In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais engages Dr. Chad Pecknold, Associate Professor of Theology at The Catholic University of America and Theologian in Residence at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, Virginia, on his recent work Fire on the Altar: Setting Our Souls Ablaze through Augustine's Confessions.

Pecknold offers a rigorously Catholic interpretation of Augustine's Confessions, countering experiential-expressivist and individualistic readings prevalent in modern scholarship. He demonstrates that the text constitutes an objective moral and liturgical reckoning of reality, structured around the motif of sacrifice. Central to this reading is the pivotal phrase in Book V—“accept the sacrifice of my confessions”—which Pecknold interprets as Augustine's offering of his life story united to Christ's Eucharistic sacrifice on the Church's altar. This liturgical anthropology culminates in the Eucharist as the fire of divine charity that purifies the inner altar of the soul, integrates the person, and orients both soul and civilization toward God.

The conversation traces Augustine's rejection of false religions (Manichaeism and pagan altars) as disordered offerings that disintegrate the self, contrasted with the true sacrifice that unifies. Pecknold applies this framework to contemporary phenomena, identifying functional religions in ideologies of identity, sexuality, and collectivism as modern analogs to bad religion. He further elucidates Augustine's doctrine of grace—epitomized in the plea “give what you command”—as the divine initiative that enables adherence to God beyond Platonic ascent, realized sacramentally through baptism and the Eucharist.

Pecknold reflects on his own intellectual and spiritual journey from existentialism to Augustinian theology, underscoring the Confessions' enduring relevance amid crises in Western civilization. The discussion closes with reflections on uniting personal suffering to Christ's sacrificial fire for purification and integration.

Resources:

Links to Dr. Chad Pecknold's books

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/transforming-postliberal-theology-9780567288219/utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://trs.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/pecknold-chad/index.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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