Language and Scripture as Structuring Principles of Augustine's Sermons 186 and 187 (original) (raw)
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When Augustine preaches on the Beatitudes: Format and Strategy
2018
Augustine’s sermons 53 and 53A deal with the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5). These texts are two different sermons with different emphases, preached on two separate instances for different occasions. In both sermons, Augustine briefly addresses all the beatitudes, and then singles out one in particular for further discussion. The beatitude selected is then extensively analysed in both sermons in a part that has its own structure. Because the existing, mainly content-oriented division into chapters in Lambot’s edition (CCSL Est Ag 53 (2018) 119-147 * Augustinian Institute, Jacobskerkhof 2, NL – 3511 BL Utrecht 41) –in 16 and 14 chapters respectively– makes it difficult to identify the rhetorical arrangement of the sermons, the texts have now been examined on the basis of a new method, which does not initially focus on content but on form. This method is based on a two-pronged analysis of linguistic and Scriptural signals. Application of this method has demonstrated th...
Augustine, his Sermons, and their Significance (HTS 2009)
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 65,1 (2009) Art. #300, 10 pages. DOI: 10.4102/htsv6i1.300 (http://www.hts.org.za);
Augustine's sermons provide a unique source in explaining his influence from the 5th century onwards as a theologian and pastor, a minister of the Word preached and celebrated in the sacrament. Of particular value in this regard are his sermons on the Psalms. Issues of authenticity are also considered in this article. The influence of Augustine's sermons was widespread through their tradition and adaptation by others. A substantial and reliable corpus of his sermons is available today. As a pastor, Augustine was anxious to challenge heresy in his preaching, especially to confront the Donatists, Manichaeans and Pelagians. His preaching is considered in the wider context of congregational worship with its origins in the synagogue. Of special importance are his preaching techniques, while his doctrine of 'the inner teacher' (magister interior) is equally significant. Essential elements of Augustine's theory and practice became influential in the early days of the Protestant Reformation (Luther, Calvin and others). The author briefly touches on the question of their relevance for today's congregational worship.
Eirene. Studia Graeca et Latina, 2015
Abstract: At first sight, it is not easy to identify the structure and argument of Nativity sermon 191. Augustine does not make explicit the steps he takes in this sermon and, furthermore, the existing arrangement into sections (derived from the Maurists' edition) does not correspond to these steps. It is, however, possible to identify the structure and argument on the basis of a relatively quick and easy twofold method, which examines the text for use of language (changes of sentence type, unusual particle use, and uncommon word and/or constituent order) and for use of Scripture (changes in Scriptural texts and/or quotations of clusters of Scriptural references). If the markers pointing to transitions uncovered by analysing the use of language are identical to the markers pointing to transitions uncovered by analysing the use of Scripture, these are markers pointing to transitions between parts of the text. In sermon 191, this method results in a division into three internally coherent parts, in which a central didactic moment is preceded by a preparation and followed by a confirmation. The central didactic moment expresses suggestions that must be adopted if a person is to be able to change his (or her) inner disposition from pride to humility. The information contained in the preparation fo the didactic moment sets the hearer on the path towards this moment, while the information contained in the confirmation of the didactic moment inspires the hearer to put its teachings into practice. This division into three parts clarifies the structure of the sermon. This structure cannot be discerned on the basis of the traditional rhetorical rules, which Augustine incidentally also repeats elsewhere (although not without qualifying them). The tripartite division also clarifies the argument. Understanding and recognising this trains a spotlight on the force of Augustine's strategy as a preacher.
Nodo unitatis et caritatis: The Structure and Argument of Augustine's De doctrina christiana
Florilegium, 1998
Much work has been done in the last half-century to shed some light upon the historical background of (and the intellectual motivation for) St Augustine's composition of his great hermeneutical treatise the De doctrina Christiana-1 Li particular, the reason for the work's interruption and its subsequent completion some thirty years later has been the subject of some debatE. Perhaps die most useful examination of this problem, as well as the most convincing conclusion, is found in the essay by Charles Kannengiesser, "The Interrupted De doctrina Christianaa paper delivered at the international colloquium entitled "De doctrina Christiana: A Classic of Western Culture" held at the University of Notre Dame in 1991. 2 Professor Kannengiesser argues that the interruption of the De doctrina Christiana was a direct result of a confusion in Augustine's own hermeneutic, precipitated by his investigation of the hermeneutic of the Donatist Tychonius (whose Liber re/jularis Augustine examines in the conclusion to book III of De doctrina Christiana, under the title of Liber reffttlarum). While this insightful and important article postulates answers to many questions about the Bishop of Hippo's intellectual motivation, both for the interruption of his work and for its resumption, it implicidy raises a further question of no litde significance-namely, given the interruption of the work and Augustine's personal intellectual development in the intervening years between its interruption and completion, does the De doctrina Christiana present a unified argument or a coherent philosophical understanding of die work of doctrina ? For the purposes of this paper
This essay attempts to analyze Augustine’s hermeneutics and homiletics in his De doctrina christiana. I will offer a succinct synopsis of the work and highlight various points showing Augustine’s hermeneutical and homiletical characteristics. Augustine stresses the importance of humiliation in the study of Scripture. He also regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith. In Augustine’s hermeneutics, sign has an important role. God can communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus, humiliation, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine endorses some teaching of the Platonism of his time, he corrects and recasts it according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline, he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of all, to love God and neighbor. * Key words: Augustine, hermeneutics, humiliation, love, prayer
Augustinian Studies, 2016
In the past two decades scholars such as Robert Dodaro, Kathy Eden, and Michael Cameron have called attention to the influence that Augustine's rhetorical education had on his scriptural hermeneutic. Recently, M. Cameron (2010) has argued that Augustine began to incorporate the rhetorical concept of oeconomia into his scriptural hermeneutic during his time in Milan. This article expands on Cameron's work by establishing that Augustine had in fact incorporated rhetorical oeconomia into his scriptural hermeneutic by 387/8 C.E. through a focused reading of two texts from De moribus ecclesiae (mor.). This reading demonstrates that the terminology and logic that Augustine employs to argue for the unity of the Christian scriptures in mor. 1.17.30 and 1.28.56 mirror the terminology and logic of the Latin rhetorical tradition, revealing that Augustine uses the phrases mirifica dispositio (1.17.30) and admirabilis ordo (1.28.56) to represent the same concept that Quintilian had referred to with the phrase oeconomica dispositio (Institutio Oratoria 7.10.11).
The Theory and Practice of the Scriptural Exegesis in Augustine
Kamimura, N. (ed.), Research Report Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 23520098, 2014
- Acknowledgements vii - Abbreviations ix - N. Kamimura, ‘Introduction’, 1-11 - N. Kamimura, ‘The Exegesis of Genesis in the Early Works of Augustine’, 13-24 - M. Sato, ‘The Role of Eve in Salvation in Augustine’s Interpretation of Genesis’, 25-32 - M. Sato, ‘The Word and Our Words: Augustine’s View of Words Based on John 1:3’, 33-39 - N. Kamimura, ‘Augustine’s Quest for Perfection and the Encounter with the Vita Antonii’, 41-52 - N. Kamimura, ‘The Interpretation of a Passage from Romans in the Early Works of Augustine’, 53-62 - N. Kamimura, ‘Augustine’s Evolving Commentaries on the Pauline Epistles’, 63-72 - Bibliography 75 - Index locorum 85