Augustine speaks with a pastoral heart

Abstract

According to which code did Augustine “establish the truth” about sexuality? Michel Foucault indicates that the “truth” about sexuality was governed, at different limes during history, by three codes, namely canonical law, (Christian) pastoral concerns, and civil law. This essay argues that Augustine’s views on sexuality have been interpreted in later times as canonical and law-like while, originally, Augustine argued his case from a primarily pastoral point of view. Augustine was not radical and prescriptive on sex as later times assert. In this essay insights from post-structuralism are used to indicate how Augustine deconstructed the dominant discourses of his time on sexuality, pastorally opposing the radical ascetism and holiness movement of his time. His view on original sin must be contextualised within these deconstructing pastoral concerns.