knowledge of faith and transformative renewal. As inRecognitions,
the act of upward recognition is accompanied by changes in one’s
identity.
A related but distinct use ofagnitioconcerns the acknowledgement
or recognition of Christ inThe City of God. Here Augustine is closer
to the Roman legal use, meaning the adoption or acknowledgement of
somebody as son or as ruler. Augustine expounds the divine anoint-
ing of the King in Psalm 45:8–9. He considers that all hearers must
‘here recognize (agnosco) Christ’as an object of our faith and preach-
ing. When‘it is acknowledged that this King is Christ (agnito rege
Christo)’, the believers are‘subject to him who reigns because of truth,
meekness, and righteousness’.^31
The recognition of Christ is thus concerned with subjective faith,
but it is also linked with the political and legal recognition of king-
ship. Augustine speaks of the Jews who did not acknowledge Christ
(agnosco); here, also, a politico-legal recognition is compared to a
religious recognition.^32 Augustine describes how, after the baptism of
Jesus, his disciples started to recognize (agnosco) him as Lord.^33
The act of recognition thus defines belonging to a group, the
disciples being insiders, whereas the Jews as a whole remain outsiders.
Although a transformative renewal is also assumed, the legal recog-
nition of group membership remains apparent.
In theUnfinished Book against JulianAugustine highlights the
recognition of Christ in a way that manifests various dimensions of
this act. In John 8:31–2, Jesus says to the Jews who believe in him that,
if they keep his word they will know (cognosco) the truth. This truth
will make them free; the truth is Christ our Lord speaking to his
faithful. After recognizing Christ (post agnitionem Christi) they will
no longer serve sin, but achieve true freedom. In this new state, they
will be free from the falsehood and evil desires of other people.^34 Here
recognition means both (i) the subjective, transformative attachment
and (ii) the group identity of those who receive the truth.
Although Augustine does not use the phraseagnitio veritatisin
such a programmatic manner as the author ofRecognitions, we can
detect similar patterns. Both understandagnitioprimarily as an
upward recognition in terms of gift transfer and, secondarily, as the
heteronomous constitution of the faithful. Such recognition gives
(^31) Civ. Dei17, 16. Trans. Dods. (^32) Civ. Dei18, 33; 18, 47.
(^33) Civ. Dei17, 8. (^34) C. Iul. imp. 1, 87.
56 Recognition and Religion