Font of Life

Pulitzer-winning historian and Catholic intellectual Wills (emeritus, Northwestern Univ.; Lincoln at Gettysburg) adds yet another title to his c.v., which includes over 40 published books, including previous works on Augustine of Hippo. Focusing here on the ritual of baptism in the fourth century, he compares and contrasts two giants of the early Latin church, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (c.337–397 C.E.) and Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354–430 C.E.), both of whose writings greatly impacted the development of Western Christianity. Wills's analysis liberally incorporates quotations from both men's works and from scholarly studies on ecclesiastical architecture of the day. At the Duomo, Milan's cathedral, the ancient baptistery connected the old basilica with the new, and baptizands passed physically and symbolically from one to the other at Easter after weekly Lenten training sessions given by the bishop. Ambrose was likely baptized there in 374 C.E., and he baptized—though he did not convert—Augustine in 387 C.E. Wills shows where Ambrose and Augustine differed from each other in theology, temperament, and even ritual preference. He engagingly offers insight into the religion, politics, and culture of the time.