Outward Signs

We are used to thinking of words as signs of inner thoughts. In Outward Signs, Philip Cary argues that Augustine invented this expressionist semiotics, where words are outward signs expressing an inward will to communicate, in an epochal departure from ancient philosopical semiotics, where signs are means of inference, as smoke is a sign of fire. Augustine uses his new theory of signs to give an account of Biblical authority, explaining why an authoritative external teaching is needed in addition to the inward teaching of Christ as divine Wisdom, which is conceived in terms drawn from Platonist epistemology. In fact for Augustine we literally learn nothing from words or any other outward sign, because the truest form of knowledge is a kind of Platonist vision, seeing what is inwardly present to the mind. Nevertheless, because our mind's eye is diseased by sin we need the help of external signs as admonitions or reminders pointing us in the right direction, so that we may look and see for ourselves. Even our knowledge of other persons is ultimately a matter not of trusting their words but of seeing their minds with our minds. Thus Cary argues here that, for Augustine, outward signs are useful but ultimately powerless because no bodily thing has power to convey something inward to the soul. This means that there can be no such thing as an efficacious external means of grace. The sacraments, which Augustine was the first to describe as outward signs of inner grace, signify what is necessary for salvation but do not confer it. Baptism, for example, is necessary for salvation, but its power is found not in water or word but in the inner unity, charity and peace of the church. Even the flesh of Christ is necessary but not efficacious, an external sign to use without clinging to it.

Readership: Students and scholars of religion and theology.

Phillip Cary, Professor at Eastern University Scholar in residence, Templeton Honors College

"Along with its companion work, Inner Grace, this careful and insightful book breaks new ground in the study of Augustine theology of grace and sacraments." - Augustines.de

Introduction: Expressionist Semiotics and the Powerlessness of the External
Part I: Words from Which We Learn Nothing
1: Before Words were Signs: Semiotics in Greek Philosophy
2: From Skepticism to Platonism: The Concept of Sign in Augustine's Earliest Writings
3: How Words Became Signs: The Development of Augustine's Expressionist Semiotics
4: Why We Learn Nothing from Words: The Epistemology of Augustine's Semiotics
5: Believing Persons: Theological Implications of Augustine's Semiotics
Part II: Powerless Sacraments
6: Sacred Signs of Inner Unity: Augustine and Medieval Sacramental Theology
7: The Efficacy of the Church's Baptism: Against Donatists and Pelagians
8: New Testament Sacraments and the Flesh of Christ
Conclusion