© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/157007212X617281 Vigiliae Christianae 66 (2012) 190-212 brill.nl/vc Vigiliae Christianae Sed de quo peccato? Augustine’s exegesis of Rom. 8:3c in sermo 152, 9-11 Gert Partoens a and Anthony Dupont b a) KULeuven—Faculty of Arts, Research Unit Latin Studies Blijde Inkomststraat 21 bus 3311, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium Gert.Partoens@arts.kuleuven.be b) KULeuven—Faculty of Teology, Research Unit History of Church and Teology Sint-Michielsstraat 4 bus 3101, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium Anthony.Dupont@theo.kuleuven.be Abstract Augustine explored four exegetical solutions to reconcile Christ’s sinlessness with the expression de peccato in Rom. 8:3c (de peccato damnauit peccatum in carne): de peccato as referring to (1) Christ’s death, (2) Christ’s mortal body, (3) the sin of Judas and the Jews, which caused Christ’s death, and (4) Christ’s sacrifce for man’s sin. Augustine’s elaborate treatment of the fourth interpretation in s. 152, 9-11 is the main focus of this article. In light of other works from the same period (417/418), these paragraphs can be read as implicitly answering Pelagian criticism of Augustine’s Christology. Keywords Patristic exegesis, Rom. 8:3, Augustine of Hippo (s. 152), sin, sacrifce, Christology, Pelagian controversy 1. Introduction During one of his visits to Carthage during the Pelagian controversy— probably in September-October 417 or May 418 1 —Augustine delivered six sermons on Rom. 7-8 (ss. 151-156). At the end of the second homily of this series (s. 152, 8-11), the bishop ofered an interpretation of Rom. 8:3bc: Misit Deus Filium suum in similitudine(m) carnis peccati et de peccato 1) For a discussion of the date of ss. 151-156, see G. Partoens (2008), IX-XXII; J. Lössl (2008), XXIII-LV.