The WebFriar Blogs

An article at Otium Sanctum about the Prodigal Son also incorporates a citation from Augustine's Sermon 112A about inwardness (interiority). Augustine has a particular way of understanding that phrase which says "and he entered into himself". Modern translations would render it " and he came to his senses." Augustine's rendering has somehow colored Catholic understanding of "conversion."

An article in Biblica caught my attention. It is about Psalm 133, one of the psalms that Augustine uses to illustrate the kind of community life he and his community of friends would like to live under the rule of the apostles. The author, Thijs Booij spends some time on the opening lines, and the relationship between the images of Hermon's dew and the blessing that God commands. He speaks of "progression" in the psalm that leads him to make his rendering of it. However, he finds that the relationship of "dew of Hermon" on the one hand, and its " falling on Zion" on the other as problematic. I have entertained the a different way of interpreting the psalm with the same theological conclusions that Booij draws from it. Simply: Take the images of the oil falling from Aaron's head down to his beard and down to the ends of his robes as one image. Take the image of the dew from snow-capped Hermon falling into the Jordan river whose serpentine appearance makes it look like a long beard. It is the Jordan that brings the dew of Hermon, like a blessing, to "fall" down on Zion (if one is thinking of a map that hangs on the wall). Now make these two images overlap in such a way that the wizened head of Aaron falls over the snow-capped Mt. Hermon and what do you get: the oil of gladness poured over the head of Aaron and which makes way to the end of his robe is like the dew of Hermon making its way via the Jordan to Zion. The life in communion of brothers -- and here I agree with Booij -- if it is really "communion" becomes an occassion for the blessings of God to flow from such oneness to the rest of the people of God, like water moving from north to south, and feeding the tributaries eastward and westward. Anyhow, Booij's work is interesting in that he makes valid observations regarding Hebrew poetry.

Here are some online texts for De doctrina christiana Augustine's guide to the interpretation of Scriptures and its teaching English text from JOD English text from New Advent From Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) Latin text from Augustinus.IT

Here is an abridged version of Augustine's commentary on "The Our Father". I found it while preparing this article on today's gospel reading. Augustine's commentary on the Sermon on the Mount relates the seven petitions of the Our Father to the seven beatitudes and seven gifts of the Holy Spirit Hallowed be thy nameblessed are the poor in spiritfear Thy Kingdom comeblessed are the meekpiety Thy will be doneblessed those who mournknowledge Give us this day our daily breadblessed those who hunger for righteousnessfortitude Forgive us our trespassesblessed are the mercifulprudence Do not lead us into temptationblessed are the pure of heartunderstanding Deliver us from Evilblessed are the peacemakerswisdom THE SON OF GOD, our Lord Jesus Christ, hath taught us a prayer; and tho He be the Lord Himself, as ye have heard and repeated in the creed, the only Son of God, yet He would not be alone. He is the only Son, and yet would not be alone; He hath vouchsafed to have brethren. For to whom doth He say: “Our Father which art in Heaven?” Whom did He wish us to call our Father save His own Father? Did He grudge us this? Parents sometimes, when they have gotten one, or two, or three children, fear to give birth to any more lest they reduce the rest to beggary. But because the inheritance which He promised us is such as many may possess and no one be straitened, therefore hath He called into His brotherhood the peoples of the nations; and the only Son hath numberless brethren who say, “Our Father which art in Heaven.” So said they who have been before us; and so shall say those who will come after us. See how many brethren the only Son hath in His grace, sharing His inheritance with those for whom He suffered death. We had a father and mother on earth, that we might be born to labors and to death: but we have found other parents, God our Father, and the Church our Mother, by whom we are born unto life eternal. Let us then consider, beloved, whose children we have began to be; and let us live so as becomes those who have such a Father. See how that our Creator had condescended to be our Father! More here.

Here is a brief description of "Inwardness" as found in Augustine's Confessions. The page comes from SparkNotes which is a website that helps college students go through some difficult reading requirements, from literature to philosophy. Inwardness is the method by which Augustine attains his clearest views of God. First reading in the Neoplatonists the advice to look inward for the truth, this idea will become central to what Augustine sees as the path to God. External things, for Augustine, simply scatter the mind into multiplicity and dependence on transient things. Turning away from these things and looking inward, Augustine searches for God. This practice leads to two ecstatic visions of God, the first while he is reading the Neoplatonists and the second with Monica in Ostia. In both cases, Augustine ascends by moving up through the levels of himself (such as body, senses, memory, or mind) until only God is higher. In Book X, Augustine answers the problem of how to seek God without knowing what he looks like by arguing that God is simply that which is higher than the highest in himself. By knowing himself inwardly, he can find God. The description given here is one that was drawn mainly from a reading of the "Confessions". Undoubtedly, the above quote is not from one who has been professionally studying Augustine, but it can serve as a first description of "inwardness" which more than an idea or a method is in Augustine, a lifestyle. Second, "external things" can cause fragmentation in the invidual when these become his main pursuits. External things can serve as an aid for drawing the mind to God, however, so long as one is able to "listen" to their cry: "We are not the ones who created ourselves! Go up higher!" Augustine does not solve the problem of how to seek God; he does point out a way through familiar paths. The Delphic oracle tells everyone "Know Thyself." Augustine tells us through the Confessions that in inwardness, one discovers the image of God stamped in one's soul. It is from this knowledge of oneself that one is propelled upwards by that image to its originator. "Let me know myself", prays Augustine, "that I may know You."

In the article "Scripture Through The Eyes of Augustine", Steven Filippo gives a summary of the principles of bible interpretation that Augustine explains in the De Doctrina Christiana and he also shows how these are relevant for our times. As an example, he takes the problem of cultural relativism and sex and shows how Augustine's principle of interpretation -- love -- cannot be used to support an interpretation of the sacred text that favors adultery precisely because "love" for Augustine is based on an absolute reference, i.e. an order of love: Man above the world (and its lust), and God above all. Augustine points out that men tend to judge a sin not by the measure of its malice but according to the customs of the times (cf. DDC III:10:15). Thus when Scripture teaches something at variance with the customs of its audience, or censures what is not at variance, the tendency is to interpret it figuratively. If some people in the United States believe that adultery is the best way to enliven their marriage, then they’ll find a way to pervert the true meaning of the scriptural text on the subject: "Jesus really means we should keep marriages together. If committing adultery does so, then I am in compliance with his true intentions." Cultural relativism also allows them to say, "Christ’s condemnation of adultery was governed by cultural factors that no longer apply today, so I don’t have to take it literally." According to Augustine, Scripture teaches with the intention of invigorating charity and vanquishing and destroying lust (cf. DDC III:10:15). He defines charity as "a motion of the soul whose purpose is to enjoy God for his own sake and one’s self and neighbor for the sake of God." Lust, on the other hand, "is a motion of the soul bent upon enjoying one’s self and neighbor, and any created thing without reference to God. The action of unbridled lust in demoralizing one’s own soul and body is called vice; what is does to harm another is called crime. . . . Likewise, what charity does for one’s own benefit is called utility; what it does for our neighbor’s good is called kindness. In this case, utility leads the way, for no one can give to another from a supply that he does not have. The more the power of lust is destroyed, the more the power of charity is strengthened" (DDC III:10:16). So even if the words of Scripture are harsh or the deeds of God or his saints appear cruel, Augustine maintains, these words and deeds are efficacious in destroying the power of lust. Next, he wants us to keep in mind that those things which appear wicked to the unenlightened, whether in word or deed, if performed by God or holy men whose sanctity is beyond question, are meant figuratively (cf. DDC III:11:17). He gives the example that we must not reason that our Lord’s feet were anointed with precious ointment by the woman (cf. John 12:3, Luke 7:37) for the same reason that was customary for sensual and dissolute men of that time whose banquets were moral abominations. The woman anointed Christ’s feet in deep honor and respect for who he was and by way of asking forgiveness. Augustine says that if Scripture is didactic either in condemning vice or crime or prescribing utility or kindness, it is not figurative. But if Scripture appears to prescribe vice or crime, or to condemn utility or kindness, then it is figurative (cf. DDC III:16:24). So when Our Lord says that it is better to cut off your right hand than sin and lose your entire body in hell (cf. Matt.7:30), he is not saying to actually cut off your hand but that you must realize the extreme gravity of the sin. Again, when Paul says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink. For by doing so you will heap coals of fire upon his head" (Rom.12:20), he is not advocating malevolence. He is prescribing a kindness that will help burn away an enemy’s hatred. More here.

Here is a webpage from Bible-Researcher that reproduces some of the correspondences of Augustine and Jerome on this latter's work on the Vulgate. Whatever tension the two has on the Vulgate is traceable to the fact that Augustine prefers the Septuagint and the Itala versions based on it on the one hand, while Jerome would like to make use of the "Hebrew genius" by using the Massoretic text as the basis for his Latin translation. The following excerpt taken from Augustine's letter to Jerome in 403 is interesting in that it describes how a new translation can cause disturbance among the faithful A certain bishop, one of our brethren, having introduced in the church over which he presides the reading of your version, came upon a word in the book of the prophet Jonah, of which you have given a very different rendering from that which had been of old familiar to the senses and memory of all the worshippers, and had been chanted for so many generations in the church. Thereupon arose such a tumult in the congregation, especially among the Greeks, correcting what had been read, and denouncing the translation as false, that the bishop was compelled to ask the testimony of the Jewish residents (it was in the town of Oea). These, whether from ignorance or from spite, answered that the words in the Hebrew manuscripts were correctly rendered in the Greek version, and in the Latin one taken from it. What further need I say? The man was compelled to correct your version in that passage as if it had been falsely translated, as he desired not to be left without a congregation -- a calamity which he narrowly escaped. From this case we also are led to think that you may be occasionally mistaken. You will also observe how great must have been the difficulty if this had occurred in those writings which cannot be explained by comparing the testimony of languages now in use The whole page is found here.

"Augustine Day By Day" is now also online. If you don't have the book, then you can use this link to read selections from the works of St. Augustine of Hippo for meditation and prayer. We often use it for our local chapters.

We've seen Augustine, so how do we understand the "two books doctrine" for our times? Here is a webpage dealing on the question from within the problem of Evolution vs. Genesis. Catholics wouldn't have too great a problem with it, but bible-based Christians do have a problem with it. The article is entitled "How should we interpret the Two Books of God?" Here is the way the author states the problem: When we ask, "What is the relationship between science and Christian religion?", one answer — inherent conflict and science-religion warfare — was proposed in the late 1800s by John Draper and Andrew White. The metaphor of "war" is dramatic, is useful for anti-Christian rhetoric, and has exerted a powerful influence on popular views about the interactions between science and religion. But this view of history is oversimplistic and inaccurate. It does not accurately describe what really happened, and is rejected by modern historians. Viewing the relationship between science and Christianity as "inherent conflict" is wrong, but is common. When I tell someone that I'm a scientist and a Christian, a common response is, "Wow, how do you do it?" Sometimes this is a "why" question, challenging my intelligence and rationality because — if there really is a conflict between science and faith — one or the other should be rejected by a logically consistent person. But often it's a genuine "how" question, an invitation to explain how I cope with the disagreement (assumed by the questioner) between conclusions in science and statements in the Bible. In responding to the question "How do you do it?", what should we say? How can we reconcile science and the Bible? The next section explains why "science and Bible" is the wrong question, and why — because perceived conflict is not actual conflict — we can have confidence in both of God's revelations, in scripture and nature.

Edward Sellner has an article for "Spirituality Today" about the meanings of "friendship" in Augustine. In one of Augustine's numerous letters that still exists, we find him writing to a friend: When you have read this letter, use it as an invisible bridge to cross over and proceed in thought into my heart, and see what goes on there concerning you. There will be laid open to the eye of love the inner chamber of love, which we close against the troublesome trifles of the world when we adore the Lord. There you will see the ecstasy of my joy in that good deed of yours, which I cannot utter in my speech nor express with my pen, burning and glowing as it is in the sacrifice of praise of Him by whose help you carried it out. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gifts. (Ep. 58,2, in Fiske 2-5) If love is a shared vision and the heart a resting-place, a dwelling-place for our friends, as Augustine writes, then we can perhaps conclude that the original interpretation of the painting by Botticelli of an aging Augustine seated at his desk in the winter of his years was somewhat misleading. For even in Augustine's rare moments of solitude, he was really not alone. He was probably thinking of his friends, developing even greater intimacy with them in his memory and in his heart. Knowing what we know of him, we can imagine Augustine stopping his writing for a moment, putting down his pen, and praying for them to the God who had been revealed in his life as a God of friendship and a God of fire.

The twelfth-century doctrine of the Two Books of Creation on the one hand and Scriptures on the other, seems to have developed from a passage of the Augustine's ennarations on the Psalms Liber tibi sit pagina divina, ut haec audias; liber tibi sit orbis terrarum, ut haec videas (In ps. 45, 7, PL -- see it online here.) "Listen to the the book that is the divine page; look at the book that is the orb of the world." The reference comes from a book written by Gaetano Savoca, "Leggere le scritture dall'esperienza." For a more extensive selection of passages from the works of St. Augustine of Hippo, please go to this italian website. The Latin originals are displayed in parallel with the Italian translation. In a discussion on the relationship between Science and Scriptures, someone wrote the following: Già Agostino , uno dei padri della Chiesa , sosteneva che il Logos fosse l' origine sia della ragione , sia della rivelazione e anche della creazione ; riprendendo in parte queste idee di fondo Galileo arriva a dire che scienza e Scrittura hanno un' unica origine , quella divina . In altre parole , ciò che l' uomo scopre nella natura non può essere in contrasto con la rivelazione : il libro della Scrittura e quello della natura finiscono per essere la stessa cosa , quasi come se Dio volesse comunicare con l' uomo tramite la rivelazione e in più tramite tutto ciò che ci circonda : é come se Dio si fosse rivelato a noi parallelamente con questi due libri , quello della Scrittura e quello della natura ... Augustine, one of the fathers of the Church asserted that the Logos was the origin both of reason, revelation and creation. Taking in part this basic insight, Galileo was led to say that science and Scriptures had only one origin, the divine one. In other words, what man discovers in nature cannot be in contrast with revelation: the book of the Scriptures and that of nature end up being the same thing, almost as if God had wanted to communicate with man through revelation and more, through that which surrounds him. It is as if God had wanted to reveal himself to us in parallel, with these two books, that of Scriptures and that of nature... For the full article, go here.

Marco Massignan of RagionPolitica.IT has an article where he gives a brief report of the Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical. The following is a partial translation of Massignan's article "God is love. Whoever is in love dwells in God and God dwells in him. These words from the letter of St. John express with singular clarity the center of the Christian faith, the christian image of God and even the resulting vision of man and of his journey." With these words -- according to what we have gathered - the first encyclical of Benedict XVI begins. "Deus Caritas est", "God is love" (this is the title of the encyclical) is about fifty pages, divided into two parts; the text will be made known in the coming days. Divine love and human love, therefore, are at the center of the Ratzingerian reflection. It is a document that is not a programmatic manifesto of the guidelines of this pontificate, but rather a theologico-moral meditation of an elevated kind based on, beginning from the incipit, the Johannine concept of "God is love" that leads to an appeal on the value of charity (caritas) in society and in the mission of the Church. The first part of the text in particular is dedicated to the central role reserved to the figure and word of Christ, "on the unity of love, of creation and the history of salvation." Highlighted is the difference between eros and agape (this last is the love that is developed in a real form of reciprocity), so as to help the human being of our century to understand the position of the Church on the delicate question of present day morals. God is the true archetype of every love, but also the pattern on the basis of which every love that wants to be worthy of such a name is developed. Benedict XVI does not hesitate to warn humanity from the danger it faces when the two dimensions of love are disassociated: eros and agape. Without agape, i.e. "love founded in faith and is formed byh it", eros ends up "degraded to pure sex", thus becoming commercial, something that is bought and sold. In short, even human beings become commercial objects. On the other hand, when both are united, eros and agape are in a perfect synthesis, a unity of understanding love as a donation to the other and a search for the other. The second part with its reference to the connection between love and justice -- without justice, there is no peace as John Paul II once said -- explains what is true christian charity, how it manifests itself and which manifestations are its bearers ("charity as the exercise of the love by the Church"). "Love-agape" observes Pope Ratzinger will always be necessary even in the most just society. However, this activity out to be detached and independent from parties and ideologies since it is not a means for changing the world, but rather, the realization here and now of the love which man always needs." In particular, what emerges from the pages of "Deus caritas est" is an important reflection on the unity between God and man and on unity in the marriage of man and woman. The Pope insists on the fact that if the opposition between love that gives itself (agape) and love of desire (eros) is made radical, the christianity will fall short of its characteristic aspect. The more these two dimensions of love enter into a just unity, the more the true essence of love is realized. Even in this perspective -- emphasizes Benedict XVI -- "marriage based on exclusive love becomes the representation of God with his people and vice versa." The treatment of Benedict of the idea of love as eros (from the Greek verb "eran") is -- I think, Augustinian. When Augustine says "My love is my weight" for example, he is referring to this concept of love: the love that seeks the beloved. "Love as eros" in this sense cannot be bad in itself, for it can also be argued that the Divine love which seeks to unite with humanity to the point of self-emptying in the incarnation -- another Augustinian theme -- is ero-tic, by definition. Of course, we will still have to wait for the encyclical of Pope Ratzinger to be sure of this. Also, please read this post where I react to a WikiPedia article on "Deus caritas est." UPDATE Below is a quote from Benedict XVI as he describes his first encyclical in a speech he made before the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" (Zenit dispatch): I wished to underline the centrality of faith in God, in that God who has assumed a human face and a human heart. Faith is not a theory that one can take up or lay aside. It is something very concrete: It is the criterion that decides our lifestyle. In an age in which hostility and greed have become superpowers, an age in which we witness the abuse of religion to the point of culminating in hatred, neutral rationality on its own is unable to protect us. We are in need of the living God who has loved us unto death. Thus, in this encyclical, the subjects "God," "Christ" and "Love" are welded, as the central guide of the Christian faith. I wished to show the humanity of faith, of which "eros" forms part, man's "yes" to his corporeal nature created by God, a "yes" that in the indissoluble marriage between man and woman finds its rooting in creation. And in it, "eros" is transformed into "agape," love for the other that no longer seeks itself but that becomes concern for the other, willingness to sacrifice oneself for him and openness to the gift of a new human life. The Christian "agape," love for one's neighbor in the following of Christ, is not something foreign, put to one side or something that even goes against the "eros"; on the contrary, with the sacrifice Christ made of himself for man he offered a new dimension, which has developed ever more in the history of the charitable dedication of Christians to the poor and the suffering. A first reading of the encyclical might perhaps give the impression that it is divided in two parts, that it is not greatly related within itself: a first, theoretical part that talks about the essence of love, and a second part that addresses ecclesial charity, with charitable organizations. However, what interested me was precisely the unity of the two topics, which can only be properly understood if they are seen as only one thing. Above all, it was necessary to show that man is created to love and that this love, which in the first instance is manifested above all as "eros" between man and woman, must be transformed interiorly later into "agape," in gift of self to the other to respond precisely to the authentic nature of the "eros." With this foundation, it had then to be clarified that the essence of the love of God and of one's neighbor described in the Bible is the center of Christian life, it is the fruit of faith. Then, it was necessary to underline in a second part that the totally personal act of the "agape" cannot remain as something merely individual, but, on the contrary, it must also become an essential act of the Church as community: that is, an institutional form is also needed that expresses itself in the communal action of the Church. The ecclesial organization of charity is not a form of social assistance that is superimposed by accident on the reality of the Church, an initiative that others could also take. On the contrary, it forms part of the nature of the Church. Just as to the divine "Logos" corresponds the human announcement, the word of faith, so also to the "Agape," which is God, must correspond the "agape" of the Church, her charitable activity. This activity, in addition to its first very concrete meaning of help to the neighbor, also communicates to others the love of God, which we ourselves have received. In a certain sense, it must make the living God visible. In the charitable organization, God and Christ must not be strange words; in fact, they indicate the original source of ecclesial charity. The strength of "Caritas" depends on the strength of faith of all its members and collaborators. The spectacle of suffering man touches our heart. But charitable commitment has a meaning that goes well beyond mere philanthropy. God himself pushes us in our interior to alleviate misery. In this way, in a word, we take him to the suffering world. The more we take him consciously and clearly as gift, the more effectively will our love change the world and awaken hope, a hope that goes beyond death. All these seems to reiterate what Paul has stated: Faith is made dynamic in agapic love.

A page from the website of the Monks of the Adoration that presents an introduction to Augustine's concept of love and happiness. In love there are two discerning factors to consider dependent upon the object pursued. There is the object of material love, which is transitory, and the object of eternal love, which is enduring. In regard to these two loves, Augustine remarks that it is the object of love that affects its lover with something of itself (De div. quaest. 33). Augustine describes the evil encountered in the object of material love as attempting to either eliminate or protect oneself from all impediments (De lib. arb. 1.4.10). Such behavior frequently involves domination or removal of those who may pose a threat to the security of their material enjoyment. The social consequence of such behavior inevitably sets one person against another. The social ills of contemporary society, and our human history, demonstrate the negative consequences of such behavior. Eternal love because focused on what is not passing leads to true happiness; material love which is turned to transitory things is doomed to a happiness that mirrors true happiness but is unable to fulfill the soul's desire for happiness. Read the full article here.

Deborah Wallace Ruddy of Boston College has a dissertation on "A Christological Approach to Humility: Augustine and Humility". The dissertation can be downloaded in PDF format. If you are on FireFox with the proper PDF plugin, you can read the dissertation through your browser. Humility has become an unpopular, even forgotten, virtue in contemporary Western culture. Central throughout most of Christian history, its value today has changed dramatically. Within Christian circles, the world-affirming and liberating dimensions of the gospel have led to questions about whether humility frustrates human flourishing and fosters a passive acceptance of injustice. Several feminist scholars have argued that humility can exacerbate women's struggle for self-identity and empowerment. At this time, St. Augustine's work is worth exploring because he both places humility at the center of Christian life and provides a Christological hermeneutic for distinguishing between true and false humility. According to Augustine, all Christian virtues are rooted in this foundational Christian attribute revealed in Jesus Christ. You may also check out this article from AugNet.

Fancy this: an article on the Christian doctrine of the "Two Books" from a Jewish website. Historically this model was expressed in a metaphor that Christian scientists in the 16th to 18th centuries often used called the "Two Books of God": the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture. Each "Book" had its own truth, and neither could contradict the other. As Galileo was reported to have said, "Science teaches us how heaven goes while Scripture teaches us how to go to heaven." This metaphor allowed the scientists to pursue the secrets of the "Book of Nature" without coming into conflict with the truth of Scripture. This metaphor never existed in Jewish sources because, in Judaism, there was only one book, the Torah, in which all wisdom was contained. However, Maimonides came closest to expressing the idea that the natural world could also be a source of revelation. In his understanding of the commandments to love and fear God (Deuteronomy 6:5, 13), he wrote: "When a person observes God's works and God's great and marvelous creatures, and they see from them God's wisdom that is without estimate or end, immediately they will love God, praise God and long with a great desire to know God's Great Name...And when a person thinks about these things they draw back and are afraid and realize that they are small, lowly, and obscure, endowed with slight and slender intelligence, standing in the presence of God who is perfect in knowledge." ( Mishneh Torah, Sepher Madah, Hilkhot Yesodei Ha-Torah 2:1-2) For Maimonides, to "observe" the works of God meant what we would call the scientific study of the natural world. For Maimonides, the two "Books of God" were not separate realms of truth, but complementary sources of the knowledge of God Read the full article here.