Vita Aeterna

From Robert Grosseteste to Jean-François Lyotard, Augustine’s suggestion that time is a “dilation of the soul” (distentio animi) has been taken up as a seminal and controversial time-concept, yet in The Space of Time, David van Dusen argues that this ‘dilation’ has been fundamentally misinterpreted. Time in Confessions XI is a dilation of the senses—in beasts, as in humans. And Augustine’s time-concept in Confessions XI is not Platonic—but in schematic terms, Epicurean. Identifying new influences on the Confessions—from Aristoxenus to Lucretius—while keeping Augustine’s phenomenological interpreters in view, The Space of Time is a path-breaking work on Confessions X to XII and a ranging contribution to the history of the concept of time.

The second of two volumes on special theological disputations from ca. 1230-1330 in which audience members asked the era's greatest intellectuals questions de quolibet, "about anything." The variety of the material and the authors' stature make the genre uniquely fascinating.

The study of Latin can be a difficult for some students new to theological research. This book will be an essential tool for acquiring a basic reading knowledge of ecclesiastical Latin. The texts they translate will be common texts they will encounter as theology students and as priests or deacons: common prayers, liturgical, biblical, patristic and medieval theological texts, as well as some hymn texts. For most students, the lessons in this book will be their only exposure to Latin. For those who may wish to learn more, it will provide a solid foundation for further study. Rome has indicated that seminarians of the Roman rite should have at least some familiarity with Latin and the Latin theological tradition. Graduate students in theology and scripture also may be required to have a reading knowledge of a classical language. Reading Church Latin can be used either as a class text or a resource for independent study. In each lesson, the grammar and syntax encountered in the Latin reading are explained. The exercises provide a way to reinforce the learned grammar, syntax and vocabulary of each lesson. Students will be able to deal competently with or at least understand the basic meaning of untranslated Latin readings and have the ability to compare a text that they translate to its original. Reading Church Latin also contains a Glossary, an Answer Key to the exercises, and a useful Morphology.

Issues for 1941-44 include the Report of the 23rd-26th annual meeting of the Franciscan Educational Conference.