Augustine’s Non-Polemical Reading of Philippians 2.6-7
Augustine’s use of Philippians 2.6-7 as a ‘rule of faith’ employed to underscore pro-Nicene Christological concerns has been repeatedly emphasized, and rightly so, by Anglophone Augustine scholars. However, focus on the polemical function of the forma servi/forma dei couplet has overshadowed its presence and
development in non-polemical contexts. This is surprising because Augustine treats the pericope in question outside of polemical contexts more so than otherwise. The present paper aims at redressing this lack by charting the non-polemical presence of Philippians 2.6-7 in the work of Augustine and the development vis-à-vis the term forma among Augustine’s immediate fourth century Latin predecessors. In so doing, this paper hopes to illustrate the often neglected non-polemical import of Philippians 2.6-7 in early Christian discourse.
