Augustinian Humanism

Despite my criticisms of the work of St. Augustine (and I have many), I must also confess (confession being a characteristically Augustinian mode) my lifelong indebtedness to him. In my youth, I read many of the "principle" Augustinians: Augustine himself, Luther, Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and Kierkegaard. As an undergraduate, I adopted (more or less) the "Augustinian humanism" articulated by James Woelfel in his book of the same name. Woelfel, an erstwhile Christian, took what he called "Augustinian themes" and "transmuted" them "into a 'secularized' framework." Included in those themes are the following: "the radical creatureliness and deep bondage of our personal and social existence, and the decisive role of grace in healing and elevating that existence" (Woelfel, i). As an erstwhile Christian myself, Woelfel's work meant a great deal to me in my late teens and early twenties and, over the decades, his writings have continued to resonate with me--especially his little study of Albert Camus (Camus: A Theological Perspective), which I have read and re-read several times.

Remarkably resilient, Woelfel has taught in the Philosophy and Religious Studies departments of the University of Kansas since the 1960's.