From pagan to Christian oracle. Divination in Christian daily life in the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo

这个研究项目将考察奥古斯丁时期基督徒日常生活中发生的不同种类的占卜。在古希腊罗马时期，占卜在公共和私人生活中都很普遍。它被用来解释神或神灵在被问到具体问题后自发或通过神谕给出的迹象，并在有问题的时期和危机期间作为决策的指导。由于它深深植根于多神教和对恶魔的信仰，古代教会在原则上拒绝占卜，基督教皇帝通过法律禁止它，但尽管如此，占卜仍然在个别基督徒的生活中发挥作用，甚至有时被教会以稍微修改的形式接受。奥古斯丁的河马是一个重要的见证，这一复杂的过程中，它的接待。根据他的著作，特别是布道和信件，这个项目将表明占卜是非常活跃的，并在基督徒生活的社会和日常生活中实践。该项目围绕三个主要问题：1。在奥古斯丁的时代，哪种异教占卜仍然存在？2.这些做法是如何判断的神学家和教会的政策制定者（一。e.主教，主教会议，议会），并以何种方式（S）做基督徒实践他们内外的教会规范？3.哪种占卜实践得到了教会的积极接受，它们是如何被修改和神学上的合法化的，它们对（基督徒）生活的哪些方面有意义？因此，该研究项目将填补奥古斯丁相关研究领域的空白。由于其对个人日常宗教实践的关注，它将能够进一步为正在进行的关于宗教实践个性化的学术话语提供进一步的贡献，活的古代宗教和古代晚期个人身份的构建。因此，该项目既确认和扩大了古代基督教多元身份（Markschies）的模式。最后，该项目将为占卜实践的历史贡献一个仍然缺失的章节：关于罗马帝国西部基督教晚期的占卜。

This research project will examine the different kinds of divination that occur in Christian daily life at the time of Augustine. In Greek-Roman antiquity divination was a widespread phenomenon both in public and in private life. It was used to interpret the signs which gods or deities give spontaneously or through an oracle after being asked specific questions and which are taken as guidance in decisionmaking, during problematic times and crises. Since it is deeply rooted in polytheism and belief in demons the Ancient Church in principle rejected divination and the Christian emperors passed laws against it. But nonetheless divination still played a role in the life of individual Christians and was even sometimes accepted in a slightly modified form by the church. Augustine of Hippo is an important witness to this sophisticated process of its reception. Based upon his writings, especially the homilies and letters, this project will show that divination was very much alive and practiced both in the society Christians lived in and in their daily life. The project is centered around three main lines of questioning: 1. Which kinds of pagan divination still existed at the time of Augustine? 2. How are these practices judged by theologians and ecclesiastical policy-makers (i. e. bishops, synods, councils) and in what way(s) did Christians practice them both inside and outside of ecclesiastical norms? 3. Which kinds of divinatory practices were received positively by the church, how were they modified and theologically legitimized and for which aspects of (Christian) life did they hold relevance? This research project will therefore fill a void in the field of Augustine-related research. Because of its focus on individual everyday religious practice it will furthermore be able to provide further contributions to the ongoing academic discourses on the individualization of religious practices, lived ancient religion and construction of individual identities in Late Antiquity. Thus the project both confirms and broadens the model of a plural identity (Markschies) of ancient Christianity. Lastly the project will contribute a still missing chapter to the history of divinatory practices: about divination during Christian Late Antiquity in the Western part of the Roman Empire.