Augustine and the Bible

Pamela Bright

Description

Based on the acclaimed French volume Saint Augustin et la Bible, this translation with additional selections honors the beautifully wrought monument to the scholarly research of Anne-Marie la Bonnardière and her colleagues. Editor Pamela Bright offers the first English-language edition of this volume in the highly regarded series Bible de Tous les Temps, published by Beauchesne Editeur in Paris. This volume presents the findings of eminent scholars on the Bible in Augustine’s letters, in his preaching, in polemics, in the City of God, and as a source for Christian ethics, following the chronological order of Augustine’s works from the mid-380s to just before his death in 430. Part I examines what can be known of the stages of Augustine’s encounter with the biblical texts and which texts were formative for him before he assumed his ministry of the Word. Part II is devoted to a very different kind of encounter—Augustine’s grappling with the hermeneutical method originating in the province of Africa. Part III describes Augustine’s first foray into the field of biblical polemics when he opposes the Manichees, the very group who first introduced him to a study of the “obscurities” of the biblical text. And in Part IV, the reader encounters the most familiar voice of Augustine—that of the tireless preacher of the Word.

Contributors include: Anne-Marie la Bonnardière, Mark Vessey, Michael Cameron, Pamela Bright, Robert A. Kugler, Charles Kannengiesser, Roland J. Teske, S.J., Gerald Bonner, Joseph Wolinski, Michel Albaric, O.P., Constance E. McLeese, and Albert Verwilghen.

Sujets

• Biblical Studies
• Biblical Biography
• Philosophie et théologie
• Ciudad de Dios
• Philosophy
• Christian ethics
• City of God
• Exegesis
• General officer
• Hermeneutics
• Ethics
• Religion
• General
• Paris
• French

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 19 août 1999
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268076290
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

AUGUSTINE
and the Bible
THE BIBLE
THROUGH THE AGES
Volume 2
SERIES DIRECTORS
Charles Kannengiesser Pamela Bright
The University of Notre Dame Press gratefully acknowledges the generous support of THE ESTATE OF NANCY R. DREUX in the publication of this Great Work in Translation .
AUGUSTINE
and the Bible

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY
Pamela Bright
Based on B IBLE D E T OUS L ES T EMPS , volume 3, Saint Augustin et la Bible , edited by Anne-Marie La Bonnardi re
Copyright 1986 B EAUCHESNE for the original French edition, B IBLE DE T OUS L ES T EMPS , volume 3 , Saint Augustin et la Bible
Edited by A.-M. L A B ONNARDI RE
All inquiries concerning the rights of translation, reproduction, adaptation, in whatever language or by whatever means there might be, are strictly obliged to inquire to the editor of the original French edition: B EAUCHESNE E DITEUR , 7 Cit du Cardinal Lemoine, 75005 Paris, France .
Translation and new edition published 1999 by U NIVERSITY OF N OTRE D AME P RESS N OTRE D AME , I NDIANA 46556 A LL R IGHTS R ESERVED
Book design by D ESIGNER S I NK
S ET 10 ON 13 P ALATINO
Production manager D ON J. B EVILLE
Manufactured in the United States of America by the A MERICAN B OOK C OMPANY , I NC .
a division of B EVILLE P UBLISHING
L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING - IN -P UBLICATION D ATA A UGUSTINE AND THE B IBLE Edited [and translated] by
P AMELA B RIGHT
P. CM .
B ASED ON : S AINT A UGUSTIN ET LA B IBLE , 1986
I NCLUDES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND INDEXES . ISBN 0-268-00654-7 ( CLOTH: ALK. PAPER ). ISBN 0-268-00655-5 ( PBK. : ALK. PAPER ) 1. A UGUSTINE , S AINT , B ISHOP OF H IPPO - C ONTRIBUTIONS IN B IBLICAL INTERPRETATION . 2. B IBLE -C RITICISM , INTERPRETATION , ETC .- H ISTORY -E ARLY CHURCH , CA . 30-600. I. B RIGHT , P AMELA , 1937-. II. S AINT A UGUSTIN ET LA B IBLE . BS500.A84 1997 220 .092-dc21 CIP 97-20807
eISBN 9780268076290
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences- Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z39.48-1984 .
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail] .
To Mary Rose MacGinley whose scholarly and spiritual presence has enriched my life .
Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction P AMELA B RIGHT
P ART I
Encountering the Word: Augustine s Biblical Initiation
1
Augustine , Confessions XI, 3-4
Let Thy Scriptures Be My Chaste Delights
2
Augustine s Biblical Initiation
A NNE -M ARIE L A B ONNARDI RE
3
The Canon of Sacred Scripture
A NNE -M ARIE L A B ONNARDI RE
4
Did Augustine Use Jerome s Vulgate?
A NNE -M ARIE L A B ONNARDI RE
5
The Great Conference: Augustine and His Fellow Readers
M ARK V ESSEY
6
The Christological Substructure of Augustine s Figurative Exegesis
M ICHAEL C AMERON
7
Augustine, Sermon 21
On the Verse of Psalm 64: The Just One Will Take Delight in the Lord
P ART II
A Conflict of African Hermeneutics: Augustine and Tyconius
8
The Preponderating Influence of Augustine : A Study of the Epitomes of the Book of Rules of the Donatist Tyconius
P AMELA B RIGHT
9
Tyconius s Mystic Rules and the Rules of Augustine
R OBERT A. K UGLER
10
Augustine and Tyconius: A Conflict of Christian Hermeneutics in Roman Africa
C HARLES K ANNENGIESSER
11
Augustine, Sermon 23
A Sermon Preached in the Faustus Basilica on the Vision of God
P ART III
The Sword of the Word: Augustine and Polemics
12
The Bible and Polemics
A NNE -M ARIE L A B ONNARDI RE
13
Augustine, the Manichees and the Bible
R OLAND J. T ESKE , S.J.
14
Augustine, Sermon 50, Against the Manichees On What Is Written in the Prophet Haggai:
Mine is the Gold, and Mine is the Silver
15
Augustine, the Bible and the Pelagians
G ERALD B ONNER
P ART IV
Augustine: Minister of the Word
16
Augustine, Minister of the Word of God
A NNE -M ARIE L A B ONNARDI RE
17
He Pitched His Tent in the Sun Ps. 18:6 (LXX)
J OSEPH W OLINSKI
18
A Eucharistic Catechesis
M ICHEL A LBARIC , O.P.
19
Augustinian Exegesis and Sexist Canon from the New Testament
C ONSTANCE E. M C L EESE
20
Jesus Christ: Source of Christian Humility
A LBERT V ERWILGHEN
21
Augustine, Sermon 43
On What is Written in Isaiah: Unless You Believe, You Shall Not Understand (Is. 7:9 LXX)

Abbreviations

A Select Bibliography (1945-1995)
C HARLES K ANNENGIESSER

List of Contributors

Index of Biblical References
Foreword
The series Bible de Tous les Temps (Paris: Beauchesne diteur) consists of eight volumes:

1. Le monde grec ancien et la Bible , ed. C. Mond sert (1984);
2. Le monde latin antique et la Bible , eds. J. Fontaine and C. Pietri (1985);
3. Saint Augustin et la Bible , ed. A.-M. La Bonnardi re (1986);
4. Le Moyen-Age et la Bible , eds. P. Rich and G. Lobrichon (1984);
5. Le temps des R formes et la Bible , eds. G. Bedouelle and B. Roussel (1989);
6. Le Grand Si cle et la Bible , ed. J.-R. Armogathe (1989);
7. Le si cle des Lumi res et la Bible , eds. Y. Belaval and D. Bourel (1986);
8. Le monde contemporain et la Bible , eds. C. Savard and J.-N. Aletti (1985).
After almost ten years of preparation under the direction of the best experts available, the project developed into a collaboration of two hundred and fifty European and American scholars, the authors of approximately 5,000 pages of text. Highly praised by a chorus of critics on the international scene, Bible de Tous les Temps represents a substantial contribution to the current retrieval of ancient Christian traditions by historians and other specialists.
With the kind agreement of the publishing house Beauchesne and the enthusiastic support of Jim Langford, director of the University of Notre Dame Press, two American shoots have grown out of the mighty tree planted in Paris: one due to the editorial care of Paul Blowers (Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, TN), The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity; and a second, Augustine and the Bible , secured by Pamela Bright (Concordia University, Montreal). Other volumes are in planning.
Each editor of the new volumes endeavors to retain the riches of the French edition by selecting contributions of the original edition, translated from French into English, while adding new contributions directly written in English and reflecting a broad spectrum of present scholarship.
C HARLES K ANNENGIESSER
C. F. Huisking Professor Emeritus of Theology
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
P AMELA B RIGHT
Concordia University, Montreal
Easter Sunday, 1997
Acknowledgments
The volume, Augustine and the Bible , is the result of persevering efforts by a number of people since 1992 when I arrived in Montreal. First, I wish to acknowledge the financial assistance of Concordia University without whose grant monies this project would have been impossible. Then I wish to thank the translation and editorial team that worked with me in the Department of Theological Studies at Concordia University at key points in the production of the book. First in the translating team I wish to acknowledge the work of Constance McLeese who contributed so much to this volume as she worked on her own doctoral project on gender issues in Augustine s biblical canon. Linden Rogers generously contributed her computer and scanning know-how at a critical moment. A special thanks to Cher Jacek who has proved herself a true partner in this enterprise from beginning to end.
To Jim Langford and his staff at Notre Dame Press my sincere gratitude, not only for their professionalism, but for the constant encouragement and support in the face of obstacles and difficulties. That the volume has reached completion on Easter Sunday is something that Augustine would have appreciated.
Introduction
The very title of the volume, Augustine and the Bible , immediately calls for a flurry of explanations. Such a title should announce a series in itself, rather than a single, rather slim volume within a series. This volume was never intended as an exhaustive treatment of such a vast topic, nor was it even meant to be representative of contemporary scholarship on Augustine and the Bible. Charles Kannengiesser s selected bibliography of the scholarship of the past fifty years is a telling indication of what would be the scope of such a task. Rather, the intention is that it be a forum for a conversation about Augustine and the Bible. Certainly, it is our hope that this will be an open-ended conversation in which the present volume will have a lively contribution.
The present work is derived from the beautifully wrought volume Saint Augustin et la Bible , under the direction of Anne-Marie La Bonnardi re, the third volume of the series Bible de Tous les Temps (Beauchesne, Paris: 1986, general editor, Charles Kannengiesser.) The French edition was acclaimed as a monument to the scholarly research of Anne-Marie la Bonnardi re and her colleagues. It was organized around eight themes: Augustine s biblical initiation, the Bible and liturgy, the Bible and prayer, the Bible in Augustine