Jerome and Augustine on wealth and poverty in Psalms 107–150

The purpose of this article was to compare Jerome’s and Augustine’s sermons on the fifth book of the Psalms with regard to their views on the rich and the poor. After a brief consideration of the different audiences of Jerome and Augustine, we focused on their attitudes to wealth and poverty, and almsgiving and its relationship to eschatology. In both Jerome’s and Augustine’s commentaries we were confronted with problems regarding the nature of the collections, the composition of the audiences, and a lack of overlap between the two works, but it was possible to discern congruences and differences in their exegesis. In their preaching on poverty and riches, both homilists associated Judas with the devil and wealth. With regard to the identification of Christ and the poor, Jerome offers a somewhat uneasy exegesis in explaining that Christ stands at the right hand of the pauper, although the Lord himself is rich. Augustine mentioned the identification of Christ and the poor a few times in Enarrationes in Psalmos and framed the poverty of Christ within the body of the church, emphasising the common humanity of his congregation. In his sermons, mainly delivered to monks, Jerome advocated total renunciation. Augustine made more allowances for human frailty, advocating partial and gradual dispossession. The Songs of Ascent provided both our authors with the opportunity to consider the place of almsgiving in an eschatological context.Contribution: We investigate the views of two prominent Latin fathers on wealth and poverty in their sermons on Psalms 109–150. The focus on wealth and poverty is evident. Judas is identified with the rich and Christ with the poor, placing Christ and riches against each other in an either/or position.

Agustín y la Biblia griega en las 'Enarrationes in Psalmos'

The article presents a summary of the ideas of different scholars concerning the real knowledge that Saint Augustine had of the Greek Language, to point out that the competence of Saint Augustine was increasing over the years. It also addresses the relationship between Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome regarding the translations of the Bible, and the value that Saint Augustine attributed to the LXX text. Subsequently, some examples taken from the 'enarrationes in Psalmos' help to stress the work of the augustinian emendatio of the Latin text, taking as point of departure the Greek text, as well as the use the Greek text in Augustine’s own textual interpretation of the psalms.

The Concept of Time in "Enarrationes in Psalmos" by Saint Augustine

What is time? What is its nature, designation and aim? Saint Augustine attempted to resolve these and other questions in his greatest exegetical-homiletical work, Enarrationes in Psalmos. The Bishop of Hippo, commenting on particular verses of the Davidic Psalms, comes to the conviction that time is a variable and fragile value, just like the world and man, which are subject to its laws. The time created by God had a beginning, it abides, and it will have an end. However, this does not mean that the passing of time should be viewed only in a negative sense, for at a concrete moment in time the Son of God became incarnate in order to save man. Time also exists so that man has an opportunity to be converted and to enter eternity. For the Bishop of Hippo, there is no concept of time in eternity, which is changeless and lasts forever. In his conception of time, we can see not only its pure physical aspect, but above all, its theological dimensions. In particular, it contains a message for man that refers not only to the present, but predominantly to the future, to an eternity that inspires great optimism for all people.

Naming God: Exodus 3:14-15 in Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos

Augustine discusses Exodus 3:14-15 on 49 different occasions in his written corpus, 14 of which are found in his Enarrationes in Psalmos. Scholars have been quick to note the importance of God’s self-disclosure as I AM in verse 14 for Augustine’s conception of the divine as esse. However, far less attention has been paid to the place of verse 15 in Augustine’s thought, despite his claim that this verse reveals God’s “other name” (aliud nomen): the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In this article, I discuss four key passages from his Enarrationes in Psalmos – two from the redemptive-historical psalms and two from the psalms of ascent – where Augustine addresses the relationship between the two divine names God reveals to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15. In these four passages, I suggest, Augustine presents temporality and materiality as ongoing necessities for the knowledge of God, despite what he appears to suggest elsewhere.

'Familia Christi': La eclesiología en el libro XII del 'Contra Faustum' de Agustín de Hipona

The first part of this article, presents a bibliographic review of the works that in the last hundred years have addressed in a direct and central way Augustine’s Contra Faustum, making a more extensive description of the most important of them. Later the ecclesiological ideas of Book XII of Augustine’s Contra Faustum are approached, to discuss, Saint Augustine’s exegetical justification to make an spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament. Subsequently, the central ecclesiological figure of Book XII of Augustine’s Contra Faustum is addressed, namely, Noah’s ark, highlighting the symbolic meaning of the pure and impure animals, of the square and imperishable timbers with which the ark was built, of the ark’s side door and its relationship with the side of Christ, of the three levels of Noah’s ark and its ecclesial interpretation, of the greasy glue that joined the timbers as a symbol of unity and peace within the Church. The importance of the expression familia Christi as a name for the Church is highlighted, making an exposition of other augustinan works in which this expression is used. The theme of the Church as the body of Christ and the prosopological exegesis in Augustine’s Book XII of Contra Faustum is also addressed, as well as Saint Augustine’s interpretation of some characters of the Old Testament as figures of the Chruch in book XII of Contra Faustum. The article addresses indirectly to other contemporary Works of Contra Faustum, such as De Baptismo, Ad catholicos fratres and some sermons and enarrationes in Psalmos.

The Chronology of Augustine’s "Tractatus in Iohannis Evangelium" 1–16 and "Enarrationes in Psalmos" 119–133 Revisited

In the year 2002 Milewski published an article devoted to the current state of research concerning Augustine’s Commentary on the Gospel of John where, among other topics, he reports on the state of research in the chronology of this work by Augustine, and after a brief summary of the latest solutions proposed by prominent Augustinian scholars he concludes that the history of the Tractates’ composition calls for a careful appreciation of their development and appearance over the course of Augustine’s busy episcopate and in relation to his other pastoral endeavours. This study therefore serves as the point of departure for our present article in which we would like to contribute to the recently proposed solution to certain questions related to the chronology of the two series of Augustine’s homilies, i.e. Tractatus in Iohannis Evangelium 1-16 and Enarrationes in Psalmos 119-133, especially in those points where the present solutions appear to be rather vague. Hence, our analysis concerns primarily the division of Tractates 1-12 and 13-16 made by Le Landais, and consequently accepted by all later scholars. Moreover, it focuses on some key points of the chronology: the dating of Tractate 7 at a pagan festival, the so-called dies sanguinis, proposed by La Bonnardière, then the synchronization of Tractates 1-16 with the parallel series of Enarrationes in Psalmos 119-133, and, finally, the re-evaluation of the year of the delivery of both series of homilies, dated between the years 406/407 or 407/408. Our argumentation is based, first and foremost, on the principle similar topic means similar liturgical time thanks to which we can place Tractates 10-12 of the Commentary on John’s Gospel right before the beginning of the Lenten season. Consequently, it enables us to include Tractates 13-16 in Augustine’s preaching activity during the Lenten season until as late as the beginning of the Easter Octave. In addition, if we admit that Tractate 7 was not delivered on the so-called dies sanguinis feast related to the rites of Cybele and Attis but on the occassion of another unknown local festival of an aitiological myth in Hippo Regius, we do not need to place it on the 24th of March as La Bonnardière did. Finally, these findings help us outline the new synchronized chronology of the two series of Augustine’s exegetical homilies for both the years 406/407 and 407/408.

Conscientia (…) itineribus (...) in sapientiam. Conscientia en las primeras obras de san Agustín (388-395)

The article deals with the use of the term conscienta in S. Augustine’s early writings (388-395), namely the third book of De libero arbitrio, the first 32 enarrationes in Psalmos and De sermone Domini in monte, to trace the development of the idea of conscientia, and the shift from an anthropological concept of conscientia (coscientia mortalitatis/ conscientia itineribus) to a Theological and Moral dimension (conscientia bona/mala) in St. Augustine’s first works as a young Priest at Hippo, namely in De sermone Domini in monte, where the Moral aspects of conscientia are underlined.