current dispute. Augustine can make us more aware of our common ground in vital areas such as creation ex nihilo, the imago Dei, and the goodness of creation. Appreciating the ontological underpinnings of Augustine’s doctrine of creation can help us appreciate, for instance, the uniqueness of a Christian way of looking at our world as distinct from its alternatives. As Ian McFarland notes, “Christian teaching about creation is more idiosyncratic than is generally realized.”166 Early on, even some