Augustine's incarnational hermeneutics and postmodernity

This thesis focuses on the hermeneutic framework of St. Augustine of Hippo. Study of this topic has been suggested by patrologists such as Frances Young, and garnered occasional glances in contemporary scholarship. Little has been done as far as a systematic treatment of Augustine’s theory of hermeneutics in favor of theological/doctrinal issues. This thesis begins with a contextualization of the hermeneutic of late antiquity, then follows Augustine’s analysis of the three-fold schema of language: res, verbum, and dicibile. Primary texts for these topics are On Christian Doctrine, Against the Academic Skeptics, and The Teacher. Secondary literature specifically on this topic and texts is sparse, though a few scholars have addressed papers to the query. This thesis is written in dialogue with contemporary theological hermeneutics, with the view that a pre-modern hermeneutic schema can be a valuable interlocutor in the continuing development of post-modern thought. Additionally, the human need to identify, interpret, and apply meaning is a perennial struggle, and an influential thinker/writer of late antiquity can aid in the contemporary development of a holistic interpretive/epistemological framework without falling to false dichotomies and deterministic methodologies