Salvation and Sin – Augustine, Langland, and Fourteenth–Century Theology

“In this exploration of the intersection of the late medieval literature and theology, Aers continues a discussion he most recently undertook in Sanctifying Signs: Making Christian Tradition in Late Medieval England. The book’s five chapters focus on the themes of sin and conversion in selected theologians and in Piers Plowman. . . . Aers takes frequent, fruitful digressions into theology and effectively demolishes any monolithic view of late medieval religious thought.” —Choice

“In its five thick, substantial chapters, one of the most theologically astute medievalists of this generation offers a commanding, even authoritative conspectus on late medieval theology in the English context. Aers’s important and engaging book is amply and meticulously supported with textual references, astute annotations, good bibliography, and a useful index.” —Modern Theology

“It is impossible in a short review to do justice to the details of Aers’s arguments, the rigor of his analysis, and the passion of his convictions. His brilliant reading of Augustine is profound, subtle, and often highly moving . . . his Augustinian understanding of salvation and sin offers a great deal of fresh insight to the major writers whose work he studies as though the fate of our very souls depends on getting the theology right.” —Journal of English and German Philosophy

“In this provocative work, David Aers reassesses the traditional understanding of Augustine’s post-Pelagian soteriology and then employs this evaluation to discern the degrees of Augustinian convergence or divergence by the fourteenth-century English writers William of Ockham, Thomas Bradwardine, William Langland, and Julian of Norwich. This book is laudable for its fresh attention to the essential role Christology plays in the late Augustine doctrine of grace and anti-Pelagian polemics. Equally praiseworthy are its penetrating analyses of Bradwardine, Julian, and especially Langland regarding their distinct vocabularies and grammar of sin, agency, and conversion.” —Sixteenth Century Journal

“This study stands strong as a personal, interesting, detailed and highly scholarly reading of fourteenth-century theologians conversing with Augustine (directly and through Aers’ role as a moderator in the debate), its invitation to read the original texts and to read texts completely before judging them, and in its invitation to its readers, primarily noticeable in its polemical tone and in its open-endedness . . . to enter the conversation in their turn.” —Review of English Studies