In Christian Latinity, the tractate is a specific type of sermon,
delivered as part of a liturgy, which combines scriptural exegesis,
preaching, spiritual commentary, and theological reflection. This
volume contains the first ten of the 124 tractates on the Gospel of
John delivered by St. Augustine, the world-renowned fourth-century
bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa. As sermons they exemplify
the theory of preaching he outlined in his De doctrina Christiana
(On Christian Instruction) --to preach in a simple and direct style
accessible to all without compromising the theological knowledge
and spiritual experience of the message. Because John's Gospel
particularly emphasized the divinity of Jesus, the identity of the
historical Jesus with the Messianic Christ, the Trinitarian Word,
these sermons necessarily involve much Trinitarian and
Christological theology. They explain and defend the orthodox
position established at the councils of Nicea (A.D. 325) and
Constantinople (A.D. 381). Their major theme is that Jesus Christ
is the center of the Christian life, the Son of God and the Son of
Man. Beyond contemplation of John's Gospel, the Tractates reveal
much about the heresies to which Augustine's congregation was
exposed: Manichaeism, with its dualistic logic; Donatism, a
schismatic, puritanical, and sacramental movement which involved
the intervention of the state in the affairs of the Church; and
Pelagianism, with its doctrines of original sin, grace, free will,
and predestination. Augustine delivered these sermons in Ciceronian
oratorical style, having as his purpose to teach, to please, and to
persuade. Through his allegorical exegesis, his audience was led to
an understanding of the meaning of Scripture that would so affect
their souls as to help them grow spiritually and bring them to
eternal salvation.
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