AUGUSTINE’S LETTER 262 TO ECDICIA. CONFLICT OF IDEAS OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
AUGUSTINE’S LETTER 262 TO ECDICIA. CONFLICT OF IDEAS OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Summary/Abstract: The paper studies the historic and juridical background of Augustine’s Letter 262 addressed to Ecdicia and evaluates the modern exegesis of the Letter, especially regarding the role of women in the Late Antiquity. Augustine’s reply to a woman regarding her family problems and her idea of Christian perfection illustrates a tension in the Church regarding the ideal of Christian asceticism in the fi rst half of the fifth century. Against an individualistic concept of salvation, Augustine proposes the ascetic ideal of striving for the salvation of the Church, forming one body in Christ.

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