ost part, the method is to appeal to the authority and wisdom of texts accepted into the Catholic canon, notably the Old and New Testaments, with the exegesis of the New (Christian) superseding that of the Old (Jewish) as necessary to accomplish the primary project objective. What lends authority to the New Testament filter is the Redemption, the central symbol and event relative to which all doctrine can be explained and all texts, both Christian and non-Christian, can be interpreted.
Each of Augustine's major works deals in some detail with the relationship of Christianity to Judaism and the Jews, both as historical phenomena and as precursors of Christian thought and praxis. Both directly and indirectly, Augustine concludes that the Jews and Judaism are in religious error for the reason that they resist the message of the Redemption. However, he does not arrive at his conclusion lightly. Nor does he descend into hostile, simplistic invective. His response to and analysis of the Jewish case is systematic, complex, and dense. That fact helps explain th
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