’s Early Figurative Exegesis (Oxford, 2012), The Essential Expositions of the Psalms by Saint Augustine (New City Press, 2015), Unfolding Sacred Scripture: How Catholics Read the Bible (Liturgy Training Publications, 2015), and numerous essays and reference articles. Michael was editor for the Latin Patristic and Early Medieval period for vols. 1-16 of The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (De Gruyter, 2009- ), and serves on the editorial boards of Augustinian Studies and the Augustinus-Lexikon.
