Expectations of Justice in the Age of Augustine

Contents

Contents INTRODUCTION I. CALUMNY: WELL-KNOWN REASONS WHY JUSTICE FAILS 16 Judicial Culture 16 Juridical Solutions: Roman Law 20 Popular Responses 25 The Bishop)s Court 29 Juridical Solutions: Canon Law 32 Social Bonds and Boundaries 35 2. "JUDGE LIKE GOD": WHAT BISHOPS CLAIMED TO EXPECT OF THEMSELVES 44 Between Perftetion and Failure Traditions ofJudgment and Discernment Spiritual Discernment at Work Alternative Traditions ofDiscernment The Exemplary Life ofBishops The Ideal Fails 67 44 49 55 61 3. CHRISTIAN OATHS: A CASE STUDY IN PRACTICALITY OVER DOCTRINE 77 Oaths Are Social Bonds 77 The Public Life ofOaths 80 Solemn Promises plus Some Exemptions 84 Exegetes on Swearing 86 Socialis Necessitudo and the Need for Oaths 92 Swearing in the Land ofFalsehood 101 4. MERCY NOT JUSTICE: HOW PENANCE BECAME A WORTHY ACT OF SELF-INCRIMINATION 105 A Proftssion ofHoliness 105 Preachers ofPenance 107 The Penitential Lives ofReligious Proftssionals I I 0 The Heroic Lives ofPenitents I I 7 Compunction and Discernmentfor All 122 The Balance ofMercy andJustice 127 An End to the Scholarly Myth ofDecline and Rigorism 132 CONCLUSION 135 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 139 NOTES 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY 197 INDEX 227 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 233 ...