Apothegm

Acts of the Apostles: Poor Ignorant Fishermen?

2012-01-19T17:10:00.001-06:00

A myth of sorts has grown up around the idea that Jesus chose poor, uneducated fishermen to be his apostles. This idea is partly derived from Acts 4:13;

“Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus.”

These men were not generally aristocrats or trained scribes, but disciples of Jesus. The Greek agrammatoi can literally mean “without letters” or illiterate. In a religious context it probably has a more limited meaning of ‘not trained in the law’ (cf. John 7:15). In other words one not formally trained as a scribe. The Greek idiōtai literally means a private person, or an ordinary person as opposed to an expert.

In the ancient world eloquence or boldness of speech was associated with education or training in rhetoric. Since Peter and John are clearly untrained in these fields the boldness of their speech astonishes the Temple leaders. The Jewish leaders, “were amazed, and they recognized them as companions of Jesus” (Acts 2:13).

The ‘ordinary’ nature of these Apostles must not be exaggerated. M. Wilkins believes that "James and John" were from a family of some wealth and influence, based on the information we have about their fishing business (cf. Mk 1:19).[1] Peter ran a fishing business with his brother Andrew and their partners, James and John (Mk 1:16-20; Luke 5:10)[2] He seems also to have owned a house with his brother Andrew (Mk 1:29). Mark’s text suggest that the house was not far from the synagogue in Capernaum (compare Mk 1:21 with 1:29).

Luke’s comment in Acts 4:13 likely means that Peter, Andrew, James and John were merchants and not theologians by trade and of course they had no credentials as Scribes or Pharisees. Acts 4:13 could also have betrayed a prejudice against their Galilean accents or even against their very social class as "the newly wealthy" as opposed to the older aristocracy of the Sadducees. There is no indication here of them being poorly educated in general, semi-illiterate, or just plain dull. This does not fit their occupation or background, or the biblical record of their probable use of Greek.[3]

Carsten Thiede comments, “an active knowledge of Greek would have been obligatory for people like Peter and his co-workers, Andrew, James and John (Mk 1:16; Lk 5:10), who were involved in the fishing industry and trade. They would have heard Peter speaking Greek from childhood days, and refined their linguistic abilities soon as they had chosen their trade. The Hellenistic element in their immediate surroundings is obvious even from their names.”[4] Peter Davids notes that there was a growing group of wealthy merchants in first-century Palestine who had not yet joined the land owning aristocracy, and who did not have priestly or Herodian political connections. This group constituted as new addition to the wealth upper class. There was also "a small middle class of skilled artisans and land-owning medium sized farmers and merchants."[5]

Notes:

[1] Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels ed. Joel B. Green, Scot McKight, I. Howard Marshall (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1992) p. 179. If we identify the Apostle John as the beloved disciple (John 18:15) then we read the beloved disciple was "well known to the High Priest" signifying some upper class connections.

[2]Ibid. p. 179. Are we to understand that James and John are also originally from Bethesda (cf. Mk 1:20)?

[3] Speaking to the Syrian Phoenician woman (Mk 7:26), a conversation with Pilate without an interpreter (Mk 15:2-5), the presence of Greek speaking Jews among the disciples (Acts 6:1), the meeting with Cornelius the Centurion (Acts 10:25-27).

[4] Carsten P. Thiede, Simon Peter: From Galilee to Rome (Academie Books, 1988) p. 20-21.

[5] Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. p. 702.

Acts of the Apostles: Peter and John in Jerusalem

2012-01-18T11:57:00.001-06:00

The description of the ideal community in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-47) forms a bridge to the next section of Acts which narrates the ministry of Peter and John. In Acts 2:42 we read, “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” The four topics mentioned match with the four major sections of the Catechism. The “teaching of the apostles” compares to the Creed section of the Catechism; “communal life” to the Our Life in Christ section, the “breaking of bread” to the Liturgy and Sacraments section, and “prayers” to the final section of the Catechism on Prayer. From the beginning the Church has presented its faith as an organic unity. The truths of the faith like a living organism cannot be divided up and offered like items on a cafeteria menu.

Luke introduces a new narrative with the words; “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock hour of prayer” (Acts 3:1). Although there are several people named ‘John’ in Acts it seems obvious that Luke has in mind the Apostle John mentioned already in 1:13. One can see that initially the disciples continued to live as observant Jews.

Peter’s healing of a man crippled from birth in the Temple astounds the crowds and becomes the means for another speech by Peter in Solomon’s Portico. A man crippled from birth would not have been allowed to fully participate in Temple worship (Leviticus 21:17-20; 2 Samuel 5:8). The sight of the man born crippled now heal and clinging to Peter and John causes ‘amazement and astonishment’ (Acts 13:10) in the Temple area. Peter’s sermon draws the connection between the faith of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the sufferings of his ‘servant’ Jesus. Peter’s use of the use of the title ‘servant’ in Acts 3:13; 26 echoes the motif of the Suffering Servant songs of Isaiah 52:13-14 in Greek. “See, my servant shall understand, and he shall be exalted and glorified exceedingly. Just as many shall be astonished at you—“ (NETS)[i] These passages of Isaiah were used by the early Christians to demonstrate that Jesus was the Messiah. Peter then connects this to an understanding of Jesus as the fulfillment of Moses’ promise that God would raise up a “prophet” like Moses in these last days (Acts 3:22, Deuteronomy 18:15) who would fulfill the promise to Abraham that through him “all the nations of the Earth would be blessed” (Acts 3:25) because God raised up his servant and sent him “to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways” (Acts 3:26).

Although Peter says that his fellow Jews “denied the Holy and Righteous One” and put to death the “author of life,” in no way does Peter hold his fellow Jews responsible either individually or collectively for the death of Jesus. Both the Second Vatican Council (NA 4) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 597) affirms that we cannot hold the Jewish people responsible for Jesus’ passion and death. In fact all sinners have denied our Lord and are in that sense the authors of Christ’s passion (CCC 589). Peter affirms in his speech that the people “acted out of ignorance” (Acts 3:17) and that God allowed the Messiah to suffer to bring to fulfillment what he had “announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets” (Acts 3:18). Later in Paul’s speech before the Athenians, it is affirmed that, “God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now demands that all people everywhere repent.” (Acts 17:30). Our common solidarity as sinners allows us to hear Peter’s words, “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away . . .” (Acts 3:19).

While Peter and John were teaching the priests and Sadducees had the two apostles arrested (Acts 4:1) In spite of the arrest and resistance from the Temple authorities, Luke tells us the Peter’s sermon was very successful and the number of believers grew to about five thousand men (Acts 4:4). The next day Peter and John are brought before the Temple leadership and questioned about the miracle and “the name” through which the healing was performed. They affirm that it was in the name of Jesus that the healing took place. They reply, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12). While the Church affirms that those who through “no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church” may still have the hope of salvation (AG 7; CCC 846-848), these graces are still provided by Christ’s one sacrifice and do not lessen the Church’s missionary imperative (CCC 848). The gift of the Spirit received at Pentecost gave Peter and John a “boldness” that amazed the Temple leaders since the Apostles were uneducated and ordinary men (Acts 4:13).

[i] Pietersma, Albert; Benjamin G. Wright; Wright, Benjamin G. (2007-10-31). A New English Translation of the Septuagint (p. 865). Oxford University Press, USA. Kindle Edition. (Italics added)

Acts of the Apostles: Pentecost

2012-01-17T11:19:00.001-06:00

In the Preface for Pentecost Sunday the priest prays;

. . . For, bringing your Paschal Mystery to completion,

You bestowed the Holy Spirit today

on those you made your adopted children

by uniting them to your Only Begotten Son.

This same Sprit, as the Church came to birth,

opened all peoples to the knowledge of God . . .

The desire of Moses in Numbers 11:29 that God would pour out his Spirit on all peoples came to be treated as a prophecy at the time of Jesus. With the coming of the Messiah there was an expectation that the ‘Spirit of prophecy’ would be poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28-32; Jeremiah 31:34; Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29). This lavish out pouring of the Spirit would be brought about through a prophetic liberator (Deuteronomy 18:15) or Messiah King (Isaiah 11:1-9; 61). Joel 2:28-32 is the passage Peter uses to interpret the fulfillment of these events at Pentecost in Acts 2:16-21.

The Jewish celebration of Pentecost was a one-day festival which originally celebrated the harvest or first fruits. In some Jewish traditions prior to time of Jesus, the feast of Pentecost may also have celebrated the giving of the Law at Sinai. It may be that the Christian event of Pentecost is a typological giving of a New Law by Jesus as a New Moses and a reversal of the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel.

The Pentecost narrative can be divided into three parts: The Act of empowerment (2:1-13); Peter’s Pentecost Sermon (2:14-41); and the summary description of the ideal Christian community (2:42-47).

The out pouring of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-13 is described by way of analogy. While the disciples are gathered together in the upper room the Spirit manifested with a sound like a mighty wind, and they see tongues like fire divided and came to rest on each of them. All of them were “filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in different tongues.” The sound causes a crowd of pious Jews to take notice and the Sprit inspired proclamation astounded them because “each one heard them speaking in their own language” (2:6). Luke cites a very geographically diverse list of pilgrims in Jerusalem who are each able to hear the disciples each in his own language and dialect.

The implications of this filling of the Spirit have generated a great deal of debate among scholars. It seems clear that it involved an empowerment for mission, but the further implications of the event are seen in its interpretation by Peter in his Pentecost Sermon (2:14-41) which follows.

The event generates both interest and scorn from the crowd of pious Jewish pilgrims and this facilitates Peter’s ability to preach to a large crowd. Peter connects this event to the expectation or ‘promise’ of the prophet Joel (3:1-5) that God would someday pour out his Spirit on all flesh. The Jewish expectations of a coming of the Spirit of prophecy are also related to Jesus and the resurrection of the Messiah.

Upon hearing this message a large number of pilgrims are “cut to the heart” and ask Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do?” Peter’s response is a programmatic summary of conversion-initiation in Acts. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38). As the Catechism reminds us the essential elements of Christian initiation are; “proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion” (CCC 1229). In Acts 2:28 Peter specifically links Baptism to the forgiveness of sins, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins . . .” Almost identical words are used by Jesus at the Last Supper stating that his blood of the New Covenant will be shed “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28). No one would deny that Jesus’ blood was shed on Calvary “for the forgiveness of sins” but some are reluctant to admit that Baptism is a means of receiving this grace of forgiveness. While the Holy Spirit is clearly active in all stages of conversion there is a definitive and complete reception of the person of Holy Spirit in Baptism.

Later while recounting his conversion, Paul recalls the words of Ananias, “Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name” (Acts 22:16b). In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul uses typology to say that the Israel was baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). Peter later uses the example of Noah to say that just as eight people were “saved through water” so this ‘prefigures’ baptism, “which saves you now” (1 Peter 3:20-21).

Baptism gives us the grace of forgiveness of all our prior sins; it makes us a new creature and adopted son of God (2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Peter 1:4); it incorporates us into the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:25) and creates a sacramental bond of unity leaving an indelible mark on our souls. (CCC 1262-1274).

Following Peter’s Pentecost Sermon, 3000 people accepted his message and were baptized, received the gift of the Holy Spirit (2:41) and were admitted to Eucharistic communion (2:42). This sequence of actions points to the Sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and reception of first Holy Eucharist. The Holy Spirit is at work transforming us, empowering us and nourishing us.

Acts of the Apostles: Jewish Background on the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’

2012-01-16T20:10:00.001-06:00

Although Judaism at the time of Jesus had no unified or centralized system of belief, there was an understanding of the Spirit which influenced popular expectations. Hebrew had become a specialized literary language which was replaced in common usage by Aramaic and Greek translations of the Scripture. The Aramaic translations were called Targums. In the century before the time of Jesus, both in early Targums and other Jewish writings we see the emergence of an expectation of a phenomena called the “Spirit of prophecy.”

Scholars have pointed out that this term referred to the Spirit acting on a person as the organ of communication between that person and God in a manner that is broader than usually though of by the term ‘prophecy.’ Max Turner (Holy Spirit, 6-12) has pointed out four distinct activities of the Spirit that were attributed to the coming of the ‘Spirit of prophecy’ in Jewish expectation. The first is the reception of charismatic revelation and guidance in the form of supernatural knowledge about someone or something without the added dimension of the reception of inspired speech or ‘prophesying.’ The second is the reception of charismatic wisdom following the archetypical example of Bezalel who crafted the Temple furnishings through a special infilling of the Spirit in Exodus 31:3. This gift can also relate to the charismatic wisdom afforded to understand God’s Word (Sirach 39:6). Less commonly the ‘Spirit of prophecy’ can mean Spirit inspired prophetic speech in what we more typically think of as prophesying.

The classic example would be the inspired speech of Balaam in Numbers 23-24. Balaam was supposed to utter a prophetic curse against Israel on behalf of Balak, King of Moab, but under the inspiration of the Spirit he utters prophetic words of blessing instead. The Jewish historian Josephus comments on this passage that Balaam was possessed by the Spirit of God and that the Spirit “gives utterance to such language and words as it will, and of which are unconscious” (Josephus, Antiquities, 4.119). Finally, Turner points to the ‘Spirit of prophecy’ as “invasively inspired charismatic praise or worship.” This might be analogous to the experiences of the bands of prophets in 1 Samuel 10, and 19. The Aramaic Targum to 1 Samuel 10:6 reads; “And the spirit of prophecy from before the Lord will reside upon you, and you will sing praise with them, and you will be changed into another man. Later rabbinic tradition linked this type of inspiration to the inspired Song of Moses in Exodus 14-15.

The coming of the Spirit at the Christian Pentecost in Acts 2 would be understood against these popular Jewish expectations. This would especially be connected with a future expectation that God would pour out the Spirit of prophecy on all of a restored Israel (Joel 2:28-32, cf. Ezekiel 36:27) the very passage quoted by Peter in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:17-21).

Acts of the Apostles: Introduction

2012-01-12T14:02:00.001-06:00

Moses, in the book of Numbers, expresses a desire for all God’s people, “If only all the people of the LORD were prophets! If only the LORD would bestow his spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29)

In the Gospels we see the fulfillment of the desire of the Old Testament prophets to know God. Jesus reveals the very face of God to us and fulfills the promises of God’s divine plan for a Messiah and the establishment of a new covenant between God and his people. Even after Jesus death and resurrection, we to continue to see the reflection of the face of Jesus in the lives of his followers. Jesus own intimate relationship to the Father as Son become the model of our own spiritual relationship with God as his children. Luke gives us an account of this ongoing work of God’s Spirit in his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles.

Although they do not occur side by side in our modern Bibles, Luke is the author of a two volume work: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Following the art of ancient history writing, Luke repeats in Acts the account of the Ascension (Luke 24:36-53) which was the final event of his Gospel. It was customary in ancient works to summarize briefly the content of the first narrative before moving on to the second. In the book of Acts, Luke begins again with the day Jesus was “taken up.” The word used here parallels the “taking up” of the Prophet Elijah into heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1). The Ascension is the hinge that links the two volumes.

Luke reminds his readers of “all that Jesus did and taught” in the Gospel, of his commissioning of the apostles, of Jesus’ suffering death and of the “many proofs” of his resurrection. Jesus speaks to them about the kingdom of God, and of the empowerment of the gift of the Holy Spirit which will soon be received in Jerusalem. Luke’s Gospel prologue (Luke 1:1-4) and the prologue to Acts are clearly linked and Luke uses special language to alert his reader to the historical nature of the material. We must remember as modern readers that it was not possible to easily scan or preview the material in a scroll, so ancient authors would add a short summary that functioned like a table of contents in a modern book.

The promises of Jesus narrated earlier in the Gospel prompt a question from the apostles here in Acts, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” (1:6). Jesus reply to this question forms an outline of what will follow in Acts. “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In the power of the Holy Spirit the Apostles will be witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria and finally to the “ends of the earth”. The first eight chapters of Acts focus on the ministry of Peter in Jerusalem and primarily to the Jews. This ministry expands geographically to Judea and Samaria and begins to include the Gentile peoples. Finally after the conversion of Paul we see the ministry of the Church reach out to the ends of the earth. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles. The narrative ends with Paul’s journey to Rome to be tried by Caesar.

Yet in order for the new people of God to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises to the kingdom of Israel, there must first be a restoration of the Twelve Apostles who mirror the twelve tribes of Israel. Since Judas has betrayed our Lord and died a tragic death, they must replace him. Peter sees the following Scriptures as fulfilled in Judas, ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’ And: ‘May another take his office’ (Acts 1:20).

The Greek word underlying the word “office” in this verse can accurately be translated “office of bishop”. Later in Paul's letters to Timothy we find the same Greek word “whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task” (1 Tim 3:1). A connection is seen here between the authority of the Apostles and the later authority of the bishops who are ordained by the Apostles as their successors (cf. 2 Tim 2:2). Matthias is chosen to replace Judas so that the initial mission of the Twelve Apostles is fulfilled. It is the apostolic nature of the Church rooted in Jesus’ own discipleship that sets the stage for the witness of the Spirit that will follow at Pentecost.

Recently Cardinal George commented, “The Church at worship is the context for interpreting the text of Scripture. It is the living community of faith that gives the texts their proper understanding by relating them to the realities of faith through the tradition that binds us to Christ.” The call to witness in the power of the Spirit must be integrally connected to the apostolic Church.

Holy Mary, Queen of Apostles. Pray for us.

Pat Robertson, and the After-Wife

2011-09-17T19:10:00.001-05:00

During the past year I have posted on the Bible and the permanence of marriage in the Catholic view. I also posted about the nature of vows in an earlier post on a strange passage in Judges 11.

Pat Robertson has a reputation for saying strange and nutty things. This Tuesday on 700 Club, Pat Robertson made a really alarming statement. When discussing a married man who had a wife in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, he gave the opinion that the wife was already dead and the man was released from his wedding vows.

You can imaging the headlines (MSN news) Pat Robertson: Divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer's is justifiable; Associated Press in USA Today and ABC News: Pat Robertson Says Alzheimer's Makes Divorce OK. An accurate analysis of what Robertson really said is found here.

Is Robertson right that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer's is justifiable because the disease is "a kind of death?" Doesn’t this fly in the face of the “in sickness and in health until death” (assuming people still use traditional wedding vows)?

Without diminishing the intense suffering of Alzheimer's, saying the spouse is “kind of” dead is clearly blowing smoke. This will not allow us to “kind of” dodge Jesus clear teaching on divorce and remarriage.

“Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18).

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mk 10:11-12).

The Church has consistently urged us to recognize marriage as indissoluble and that a marriage between a baptized man and woman which has been ratified and consummated “cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death” (CCC 2382).

Death is the separation of the soul from the body before the resurrection, not diminished mental faculties.

Archbishop Gomez on the need to consider America's renewal

2011-09-13T16:26:00.001-05:00

Don't miss this important address by Archbishop José H. Gomez in the Vatican’s official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano on the need to consider America's renewal.

Archbishop Gomez on the need to consider America's renewal

Immigration and the ‘Next America’
perspectives from our history

The following is an adapted address given by the Archbishop of Los Angeles at the Napa Institute on 28 July 2011.

Our political debate about immigration in America frustrates me. Often I think we are just talking around the edges of the real issues. Both sides of this argument are inspired by a beautiful, patriotic idea of America’s history and values. But lately I’ve been starting to wonder: What America are we really talking about?

America is changing and it has been changing for a long time. The forces of globalization are changing our economy and forcing us to rethink the scope and purpose of our government. Threats from outside enemies are changing our sense of national sovereignty. America is changing on the inside, too. [more]

A rose by any other name. . .

2011-09-06T21:55:00.001-05:00

I have been trying to wrap my brain around a recent article by Catholic scholars Michael G. Lawler and Todd A. Salzman, which appeared in America Magazine. Lawler and Salman are emeritus and current professors at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb. These two scholars coauthored a book entitled, The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology (Moral Traditions), which was disciplined by the USCCB for its inadequate methodology and for its radical departure from traditional Catholic ethics. Perhaps not surprisingly the article in America Magazine, entitled “Beyond Catechesis: What is the proper role of theology?” complains bitterly about the silencing and ignoring of the voices of “unsafe dissenting” theologians.

In the interest of fair minded dialogue let’s see what Lawler and Salzman propose. First they complain that recent actions of the USCCB ignore “an essential distinction between catechesis (as in catechism) and the academic discipline of theology.” We do distinguish between a catechist and a theologian. The catechist faithfully “passes on the deposit of the faith” while the theologian speculates and philosophizes. Is this not a valid distinction? Should we not treat theologians in a different category? Clearly there is a measure of truth here but it could lead to a number of unfair distortions. Are we to conclude that the theologian who happens to believe her speculations and philosophizing about truth lead her to defend the deposit of faith, is really catechizing and that only those theologians who are “unsafe dissenters” are true theologians? Lawler and Salzman imply that anyone who agrees with the Vatican holds “a single, Roman theology and serve as methodological and theological apologists for the magisterium.” In other words they are not thinking people but mere instruments of Vatican propaganda.

Secondly, Lawler and Salzman describe what they call the charism of the theologian. A curious irony exists here since our entire understanding of what a Catholic theologian is comes from the sacred Tradition and the magisterium of the Church. They note, “Theology uses scholarly principles not only to communicate the truths of faith but also to explore the meanings of those truths and contemporary ways of articulating them.” Fair enough, but unless you accept the myth of modernist progress, being contemporary and exploring does not make you necessarily an “unsafe dissenter.”

Lawler and Salzman move on to quote the famous Jesuit theologian, Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., who they point out explains that being a theologian involves a two-way mediation is “from the faith, culture and questionings of the people toward the magisterium; and from the pronouncements of the magisterium back to the people.” I don ‘t have a problem with this notion as it is described by Sullivan in his work Magisterium which, by the way is based on reflections on the thesis of the International Theological Commission. Lawler and Salzman take this in new direction by suggesting that the Vatican must include “unsafe dissenters” in its theological consultations before making magisterial pronouncements. At one level it makes sense to consider how various peoples have interpreted a theological problem. No doubt Lawler and Salzman are correct in their view that excluding “unsafe dissenters” from the consultation “creates polarization between itself and both the faithful who disagree with the doctrinal pronouncements and the theologians who articulate this disagreement.” I think that Lawler and Salzman are blowing smoke when they imply that the majority of the faithful disagree with the Vatican and wish that the Vatican would change its doctrine to agree with that of the dissenters. Let’s be clear I have no problem with dialoguing with Lawler and Salzman, but there apparent assumption a thinking person would agree only with their views and that anyone who agrees with a traditional view is a mere apologist for the magisterium is clearly false thinking.

The truth many lie in the adjectives here. I truly do admire the theologian Karl Barth, but since he is a famous Protestant theologian it would be silly to look to him as a Catholic theologian. My question is how far outside the norms of Catholic tradition can a theologian go before they lose the right to hold the adjective “Catholic?” Todd A. Salzman currently is a professor of Catholic theology at Creighton University. Can he teach anything he wants and still be a professor of Catholic theology at a Catholic University? In my view it is a sad day if the answer is “yes.”

In persona Christi

2011-08-31T20:27:00.001-05:00

After the sign of the cross the priest begins the Mass with one of three greetings. Perhaps the most commonly used greeting by priests is, “The Lord be with you.” After this greeting we find the first change in the new translation that we will have to get used to. The people now respond, “And with your spirit.” This is clearly a more accurate translation of the Latin but it also emphasizes the word “spirit.” Official commentators on the Mass have noted that the word spirit used here draws attention to the elevation of the priest’s spirit in the Sacrament of ordination. We are greeting the priest who acts in the person of Christ.

If you would like to learn more about your faith, and take classes with the Bishop Helmsing Institute visit WWW.MyBHI.org.

The Entrance Antiphon

2011-08-29T21:30:00.001-05:00

On Sundays in most parishes the Mass begins with a hymn. In many parishes on week days the Mass begins with the recital of a short antiphon or psalm taken from a verse of Scripture that relates to the liturgical season or the feast for that day. These antiphons were intended to be sung and are taken from special coral collections called the Propers or the Roman Gradual. In the new instruction for Mass the Church has reemphasized its desire to see these traditional chants sung at the beginning of the Mass. Many Catholics would be surprised to find out that there are corresponding sets of antiphons or Propers that are also intended to be sung at communion.

If you are interested in a fuller account of the more accurate translation 2011 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal on this issue click here for an article from the Chant Cafe.

If you would like to learn more about your faith, and take classes with the Bishop Helmsing Institute visit WWW.MyBHI.org.

New Roman Missal (Part 2)

2011-08-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

Finding the right balance between a stilted word by word translation and one that is accurate but understandable is difficult. One of the most famous translators in the Church, St. Jerome complained, “If I translate word by word, it sounds absurd, if I am forced to change something in the word order or style, I seem to have stopped being a translator.”

The Church has done several things to help facilitate a new translation of the Roman Missal. First they changed the membership of the international committee responsible for the English translations, second the Vatican issued a new foundational document entitled Liturgiam authenticam (or the authentic Liturgy) which gives specific guidelines for translation, and finally an executive committee of cardinals and bishops was set up to supervise the whole project.

Some of the new principles or guidelines include translating the original Latin faithfully without omissions or additions. Using language that is understandable yet preserves dignity and beauty. Using language that is precise and doctrinally sound and avoiding anything that is trendy. One interesting point is that the new text is deliberately translated so that it will be suitable for singing and the new liturgical books will give priority to the chanting of the Mass.

See a summary of major principles of Liturgiam Authenticam in plainer language here.

If you would like to learn more about your faith, and take classes with the Bishop Helmsing Institute visit WWW.MyBHI.org.

Welcoming the New Roman Missal (Part 1)

2011-08-21T21:04:00.001-05:00

The first question many people ask about the New Roman Missal that will be introduced this Advent is why the Mass needs to change?

The original translators of our current Mass used a method of translation that was not very literal. Unlike other modern translations in German, Spanish, French or Italian, the English translators took great liberties with the text summarizing and adapting whole passages and in some cases even composing material that did not occur in the original Latin text. This is the central problem that prompted the Vatican to produce a new more faithful translation of the Mass.

If you would like to learn more about your faith, and take classes with the Bishop Helmsing Institute visit WWW.MyBHI.org.

Must We Keep Our Vows?

2011-08-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the first reading at daily Mass included the horrendous story of the ‘Judge’ Jephthah (Judges 11) who makes a rash vow to the Lord;

Jephthah made a vow to the LORD.
"If you deliver the Ammonites into my power," he said,
"whoever comes out of the doors of my house
to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites
shall belong to the LORD.
I shall offer him up as a burnt offering." (Judges 11:30-31)

Jephthah is victorious over the Ammorites and is devastated to be greeted upon his return by his only daughter who is still a young child. After a short compassionate delay, “he did to her as he had vowed” (11:39).

Clearly this is a negative moral example of what not to do. It might be helpful to unpack the morality of this situation.

The Church generally sees the act of making promises and vows in a positive light (cf. Catechism CCC 2101-2102). There are many positive examples of vows in the Old Testament. For example Psalm 65:2; 66:13. The making and keeping of vows is related to the worship of God and virtue of religion.

Vows are a very serious matter and must not be made rashly. As the writer of Proverbs warns “It is a trap to pledge rashly a sacred gift, and after a vow, then to reflect” (Proverbs 20:25). As the Israelites were warned in the Law, “When a man makes a vow to the LORD or binds himself under oath to a pledge, he shall not violate his word, but must fulfill exactly the promise he has uttered” (Numbers 30:3). Was Jephthah then required to fulfill his rash vow?

The current Code of Canon Law defines a vow as “a deliberate and free promise made to God, concerning some good which is possible and better” (CIC 1191 § 1). The structure of this definition may at first seem confusing. It implies, following the traditional understanding of the Church, that the matter or object of vows must be 1) possible, 2) morally good, and 3) better than its contrary. Dominic M. Prümmer O.P. notes, “It is not required that what is vowed should be absolutely and objectively better than its omission; it is sufficient if it is relatively better for the individual making the vow” (Handbook of Moral Theology, p. 179).

Jephthah’s vow is made freely and not under compulsion but it is clearly rash and does not have a morally good object and is not better than the contrary. With a different morally good object such as, “if I am victorious I will praise you each day before I begin any work or eat,” this could have been a virtuous act. As it stands, Jephthath made a false or mock vow according to the Church’s definition. In effect he sinned doubly by speaking rashly and dangerously and then by committing an evil act in fulfillment of his words.

Image: Edouard Bernard Debat-Ponsan (1847-1913) The Daughter of Jephthah, Oil on canvas 1876

Comprehending the Trinity

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Augustine complains that although many people talk about the Trinity, and argue and wrangle over its meaning, rarely do people understand it. Augustine turns to the triad of being, knowledge and will. He notes;

I am, and I know, and I will. Knowing and willing I exist; I know that I am and that I will; I will to be and to know (13.11.12).

Although each of these is distinct there is one inseparable unity to their life—one mind, one essence. Obviously this analogy ultimately fails to do justice to the mystery of the Trinity, though it helps us to dare to make some assertions about it.

Allegorical Interpretation of the ‘Days’ of Creation

The whole series of the days of creation are treated as metaphors for illumination, conversion and growth in the spiritual life. Beginning with the first day, Augustine compares the divine command to “Let there be light” to spiritual illumination and conversion. There are many scriptural metaphors about darkness and light and salvation as divine illumination. The second day involves the vault of the sky which is compared to Scripture. The Sacred Scripture have the power to ‘lay pride low’ and efficacy to persuade one to confession and invite one to worship (13.15.17). The third day involves the creation of the sea, the dry land and fruitfulness. The sea is ‘the unruly urges of our souls’ (13.17.20) while the dry land is the souls thirst for God (13.17.21). When this thirst is quenched “the soil of our soil grows fertile in works of mercy according to kind” (13.17.21). The fourth day involves the creation of the luminaries of the heavens. Rising up from our works of mercy into the delights of contemplation we ‘lay hold of the Word of Life above” (13.18.22). The graces of this contemplation result in spiritual renewal and the heavenly blessing of the gifts of the Spirit (13.18.22). Contemplation must first be preceded by Baptism and a reformed life before receiving the holy fires of Pentecost (13.19.25). On the fifth day the Seas brings forth living things that crawl and fly. These are compared to the holy signs and wonders which accompany evangelization and the Sacraments which follow. This stage represents the elementary attainment of spiritual life and doctrine before moving on to maturity. On the sixth day the living soul is created. Breaking free of attachments to this world the soul becomes a pure heart. Your ministers make themselves a “an example to the faithful by living alongside them and arousing them to imitation” (13.21.30). No longer do the believers “merely listen, but listen with a view to acting on what they hear, when they are bidden” (13.21.30). Drinking from the fountain of eternal life they struggle to restrain themselves from excesses by imitating those who imitate Christ (13.21.31). They begin to recognize the dignity of their nature created in the image and likeness of God (13.22.32) discerning God’s will for themselves and judging with the virtue of grace approving and rebuking the activities and conduct of the faithful (12.23.34).

Taking up the command to “increase and multiply” Augustine admits that this could be subject to various interpretations. The literal interpretation is obvious but he suggests figurative interpretation. He suggests that it relates to the “way that one truth may be articulated in various modes, or on articulation understood in many different senses” (13.24.37). He suggests that it relates to the “faculty and the power both to articulate in various forms something we have grasped in a single way in our minds, and to interpret in many different senses something we have read, which though obscure, is couched in simple terms” (13.24.37).

In the Genesis narrative God gives man the food of every seed bearing plant and the fruit of trees. Augustine notes that ”these fruits of the earth symbolize and represent in allegorical terms the works of mercy produced by fertile soil to meet the need so the present life” (13.25.38). Those who are not yet ready to do these works are the fish and whales who have not yet journeyed deeply in the spiritual life.

Augustine next comments on God’s proclamation that seven times God looked on the creation he had made and found it ‘good.’ Augustine is puzzled by the connection of temporarily with the act of seeing on God’s part, but then realizes that this is a figure of speech. He remembers some of the false views of the Manicheans, and counters that when people see creation through the Spirit they come to know that it is good. One could have a false belief that creation is evil, or a purely natural knowledge that it is good, but we need to see the way God views its goodness (13.31.46).

Augustine surveys the literal meaning of the creation account noting that each part of creation is good and taken together they are exceedingly good. He again discusses how the creation account figuratively describes the journey of the interior life from works of mercy, to illumination and spiritual gifts, to sacraments, miracles, doctrine, self-control and impulses to good order in the Spirit leading to maturity which bears fruit for the life to come and is exceedingly good.

Finally God’s rest of the seventh day is linked to God’s peace and it is an exceedingly good eternal rest. We shall rest in God’s immense holiness and supreme goodness.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine,Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

Book 13: Why did God create?

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Augustine begins by outlining key ideas about the doctrine of creation. God created out of his ‘abundant goodness’ but gained no profit from the experience. He created something which was other than his own substance. Both spiritual and corporeal creations have no rights to exist or no claim on God (13.2.3).

Augustine relates the words, “Let there be light” to the spiritual creation. Just as not part of creation has the right to live or exist so also we have no right to be illuminated and converted to a life of beatitude. God exists alone in utter simplicity, and for him simply to live is to be in beatitude (13.3.4).

God lacked nothing that would drive him to create or to convert or to illumine, he did so out of sheer goodness. He has no need of these things for his own happiness or perfection. The imperfection of creation is displeasing to God in the sense that he wills them to perfection, but not in the sense that he reaches his own perfection by helping them to theirs (13.4.5).

Augustine sees as symbolic form of the Trinity in the words ‘God’ who represents the ‘Father’ the ‘Beginning’ who represents the ‘Son’ and the ‘Spirit poised above the waters.’ He compares this to Romans 5:5 “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was been given to us.” The Spirit is supereminent love the narrative is not to be taken literally of places but of “movements of the heart” (13.7.8). The holiness of the Spirit “bears us upward in love for peace beyond care, that our hearts may be lifted up” to God(13.7.8). The words “Let there be light” relate to divine illumination drawing us into more passionate love. The figure of the spirit poised above also relates to “the eminence of the unchangeable Godhead” far above all that is changeable. Why then is the spirit alone mentioned? The Spirit is said to your Gift and in your gift we find rest. Augustine describes the divine ascent of contemplation and illumination;

Your Gift set us on fire and we are drawn upward; we catch his flame and up we go. In our hearts we climb those upward paths, singing the songs of ascent (13.9.10).

_____________________________

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

Heaven and Earth: Book 12

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St Augustine’s final two chapters, Books 12 and13, are an exegesis of Genesis 1:2-2:3. There are even links to the previous chapter which touched on Genesis 1:1. Book 12 deals with Genesis 1:1-2 and Book 13 deals with Genesis 1:2-2:3. Vaught notes that Augustine “connects the last three Books of the text as links in a chain.”[i]

Following the Greek translation of Psalm 113 (115):16 Augustine contrasts ‘Heaven’s heaven’ with the earth. ‘Heaven’s heaven’ is the dwelling place of God and is contrasted to the ‘heaven that overarches our earth’ or what we would call the sky (12.2.2). Focusing on Genesis 1:2, Augustine notes that God created a ‘formless matter’ which may be described as undifferentiated in its order. He sees this state as ‘midway between form and nothingness’ (12.5.5, cf. 12.12.15).[ii] He states that “the mutability of mutable things itself gives them their potential to receive all those forms into which mutable things can be changed” (12.6.6). But since God is immutable, he did not create heaven and earth from his own substance but out of nothing (12.7.7).

Initially God created two realities. One near to himself, Heaven’s heaven and one bordering on nothingness—“invisible and unorganized, an abyss over which no light dawned” (12.8.8). From this abyss of primal nothingness God created heaven and earth. Heaven’s heaven was created before any ‘day’ existed. Augustine refers to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning god created heaven and earth” but in Genesis 1:2 “the earth was a formless wasteland” or “abyss.” From this ‘formless matter’ God creates earth, sky and the visible creation in a series of ‘days.’ Heaven’s heaven is some kind of ‘intellectual creation’ which participates in eternity but is still not coeternal (12.9.9). There are no day’s mentioned in relation to the ‘primal formlessness’ since without form there is no order and ‘nothing comes or passes away’ (12.9.9).

God is eternal and exists with “no alteration of form.” Nothing is able to change God and his will does not vary with changing times (12.11.11). God created all natures and substances which are not him but still have being. Only that which has no being is not created by him.

Together these truths lead us to acknowledge that God is eternal and so not subject to variance and change. God “did not bring creation into being by some new act of will, nor is his knowledge subject to any impermanence” (12.15.18).

In the section (12.17.24-12.22.31) Augustine discusses at length a series of alternative interpretations of Genesis 1:1 (12.1928). He allows these alternate interpretations to play out their views and then highlights certain truths which they articulate and attempts to integrate them with the second verse of Genesis. This leads to a discussion of truth and meaning in relation to Scripture. He identifies questions about the truth of what is said, and secondly questions about the intension of the person who spoke. (12.23.32). Is what Moses tells us about the process of creation true? Do we understand what Moses intended? He has little patience with those who doubt the truth of Moses’ account, but he is willing to journey together with those in the second who struggle to find his intension. He admits that there are a great variety of legitimate interpretations (12.24.33) and therefore he needs to argue his point calmly to show its strength (12.25.34). Ultimately the answer is found in the “immutable truth itself that towers above our minds” (12.25.35). The truth of Scripture is illuminated by God’s Truth, and is opposed to our pride. Augustine notes, “Since, then, so rich a variety of highly plausible interpretations can be culled from those words, consider how foolish it is rashly to assert that Moses intended one particular meaning rather than any of the others” (12.25.35).

Vaught points out,

In fact, “Truth” as Augustine understands the term can be identified with infinite riches, where Truth itself is the highest truth, the meaning of Truth, and the distributive collection of all true propositions . . . the concept of truth points in all three directions, calling our attention first to a cluster of truths, then to the standard by which they are measured, and finally to the arche [source, beginning] to which they can be referred.[iii]

This does not mean that Augustine is willing to accept any interpretations. They must at least be coherent and consistent (12.29.40). Augustine distinguishes four priorities for non-contradiction. On must be able to distinguish,

. . .what precedes in virtue of eternity, what precedes in time, what precedes in order of choice, and what is purely logical priority (12.29.40).

Eternity and logical priority are the most difficult to understand. Logical priority is compared to a song. In singing we hear sound and song both at once. “The song, therefore, happens in its sound, and this sound is the matter of the song” (12.29.40). The matter which is sound has priority over the form that is sung. Yet he notes that,

The song is not mere sound, but sound endowed with beautiful form. But the sound does not have logical priority, because it is not the song that is given form to make it into sound, but the sound which is formed to turn it into song (12.29.40).

This analogy leads Augustine back to creation and his view that primal matter was made first and called “heaven and earth” (12.29.40). He points out that because the matter was formless the term ‘first’ is meaningless since only the forms of things give rise to time.

Returning to the interpretation of Sacred Scripture, he notes that dual authorship implies that “God carefully tempered his sacred writings to meet the minds of many people” (12.30.41). He sees this divine tempering as the ability to “reinforce for each reader whatever truth he was able to grasp” rather than “to express a single idea so ambiguously as to exclude all others” (12.31.42). Having said this certain interpretations are still false (12.31.42). Finally he proposes that God may have hidden things in Scripture to be revealed to later generations of readers (12.32.43).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Ibid. p. 153.

[ii] He later summarizes this as “an absolute privation of all from without pushing the idea to nothingness” (12.12.15).

[iii] Vaught, Access, p. 186.

Book 11: Time and Eternity

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In this book Augustine tackles the topic of eternity as it relates to the nature of God and creation. He is particularly intrigued by the quality of time. He begins with the biblical narrative of creation. He is convinced that biblical narrative is true but puzzles over the mystery of how God made heaven and earth (11.3.5). Clearly his senses prove that heaven and earth exist and that they undergo both change and variation which demonstrate that they are things which were made and were not previously there (11.4.6). Augustine repeatedly asks how God made heaven and earth. They were made by God’s word and they were not made not out of that which already existed (11.5.7, 11.6.8). How did God speak his word? He notes, “It seems my God made use of audible, evanescent words to say that heaven and earth should come to be” (11.6.8).

The very nature of God demands that the Word is God and “and through him are eternally uttered all things . . . [and] all things are uttered in one eternal speaking” (11.7.9). The Word is coeternal with God and speaks simultaneously and eternally and God’s creative act is no different from his speaking.

Augustine confesses that the eternal Word is the Beginning and that in Beginning God made the heaven and the earth. He notes that some have asked the meaningless and impious question, “What was God doing before he made the heaven and earth?” (11.10.12). This question does not make sense because, “if some element appears in God’s substance that was previously not there, that substance cannot accurately be called eternal” (11.9.11). Eternity can have neither future nor past (11.11.13). In response to the previous question he is tempted to respond, God “was getting hell ready for people who inquisitively peer into deep matters” such as this (11.12.14) but he acknowledges this is to evade the question. He answers boldly, “Before God made heaven and earth he was not doing anything” (11.12.14). Since God also created time there can be no ‘measureless ages’ or ‘time’ before he created heaven and earth. God is outside of time and there is not time in existence before God who exists in ever-present eternity (11.13.16).

In Augustine’s analysis time is an elusive quality which rushes toward non-being (11.14.17). In fact the past no longer exists and the future does not yet exist. The ‘presents’ only claim to be ‘time’ is that it is slipping away into the past. If we try to measure time he notes, “on what ground can something that does not exist be called long of short?” He observes that whether we consider a century, a year or day, none of these can be present all at once, but rather is divisible into past and future. The past is only an image of events which have taken place. The future, even if we had mysterious presentiments of events, would still be announcements of events which as yet have no being (11.17.24). He notes that “What is clear and unmistakable is that neither things past nor things future have any existence” (11.20.26). Although in common usage we talk about past, present and future, neither the past nor the future actually exist (11.20.26). All things are present. “The present of past things is memory, the present of present things is attention, and the present of future things is expectation” (11.20.26).

As Augustine moves on to explore the ‘intricate enigma’ of time (11.22.28) he talks about the measurement of time and the physics of time in relation to the movements of heavenly bodies. He concludes that although we can measure time, we cannot define it (11.26.33). In the case of a voice that sounds, we can measure it only while it is sounding. It exists while it is sounding and can be measured but it is in the process of moving on into the past (11.27.34). The present exists but is not extended. The measurement of sound is bounded by a beginning and an end. A limitless time cannot be measured.

Vaught summarizes Augustine’s complicated argument,

Augustine draws conclusions about the nature of time from conclusions about how time is to be measured. Since we measure what we remember, and since memories are distensions of the soul, he claims that time itself is to identified with the distensions in question. By contrast with the past, the present, and the future, which do not exist (non esse) in the strict sense of the term, a distention of the soul exists (esse) in the present all at once.[i]

Vaught notes that for Augustine, time is identified with the flux that comes to be and passes away and participates in relative nonbeing (non esse). It is the mind that stabilizes this situation by measuring our “present mental states rather than things that come to be and pass away.”[ii] Time is identified with measured states of the soul. Time is experienced through the mental states of expectation, memory and attention. Augustine notes “the mind expects and attends, and remembers, so that what it expects passes by way of what it attends to into what it remembers” (11.28.37).

Having established how attention can bind expectation and memory together, Augustine moves on to discuss how distraction is part of the Fall state of man. The Mediator can take the torn fragments of his soul’s thoughts and purge them through the fire of God’s love (11.29.39). Our minds are stretched to what lies ahead and to understand God who exists before all ages of time (11.30.40). God’s created time flows out of his unchangeable eternity and unifies past, present and future (11.31.41).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Vaught, Access, p. 138.

[ii] Ibid. p. 139.

Augustine and Concupiscence (10.30.41- 10.35.57)

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines concupiscence as “the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason” (CCC 2515). Augustine did not invent this concept.[i] In fact the concept of ‘concupiscence’ described in Latin as libido and cupiditas was known to the greatest writers of antiquity (Homer, Plato, Virgil) and of course is of course the concept is a key doctrine for St. Paul (esp. Romans 7). Other patristic writers such as Tertullian (adv. Marc. 5.7) and Athanasius (De incar. 4-7) emphasized this topic. Although some modern scholars have attempted to see Augustine as a theological innovator, claiming that his views were at odds with the views of some earlier fathers, careful examination of the relevant texts does not bear out this hypothesis. Augustine’s treatment of this topic is connected to his doctrine of original sin and to grace. There is no doubt that Augustine’s ever deepening reflections on these topics over his life time profoundly influenced the Church’s later views. Augustine’s reflections are a deepening and systematizing of earlier views.

In Confessions Augustine highlights the triplex concupiscence of the flesh, the eyes and worldly pride following 1 John 2:16. In his case he is called to celibacy and has been granted this grace. Augustine is troubled by his memories of sexual images. He is not bothered much by them when he is awake but during his sleep he finds his control over these faculties greatly reduced and this leads him into involuntary impurity. All he can do it to entrust himself in humility to God.

He moves on to what he can control and discusses the pleasures of eating and drinking. Although this is a necessary activity he recognizes that the pleasure derived from it needs to be tempered in order that it does not control him (10.31.43). While his not greatly tempted by drunkenness he finds gluttony a different matter. By the sounds of his struggle he is much more self-controlled than the average person in our modern culture and he considers excesses in this area to be gluttonous. In the area of pleasant smells he confesses that he is not much troubled by this as sensuality. He doesn’t seek or reject them. In the area of hearing again he feels relatively free though he notes that he was greatly enthralled by this pleasure in earlier days (10.33.49). He notes how “. . . all the varied emotions of the human spirit respond in ways proper to themselves to a singing voice and a song, which arose them by appealing to some secret affinity” (10.33.49). Yet in the Church he sees the undeniable benefits of song since through its pleasures a “weaker mind may rise up to loving devotion.”

Moving on to the temptations of the flesh, he discusses the dangers of the over-indulgence of the eyes. He is attracted to beautiful things and notices how alluring and entangling certain sights can become. This temptation is especially seen in many consumer items which various craftsmen have created. A further temptation is this area is that of ‘curiosity’ which he also counts as a ‘concupiscence of the eyes’. (10.35.54). Augustine sees a distinction between two kinds of activity on the part of the senses that of pleasure seeking and that of curiosity (10.35.55).

The final great temptation is pride (10.36.58). Augustine’s fear is that he can’t be free of this temptation in his earthly life. He worries that the enemy of true happiness lies in wait for those in society who by reason of official positions “must be loved and honored by their fellows” (10.36.59). He fears affection, honors and human flattery. He notes, “We are put to the test by these temptations every day” (10.37.60). These temptations are not easy to discern, and are difficult to apply self-examination and measure his self-restraint. He examines his conscience with some penetrating questions. Is he reluctant to have to have a person who speaks highly of him, to hold an opinion of him that differs from his own opinion of himself? Is he less concerned when some other person is unjustly criticized that when he himself is? (10.37.61).

Augustine retraces the steps he has taken in this book and relates how God has accompanied him in his examinations of his amazing faculty of memory. God is not in the memory but is the Light he consulted throughout his search (10.40.65). He notes that from time to time God led him on an inward experience which gave him “sweetness beyond understanding” (10.40.65) and he notes that if he was granted the fullness of this experience his life would not be what it is now. What he needs to be reconciled to God is the true Mediator, the Word whose example of humility we must follow.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Jesse Couenhoven, “St. Augustine’s Doctrine of Original Sin,” Augustinian Studies 36:2 (2005) 359–396.

The Power of Memory

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Looking for God within Memory (10.8.12-10.28.39)

Augustine discovers the power of the mind to remember as the faculty of his nature which allows him “mount by stages toward” God. He will journey beyond the power of sensation inwardly to the “fields and vast mansions of memory” (10.8.12). He begins to reflect on what he finds when he turns inward. Memory is stored in innumerable images from the senses. There is an active dimension to this remembering on his part. He also notes that some images easily present themselves while others hide in secret unimaginable caverns (10.8.13).

Looking within he can also find memories which are not images of realities, but the realities themselves. He gives as examples his knowledge of literature and or skill in debate (10.9.16). How do we recognize these things as true? He answers,

Surely because they were already in my memory, but so remote, so hidden from sight in concealed hollows, that unless they had been dug out by someone who reminded me, I would perhaps never have been able to think about them (10.10.17).

Is Augustine agreeing with Plato that learning is simple remembering (Meno 81D) and that this learning is the result of the soul’s prior existence? Augustine will later explicitly repudiate this view in his Revisions I, 8.2. Rather than a full blown Platonic notion, following John Rist can we not see something like what Plotinus calls the ‘upper soul’ where certain truths are ‘naturally impressed’, but perhaps in a more limited fashion?[i] Rist notes the following examples from Augustine;

In On Human Responsibility there are impressed ideas of the eternal law (I.6.15), or numbers (2.8.20-21) and of wisdom (sapientia) (2.9.26). In Trinity we read of a just law impressed on the human heart (14.15.21) –this would include a version ‘which even inequity does not blot out’ of the Golden Rule (‘Do not do unto others what you would be unwilling to suffer’) (Confession 1.18.29, 2.4.9) –and of the good itself (8.3.4)[ii]

None of these examples require the belief in the pre-existence of the soul. While it is conceivable that initially Augustine held some Neo-Platonic beliefs about the pre-existence of the soul there is no conclusive proof that this is what he meant and he later clarified his position to the contrary.

Augustine moves on to discuss the active role of the subject in memory. He talks about knowing as cogitating or collecting ones thoughts (10.11.18). He notes that not only do we retain things in our memory we also store the way in which we learned them. (10.13.20). He notes how we can remember erroneous arguments and yet not be in error when we recall them, and how we recall emotions without feeling them in the present. He notes, “Mind and memory, however, are one and the same” giving us an imperfect analogy “the memory is like the mind’s stomach” (10.14.21). Since what we remember we retain in our memory, forgetfulness is a serious problem. Forgetfulness seems to involve a volitional component that orients us away from our deepest self and ultimately away from God. Augustine seeks to ascend to God beyond his memory (10.17.26). He turns to Scriptural images of seeking and finding (Luke 15:8) though he notes that they imply the person has not forgotten entirely.

How then should we seek God and find happiness? (10.20.29). How do we seek the happy life? Is it by way of remembering? Is it true that all of us want to be happy, yet happiness is not experienced through any kind of bodily sense? (10.21.30). Some think that happiness consists of enjoyment, but Augustine denies this. The happy life is found in rejoicing in God alone (10.22.32). He notes that we cannot assert without qualification that everyone wants to be happy (10.23.33) since some people are unwilling to find joy in God. In another sense if the happy life is joy in the truth (meaning God who is the Truth), then all want joy in the truth. He notes, “I have met plenty of people who would gladly deceive others, but no one who wants to be deceived” (10.23.33). But then why does preaching the truth engender hatred from some? “It must be because people love truth in such a way that those who love something else wish to regard what they love as truth . . . They love truth when it enlightens them, but hate it when it accuses them” (10.25.34).

Augustine asks where God is in his memory. “You have honored my memory by making it your dwelling-place, but I am wondering in what region of it you dwell?” (10.25.36). He soon realizes that “Place” has no meaning for God there is only the surrender of the will. He prays,

Late have I loved you.

Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!

Lo, you were within,

But I outside, seeking there for you,

and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong,

I, misshapen.

You were with me, but I was not with you (10.27.38).

Set ablaze with the divine fire of Charity, Augustine desires to a line his will with God’s will. Augustine prays for continence recognizing that it is a gift from God. He notes that anyone who loves something along with God, and who does not love it for God’s sake, loves God less (10.29.39) “You command continence: give what you command, and then command whatever you will” (10.29.40).[iii]

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Rist, p. 76.

[ii] Ibid., internal footnotes omitted.

[iii] Peter Burnell, “Concupiscence and Moral Freedom in Augustine and before Augustine Augustinian Studies 26.1 (1995): 49 – 63, Ibid., “Concupiscence,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 224-227.

Book 10

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Book 10: Introduction

In this book Augustine makes a transition to the present time of his writing the Confessions. The story moves from the death of his mother in 386 A.D. to a period ten to thirteen years later. The concept of memory is the means through which recollection has been made possible. The shift in time also allows for a shift in audience. There is a shift from a universal audience in Books 1-9 to a Christian community in Book 10.[i] The Structure of Book 10 is a mirror of the first nine books.

Who is like the Lord? (10.1.1)

Augustine begins with a prayer as he did in 1.1.1. In this prayer he no longer says his “heart is restless,” though he continues to long for God. Augustine brings his faith and understanding together in a trusting quest for knowledge of God.

The Benefits of Confession (10.2.2-10.5.7)

In the next section Augustine thinks about his motives for making a confession. Clearly he notes that nothing is hidden from God (10.2.2). Yet should he make this public? He notes the danger of other people’s poor human motives for hearing. He complains, “A Curious lot they are, eager to pry into the lives of others, but tardy when it comes to correcting their own” (10.3.3). In the end he must act with charity assuming the best of everyone.

He also notes the graces he receives in confessing his sins and how this transforms his soul. We must remember that public, rather than private confession, was common in this era as part of the rite of penance. He notes, “It is cheering to good people to hear about the past evil deeds of those who are now freed from them: cheering not because the deeds were evil but because they existed once but exist no longer” (10.3.4). Those who hear will congratulate him and pray for him as fellow citizens on a pilgrimage with him (10.4.6).

Looking for God in Earthly Loves (10.6.8-10.7.11)

Augustine confesses his love for God who has pieced his heart with his Word (10.6.8). He reflects of various kinds of earthly loves and their relation to his love for God. His love for God has transformed his loves. He notes, “none of these do I love when I love my God” (10.6.8). Yet how does his love of God manifest itself. It is not like the love of earthly things. He asks, “What is it, then, that I love when I love my God?” (107.11).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Vaught, Access, p. 28.

St. Monica

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Monica’s Story (9.8.17-9.10.22)

Augustine begins this section by introducing a new African friend, Evodius[i] who converted after working in the Roman Special Branch (9.8.17). Evodius is a younger contemporary of Augustine from his home town Thagaste. Evodius will later become the Bishop of Uzalis, a small city near Carthage. He remains in close contact with Augustine after starting out as in the circle of “monks” at Thagaste.[ii]

Seemingly abruptly, Augustine notes, “And while we were in Ostia on the Tiber my mother died” (9.8.17). He does not want to speak of her gifts but of the gifts which God endowed her. He recounts the severity with which a certain servant trained her in temperance as a young girl and yet how for a time she was given to “a furtive fondness for wine” (9.8.17) in which she had developed the bad “habit of quaffing near goblets-full of wine” (9.8.18). She was cured of this when a maid accused her of being a “wine-swiller” (meribibulam).

Later in life she is given in marriage to a hot-tempered pagan man, who was guilty of many marital infidelities. She practiced a type of passive resistance whereby she would not confront her husband in word or deed when he was angry, but would wait for a time when he was calm and then explain her action. Recognizing that her culture gave her few alternate options, this plan of action resulted in marital harmony and good reputation with other wives in her community. Toward the end of his life her husband became a Christian and apparently behaved much better after his baptism (9.9.22).

The Vision at Ostia (9.10.23)

While alone together with his mother in a room overlooking a garden in Ostia they both ascend in a vision to God. On could compare this experience with the mystical vision of Book 7 with the conversion of Book 8. These experiences are united by this new mystical experience. He experiences Father, Son and now the Spirit. Augustine describes how both he and his mother ascended in their minds together into a mystical vision of God. In this vision they see uncreated Wisdom who is the creator and exists in eternity. Augustine describes this vision quoting Romans 8:23 “. . . having the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for our adoption.” He describes the shared vision in his own words returning to “articulate speech” he describes the encounter. He describes the Creator and notes we hear his Word “and in a flash of thought touch that eternal Wisdom” which leaves them feeling joy and aching for more. Now that God has granted Monica the privilege of seeing Augustine in the Catholic Church she has no other earthly desires.

Monica’s Death (9.11.27)

About five days after this vision Monica became ill with a fever and lapsed into unconsciousness for a short time. When she returned to her senses she insisted that they bury her there in Ostia rather than take her back to Africa. All she asked is that they remember her at the Altar (9.11.27). She had originally wanted to buried beside her husband in Africa. He notes, “So on the ninth day of her illness, in the fifty-sixth year of her age, in my thirty-third year, that religious and Godly soul was set free from her body” (9.11.28).

As Augustine closed her eyes for the last time a huge sadness surged into his heart (9.12.29). He judged it unfitting to mark her death with “plaintive protests and laments” to mourn the misery of the dying or the belief that death is extinction. In light of her virtues and faith her held on to a firm hope for her eternal rest. He recounts how his son Adeodatus was not able to restrain his tears, and how he struggled himself to control his tears and eventually gave in privately on his bed (9.12.33). Because of his belief he struggled with his obvious human grief believing it to be some kind of carnal affection (9.13.34). While he acknowledged her good deeds on this earth he prayed fervently for her sin’s (9.13.35) asking God to have mercy on her and the might enter eternal rest (9.13.37).

[i] James J. O’Donnell, “Evodius of Uzalis” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 344.

[ii] Ibid. Cf. n. 10 above.

Book 9: Death and Rebirth

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Who is like the Lord? (9.1.1)

Augustine begins this book with a prayer which parallels the pray at the beginning of book I. This book begins with Augustine entering into a new life with Christ and ends with the death of his mother. From a different perspective Augustine undergoes a spiritual death of his own as his mother undergoes physical death. There is also a Trinitarian theme in this section. Augustine has a vision of the Father in Book 7, of the Son in Book 8, while in Book 9 he enters into life in the Spirit.[i]

Renouncing His Former Career (9.2.2)

Augustine’s encounter with God in the garden (Book 8) leaves him ready to renounce his former career. He calls the craft of rhetoric “lying follies” (9.2.2). At the same time he is concern about the appearance of making “an abrupt and sensational break” (9.2.2). He decided to resign after the vintage holidays (a normal summer and harvest break). The news of his pending resignation was kept private by his friends so that it did not cause a stir in the community.

As it turned out, Augustine became ill around this time with lung problems which made it difficult for him to breathe and gave him pains in his chest. As he “could not manage any sustained vocal effort” (9.2.4) the condition would require him either to give up his profession or at the very least to take some rest. This was the perfect excuse to finish the twenty remaining days and then to retire. He was somewhat concerned that other Christians might think his continuing to teach even for twenty days was an unacceptable compromise, but if this was wrong God would certainly forgive this in the waters of Baptism (9.2.4).

A wealthy friend of Augustine’s named Verecundus, was also interested in becoming a Christian but was not interested in celibacy since he was married (his wife was a Christian). For some reason this made him feel inferior to Augustine and his friends who were choosing a monastic type of life. Verecundus offered Augustine and his friends the use of his “country estate at Cassiciacum” (9.3.5). Soon after this, Verecundus became fatally ill and experienced a death bed conversion.

Nebridius was happy to hear Augustine’s news but had himself fallen into a “dangerous error” (9.3.6). He falsely believed that Jesus had not truly come in the flesh. Shortly after Augustine’s conversion and baptism, he too converted and returned to African to live “perfect chastity and continence. Eventually he was able to convert his whole household by his Christian example before his departure to “Abraham’s bosom” (9.3.6).

Summer at Cassiciacum (9.4.7-9.5.13)[ii]

When the holidays arrived in in August of 386, Augustine, his son, his mother and some friends (Alypius, Licentius, Lastidianus, Rusticus, Trygetius) traveled to the villa at Cassiciacum for the vacation. Modern scholars believe this location to be Cassiago di Brianza, 21 miles North East of Milan. An inscription of the pagan Verecundus was found there.[iii] Augustine composed some treaties during this time but he notes that this work “they still had whiff of scholastic pride about it (9.4.7).”[iv]

Augustine combats this pride by pouring out his heart in the Psalms. He recounts the ardor with which he recited them (9.4.8). He notes how the Psalms changed his heart, “As I read these words outwardly and experienced their truth inwardly I shouted with joy, and lost my desire to dissipate myself amid the profusion of earthly goods. . .” (9.4.10). When the vacation was over he announced his retirement to the people of Milan (9.5.13). He was still experiencing “difficulty breathing and pains in the chest” (9.5.13).

A Journey Back to Milan and Baptism (9.6.14)

Augustine, Alypius and his son Adeodatus all notify Bishop Ambrose of their intension to be baptized. At the Eastern Vigil 24-25 April, 387 they are baptized by immersion and then as white clad neophytes are lead from the baptistery to the church to receive their first Eucharist.[v] Augustine is particularly moved to “loving devotion” by the singing of hymns and canticles.

Arian Persecutions in Milan (9.7.15-9.7.16)

Augustine recounts a persecution which broke out as a result of Justina the mother of Emperor who was an Arian. She persecuted Bishop Ambrose, who risked his life to oppose her. Many of the faithful stayed up all night in the church to accompany him. Monica was among them. Augustine recounts how they borrowed the custom of singing hymns and psalms in the manner familiar in the East.

At this time Ambrose received a vision about the location of the bodies of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius. Their bodies had been found and dug up and transported to Ambrose’s basilica. On the way to the basilica “some people hitherto tormented by unclean spirits were restored to health” and a well know citizen who was blind for several years had his sight restored after touching a handkerchief to the relics of the martyrs and then applying this to his eyes (9.7.16). These events caused “a change of mind” for Justina, who relent in her persecution.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Vaught, Encounters, p. 106 following James O’Donnell.

[ii] Angelo Di Berardino, OSA, trans. Allan D. Fitzgerald, “Cassiciacum” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 135.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Augustine wrote his first works here, Contra Academicos, De beata vita, De ordine, and Soliloquia.

[v] Pamela Jackson “Ambrose of Milan as Mystagogue” Augustinian Studies 20 (1989), pages 93 – 107.

Book 8: Conversion

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Hesitations (8.1.1-8.1.2)

Augustine’s glimpses of God led him to seek out the advice of the older Priest Simplicianus. Augustine wrestles with the issue of his vocation. Is he called to marriage or is he called to singleness and celibacy. He notes that although the Apostle Paul does not forbid marriage he proposes that the life of celibacy is a better choice (8.1.2). Simplicianus is pleased that he has read Plontinus rather than certain other philosophers who may have lead him away from the truth.

Victorinus’ Conversion (8.2.3-8.4.9)

Simplicianus told Augustine about the conversion of the cultured author Gaius Marius Victorinus. This man was a teacher and author of great repute in Rome who was originally a Pagan. Victorinus talked with Simplicianus and confided in him that he had become a Christian. The wise old priest replied, “I will not believe that, nor count you among the Christians, until I see you in Christ’s Church.” Eventually, Victorinus agreed to go to the Church and make a very public profession of faith, asking for baptism. Augustine is struck by this story as it clearly paralleled his own. He notes, “On hearing this story I was fired to imitate Victorinus; indeed it was to this end that your servant Simplicianus had related it” (8.5.10).

A Struggle in the Will (8.5.10-8.5.12)

Although Augustine is moved by these experiences he feels trapped by his former sinful habits. He notes, “The Truth is that disordered lust springs from a perverted will; when lust is pandered to , a habit is formed; when habit is not checked; it hardens into compulsion” (8.5.10). He prays to God that he might wake up and stop procrastinating. He related the force of habit to the law of sin found in Romans 7:24-25.

A meeting with Ponticianus (8.6.13-8.8.19)

One day while living in Milan with his friends, a certain man who was also an African named Ponticianus visited them. This man held an important post at court but was an extremely pious baptized Christian. Ponticianus began to tell Augustine and Alypius about the monk Anthony of Egypt. He also told them the story of the conversion of two officials at Trier. Upon reading The Life of Anthony, the men impulsively abandon their secular lives in favor of the monastic life. Augustine describes his response as “spellbound.” (8.6.14) and as he thought further “fiercely shamed and flung into hideous confusion” (8.6.18). In order to process his feelings he enters the garden adjacent to the house in the company of Alypius.

The Struggle in the Garden and Conversion (8.8.19-8.12.30)

He is left in great interior turmoil that leaves him almost paralyzed (8.8.20). His heart is raging in argument with itself (8.11.27). Finally he breaks into sobs and flings himself under a fig tree (8.12.28). Suddenly from nearby he hears the voice of a child, “Pick it up and read, pick it up and read.” He toke this as divine command to open the book and read the first passage from Scripture just as St. Anthony had done in Ponticianus’ story. Augustine opened to Romans 13:13-14 and read “Not is dissipation and drunkenness, not in debauchery and lewdness, nor in arguing and jealousy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh or the gratification of your desires.” He noted at this moment, “the light of certainty flooded my heart and all dark shades of doubt fled away” (8.12.29).

Alypius had his own experience with the Lord and insisted that Augustine read the next verse after his which read, “Make room for the person who is weak in faith” (8.12.30). Alypius took this as confirmation that he should journey where Augustine led. They immediately told Monica who was overjoyed and filled with triumphant delight.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

Book 7 Augustine’s Neo-Platonism

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Christianity and Neo-Platonism (7.9.13- 7.9.15) [i]

At this time Augustine began to “keep company with an ‘intellectual’ circle in which pagans and Christians mingled.”[ii] Lancel call this the ‘Millanese circle’ and it included both pagan and Christian dignitaries and philosophers. In the forefront was Manlius Theodorus, and Christian who wrote a history of philosophy and other treaties and was a fervent disciple of Plotinus.[iii]

Augustine also dialogued with an older priest named Simplicianus, who had read much of Plotinus and especially in the Latin translation of Marius Victorius.

Around this time Augustine notes that “a certain man grossly swollen with pride” provided him with “some books by the Platonists, translated from the Greek into Latin” (7.9.13).[iv]

Reading Plotinus helped Augustine to abandon his overly literal interpretation of divine substance. Plotinus talks about three first principles [Greek: archai] or hypostases, One (or the Good), Intellect, and Soul.[v] Bussanich notes that, “the One is the source [arche] of all beings and, as the Good, the goal [telos] of all aspirations”[vi] Plotinus believes that the nature of the One is ineffable, and that efforts to define it are doomed to fail as inadequate. At the same time it is possible to speak about it and examine its universal role in reality.[vii] Having become saturated in Neo-platonic thinking, Augustine is willing to see spiritual reality through figurative or metaphorical language rather than a crude literalism. This enabled him to see the close parallels between the philosophical presuppositions of Neo-Platonism and Christianity. Does Augustine simply accept Neo-Platonism and then project certain Christian doctrines on to it as if Plotinus believed them? There is sufficient evidence in Confessions to suggest that Augustine is well aware of the distinctions between the two systems and that ultimately he presents a contrast between the two systems.

In the next section he highlights some of the most distinctively Christian aspects. Vaught notes, “The Neo-Platonists know that the Word is the offspring of God, but they do not understand that the word became flesh and dwelt among us.”[viii] Augustine emphasizes that “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (7.9.14). He also quotes from Philippians 2 noting that although Christ was “equal to God” he “emptied himself taking the form of a servant” (7.9.14). This incarnational perspective is unique to Christianity and may even contrast the ‘pride’ of the Neo-Platonists with the ‘humility’ of Christianity. The humility of God allows one to participate in true Wisdom. The truths of the Neo-Platonists are compared to the ‘gold’ the Israelites plundered from the Egyptians during the Exodus.

Neo-Platonic Mysticism (7.10.16-7.17.23)

Following the advice of Neo-Platonism Augustine attempts to attain a mystical experience. Plotinus suggested that “our awareness (sunesis) of that One is not by way of reasoned knowledge (episteme) or of intellectual perception (noesis), as with other intelligible things, but by way of a presence (parousia) superior to knowledge (Enneads VI.9.4.1-3).”[ix] Augustine attempts to purify himself and enter in to a mystical vision of God. He describes a series of visual metaphors involving light, yet this light is the presence of God. God is real but far away and his intense rays beat back his feeble gaze. The experience shifts back to an auditory experience where he hears a word in his heart. The experience was so intense there could be not possibility of doubt about its truth or reality (7.10.16).

Although this does not immediately lead to his conversion, it does give him new light on the problem of evil. Augustine argues that “things prone to destruction are good” and that “all things which suffer some harm are being deprived of some good” (7.12.18). This leads to the conclusion that everything that exists is good, and that evil cannot be a substance or being at all. All created things are good is so far as they exist, yet they can be subject to corruption. Most finite beings are not just subject to corruption but have turned away from God and become corrupt. God is the only being not subject to corruption. A thing which lacked all goodness would not exist. But evil is not only a privation of the good, but a perversity of the will twisted away from God (7.16.22).

Augustine describes another attempt to mystically ascend into God presence. He is draw towards God’s beauty but dragged away by his carnal habits (7.17.23). He attains a “tremulous glance” of That Which Is, but then is forced back through weakness. Yet he is comforted by a loving memory.

Christ as Mediator (7.18.24-7.21.27)

Finally he comes to realize his need for Christ as a mediator (7.18.24). Even so, in his pride he was not yet willing to embrace the full meaning of the incarnation. He notes that he regarded Christ “as not more than a man” (7.19.25). Christ was merely a good example of distain for earthly goods and a teacher of incomparable authority. Christ was to be preferred because of “the outstanding excellence of his human nature and his perfect participation in wisdom” (7.19.25).

At this stage Augustine began to read the writings of the Apostle Paul. Earlier he had rejected these writings as contradictory, but now he was able to see their truth. He is particular struck by the contrast in Romans 7:22-23 between the inner desire to delight in God’s law and the other law in the bodily members “which strives against the law approved by his mind” (7.21.27).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] John Bussanich, “Plotinus's metaphysics of the One” in The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus, Ed. Lloyd P. Gerson, (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996) p. 38-65.

[ii]Lancel, St. Augustine, p. 82.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Most likely the Latin translation of Marius Victorius.

[v] Bussanich, p. 38.

[vi]Ibid.

[vii]Ibid.

[viii] Vaught, Encounters, p. 40.

[ix] As quoted in Bussanich, p. 41.

The Problem of Evil (7.3.4-7.8.12)

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Augustine now affirms his belief that God created man, both body and soul, and all other corporeal things without defilement and that God is “in all respects unchangeable” (7.3.4). At the same time he acknowledges that the “cause of evil has not been clarified or disentangled” (7.3.4.). He is aware of the Church’s answer, “that the cause of evil is the free decision of our will, in consequence of which we act wrongly and suffer your righteous judgment” (7.3.5). Yet Augustine is led to question. He begins to see that the human will is at the root of his failed perception. As a Manichean he was a mere spectator who was subject to involuntary acts. Now he realizes that he is a moral agent responsible for his own actions. This leads to further questions. If God who is “Goodness” himself made him how, did Augustine derive the ability to will what is evil and refuse to do the good? Can we blame the devil? Then where did the devil come from? What is the origin of the evil will in the devil who was also created “entirely by the supremely good creator?” (7.3.5). It seems that all these answers are a dead end leading back to seeing the cause of evil in the free decision of the will.

Anticipating the later argument of Anselm, Augustine proposes that “No intelligence has ever conceived of anything better than you …” because otherwise the mind would have been able to attain something better than God himself (7.4.6). If God’s nature is totally immune to corruption then where does evil come from? In the end the root of evil will be traced back to its origins and will express itself in the possibility that evil has no being at all.[i] At this point Augustine is able to point to his faith in Christ, and in the Catholic Church. His faith is “still in many ways uninformed, wavering and at variance” with the Church, yet his mind “drank it in ever more deeply as the days passed” (7.5.7).

Touching on his past beliefs as a Manichean, Augustine gives a brief digression on why he rejects astrology. He relates how Vindicianus convinced him with a story from Firminus who knew of two people born at exactly the same moment but from completely different circumstances. They had identical horoscopes but completely different lives. One pursued a brilliant career and made lots of money, while the other was a slave. Augustine notes that the same problem occurs with twins. They are astrologically identical but suffer different fates. The example of Esau and Jacob comes to mind.

Augustine returns to the problem of evil and fin himself still in an interior turmoil, though he affirms his faith the love of God and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and “in the holy scriptures which the authority of your Catholic Church guarantees” (7.7.11). In the light of this faith gradually the darkened vision of his spirit began to improve day by day.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Vaught, Encounters with God in Augustine’s Confessions: Books VII-IX, p. 33.

Book 7: Encounter with Neo-Platonism

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Introduction

In Book 7, Augustine encounters the writings of his contemporary Platonist philosophers[i], most likely the writings of Plotinus (c. 205-270).[ii] Plotinus is considered by modern scholars a Neo-Platonist, though there is some dispute about the use of this category. Plotinus was very knowledgeable about both Plato and Aristotle, but also the later developments in the Platonic philosophical tradition. He was able to produce an original synthesis of this material that was extremely faithful to the ‘spirit’ of Plato. He was a disciple of the philosopher, Ammonias Saccas. After his death, Plotinus’ disciple, Porphyry (c. 232-c.303) published Plotinus’ works as 54 treatises arranged in six Enneads (groups of nine), as well as his biography, The Life of Plotinus. According to his disciple, Porphyry, he born in Lycopolis, Egypt in A.D. 205 and became a philosopher at age 28.[iii] In 243 Plotinus attached himself to an expedition of the Emperor Gordian III to Persia in order to study to study Persian and Indian philosophy. When the Emperor was assassinated by his troops, Plotinus gave up these plans and moved to Rome in 245, remaining there until his death in 270 or 271.

The Nature of God (7.1.1-7.2.3)

As Augustine approaches the age of 30, he is to leave adolescence and enter “youth” (Iuventus).[iv] His philosophical thinking has become darkened by his insistence that the idea of substance must entail some sort of bodily existence. He imagined God as “something corporeal spread out in space, whether infused into the world or even diffused through the infinity outside it” (7.1.1). To deny this seem to him to predicate God’s non-existence. At the same time he believed that God must be imperishable, inviolable, and unchangeable (7.1.1). Looking back he sees how false this view is and how it contains many contradictions related to the presence of God in various sizes of objects.

Augustine moves on to recall an old argument of his friend Nebridius. What would happen, asked Nebridius, if God refused to fight against the powers of darkness? Would they have the power to injure God? Since God is inviolable, this is clearly not the case. He cannot suffer harm. This thought completely undermines the Manichean myths about an alleged fight between the powers of darkness and the powers of light which resulted in the entanglement of light and darkness in bodily existence (7.2.3). Augustine argues that either, God is incorruptible and, the Manichean myth is “shown up as untrue and to be rejected with loathing” (7.2.3) or God is corruptible and not really ‘god’ at all.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

[i] Mark J. Edwards “Neoplatonism” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 588-591. Lancel, St. Augustine, p. 82-84. Brown, Augustine, p. 79-107. Carl G. Vaught, Encounters with God in Augustine’s Confessions: Books VII-IX. (New York: SUNY Press, 2004), p. 25-66.

[ii] For these dates see “Plotinus,” and “Porphyry “ in F. L. Cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd rev. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 1310, 1318.

[iii] Lloyd P. Gerson, “Introduction,” ” in The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus, Ed. Lloyd P. Gerson, (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996, p. 2.

[iv] See above note 1.

Book 6: Friends and Philosophy

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Alypius (6.7.11-6.10.16)[i]

Alypius is the son of leading citizens in Augustine’s home town, and was among his students in Thagaste, and then in Carthage. Initially he is taken in by the frivolous shows of the circus in Carthage and stops his studies. Augustine offers him a correction which sets him back on the path of discipline and study. This conversion from sinful curiositas (curiosity) is the beginning of his true conversion. After studying together with Augustine, however, he first becomes a Manichean (6.7.12). He later moves to Rome to study law and becomes Assessor to the Chancellor of the Italian Treasury (6.10.16). He will later have a conversion from ambition (8.6.13) and will journey with Augustine to Baptism in Milan with Adeodatus (April 387) at the hands of Bishop Ambrose. He will return to Africa with Augustine to live a monastic life in Thagaste, and then in Hippo. In 395 he is elected bishop of Thagaste.

Nebridius (6.10.17)[ii]

Nebridius is described as a “fellow-seeker of the happy life” and “an ardent researcher into the most difficult questions” (6.10.17). Augustine says he is from a wealthy family in Carthage and he came to Milan for no other purpose than to live with him and share in his community of friends “fiercely burning zeal for truth and wisdom” (6.10.17). Nebridius was not present with Augustine at the Cassiciacum discussions before his baptism, but remained a close friend. He converted soon after Augustine and moved to Africa where he observed “perfect chastity and continence” (9.3.6). Through his example his whole household became Christian, before his death in 391.

Philosophical Perplexities and Marriage Plans (6.11.18-6.16.26)

In the thirtieth year of his life, Augustine stuck in a “muddy bog” of perplexity. The failure of Faustus and the Manicheans, the dead end of the Academics, had led him to consider anew the teachings of the Church. Augustine was still uncertain as to the true meaning of a happy life and so he put off his conversion. He considered marriage. Alypius was strongly opposed to this because it would impede their ability “to live together in carefree leisure and devote themselves to philosophy” (6.12.21). Augustine defended the possibility of a holy life in marriage and feared that he would not be able to live a life of countenance after years of living with a woman. Augustine’s desire aligned with those of his mother and a marriage was arranged for him to a young girl who was then still two years below the marriageable age (i.e. ten years old).

At the same time his group of friends began to talk about forming a community devoted to the study of philosophy, literature and the arts. The talked about a living is a somewhat secluded place and having all things in common. Those who were married, or who wished to married felt that their wives would reject the plan.

Because of the plan to enter into an arranged marriage, Augustine had to endure the loss of the woman he had been living with. He says that she was ‘ripped from his side’. Is this an allusion to the Genesis narrative? He was deeply hurt by this loss. He writes, “So deeply was she engrafted into my heart that it was left torn and wounded and trailing blood” (6.15.25). She left for Africa and vowed to never take another man, but Augustine immediately took up with another woman. Yet for all of this, his life became a misery.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

[i] Peter Brown, Augustine, p. 56-7, 99-101, 469-471; Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., “Alypius,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 16-17, Robert J. O'Connell, “Alypius' "Apollinarianism" at Milan (Conf. VII,25),” Revue des Études Augustiniennes (1967) 8: p. 209-210

[ii] Peter Brown, Augustine, p. 56-7, 126-129; Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., “Nebridius,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 587-588.

Ambrose Enlightens Augustine

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Bishop Ambrose[i] Enlightens Augustine (6.3.3-6.6.10)

Historian Serege Lancel notes that “the spiritual and emotional chronology of the Confessions . . . does not always match up with the calendar reconstructed by historians.”[ii] Bishop Ambrose bursts into the narrative of Confessions as a central figure. Clearly the focus is one Augustine’s enlightenment and not on the Bishop of Milan per se. Ambrose did not begin his career in the Church. He was a student of law and had worked his way up the ranks of government office to become the governor of the province of Milan. Lancel says he had “the promise of one of the most brilliant career of the century” in the imperial court. What prompted him to become a bishop?

One the death of bishop Auxentius, in 373, the situation in the town [of Milan] was critical; the dead prelate was of Arian faith, thus the representative of a minority that was important but on decline in the face of Catholic dominance in the city. A turbulent mob burst into the basilica where the bishops of the province held their meeting, assembled to ordain a successor to Auxentius, and both factions put pressure on an electoral body which was itself divided and irresolute. The rising had to be put down and order re-established. Rather than bring in the troops, the governor of the province chose to intervene in person; he entered the church, obtained silence, began to speak and made the people listen when he appealed for calm. The crowd then acclaimed him and in one voice demanded this unanimously respected governor for their bishop—a governor who was none other than Ambrose.[iii]

Although Ambrose was certainly a faithful Christian catechumen, he was baptized after his accession to the episcopacy and “was less familiar with the Scriptures than with Cicero and Virgil.”[iv] Ambrose took his charge very seriously and was forced to learn and teach simultaneously. He had the good fortune of excellent knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so he was able to read the Greek Fathers, especially the “Cappadocians,” Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzius, as well as Origen and even the Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria. From these Fathers he learned the allegorical method of interpreting the Old Testament.

Augustine met Bishop Ambrose in 385, more than ten years after he became bishop. As Augustine listened to Bishop Ambrose preach, he was convinced by the spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament that his former Manichaean objections about the Old Testament are unfounded and that what the Church says about physical and spiritual realities made perfect sense. Augustine notes, “I now began to prefer Catholic doctrine” (6.5.7). He also began to realize that many things he believed in ordinary life were accepted on the basis of authority, or on the “testimony of friends, or physicians, or various people” (6.5.7). Even the fact that he was born of a particular set of parents could not be known apart from the testimony of others. The pure philosophy of the Academics had not been able to reveal this to him. “It was because we were weak (Romans 5:6) and unable to find the truth by pure reason that we needed the authority of the sacred scriptures; and so I began to see that you would not have endowed them with such authority among all nations unless you had willed human beings to believe in you and seek you through them” (6.5.8). Augustine comments on the ability of sacred scripture to be accessible to all people, and yet to contain profound mysteries (Latin: sacramentum). He notes;

The authority of the sacred writings seemed to me all the more deserving of reverence and divine faith in that scripture was easily accessible to every reader, while guarding a mysterious dignity in its deeper sense (6.5.8).

Augustine was still mired in his journey forward by his seeking happiness in such empty pursuits as worldly “honors, wealth, and marriage” (6.6.9). This appears to be pointing to the vices of 1 John 2:16 “the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of a life”[v] This comment by Augustine leads into an anecdote. He recalls that once while walking in Milan he passed a poor drunken beggar. The man was undeniably happy and filled with joy—not true joy of course. This leads him to reflect on his own unhappiness and the worldly false hopes he has just named. He reflects on this with his friends, Alypius and Nebridius which leads to a small digression on each of his friends.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

[i] Peter Brown, Augustine, p. 69-78; Neil McLynn, “Ambrose of Milan,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 17-19. Lancel, St. Augustine, p. 65-77.

[ii] Ibid., p. 67.

[iii] Ibid., p. 67-68.

[iv] Ibid., p. 68-69.

[v] concupiscentia carnis est, et concupiscentia oculorum, et superbia vitæ.

Book 6: Enlightenment in Milan

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Monica (6.1.1-6.2.2)[i]

St. Augustine begins book six, having rejected Manichaeism but not yet having accepted Christianity. At this time his mother, Monica decide to leave Carthage and to rejoin him in Milan. Upon hearing that he had rejected Manichaeism she was overjoyed, even if he was not yet a Christian. Trusting on the vision God had given her in a dream she “redoubled her prayers and tears” to God imploring his help (6.1.1). Peter Brown describes Monica’s strengths as being, “restrained, dignified, above gossip, a firm peacemaker among her acquaintances, [and] capable, like her son, of effective sarcasm.”[ii] Monica is a constant theme in Augustine’s narrative. He will return to give more details of her life in his Book 9. In Book 6 he recounts an anecdote concerning Monica’s adherence to certain Africa pious customs such as visiting the tomb of the martyrs to make offerings of pottage, bread and wine. While Augustine makes it very clear that his mother behaved in a chaste and pious manner, these African customs had often led to drunkenness and promiscuity and “the custom resembled the cult of ancestors and was so closely kin to the superstitious practices of the pagans” (6.2.2). For this reason Bishop Ambrose had forbidden the practice in Milan and later as Bishop, Augustine will attempt to do the same in Carthage.[iii] Augustine marvels, at how graciously his mother gave up the practice, though he notes, “it seems unlikely that my mother would have yielded easily over the abolition of this custom had it been forbidden by anyone other than Ambrose, whom she highly revered” (6.2.2). Ambrose held her in mutual high regard.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

Image Saint Monica, Benozzo Gozzoli (fresco -1464-65)
Apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano

[i] Peter Brown, Augustine, p. 16-22; Angelo Di Berardino, O.S.A., “Monica” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, p. 570-571.

[ii] Peter Brown, Augustine, p. 17.

[iii], In St. Augustine Letters 36.14.32 and 54.2.3, Augustine observes the practice of Ambrose to observe the custom of each local church with being quarrelsome. When he was in Milan he observed one custom when in Rome another.

Book 5: Augustine Moves to Rome

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About this time an opportunity opened up for Augustine to move to Rome. Aside from a higher income and more prestige he was prompted to leave Carthage by the general bad behavior of the students there. The boorish, disruptive and even violent behavior of his students was a great frustration to him.

The move to Rome was resisted by his mother Monica. In the end, Augustine lied to her and departed secretly by ship in the night. When he arrived in Rome he became deathly ill but did not seek baptism because he still did not believe in the incarnation. He credits his eventual recover from this illness to his mother’s daily prayers for him, morning and evening.

In Rome he continued a “half-hearted” adherence to the sect of the Manicheans. In particular he enjoyed their belief that we were not personally responsible for our sins but some other nature within ourselves causes us to sin. There was no need to go to confession since he blamed “some other force” for his sins (5.10.18). This belief is linked to his belief that “evil was not only a substance, but even a bodily substance” (5.10.20).

In Rome he was attracted to a school of philosophy known as the Academics. This school recommended universal doubt about the possibility of human mind discovering truth. This lead him to be less attached to the beliefs of the Manicheans, but he says he was too lazy to seek anything else (5.10.19).

Augustine enumerates what continue to be his objections to Christianity. First he found it contemptible that God could confine himself to “appearance in human flesh” (5.10.19) and thus “could not have been born of the Virgin Mary” (5.10.20). Second he could not believe that a good God could “create any evil nature” (5.10.20) since he believed that evil was “a bodily substance” (5.10.20). He also doubted the truthfulness of the Scriptures and even that the New Testament writings “had been falsified by some unknown persons bent on interpolating the Christian faith with elements of the Jewish law” (5.11.21). Although he admits that this last charge was made without any proof.

When Augustine began to teach in Rome he soon discovered that were problems of a different sort in Rome. Although the students were better behaved in class groups of them would conspire to dodge the fees they owed to their teachers. In the midst of his frustration about this word came to him of a job offer in Milan asking for a master of rhetoric. Augustine used his Manichean contacts to obtain recommendations for the job. He was successful and proceeded to move to Milan. He notes that secretly a large part of his motivation for the move was to get away from the other Manicheans.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

Image from Chapel of the Choir, Church of St. Augustine. Piazza Sant'Agostino 4, San Gimignano. Scene 5. Augustine opens a school of rhetoric in Rome

Confessions Book 5: Meeting Faustus

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In this book Augustine begins to relate his experiences during his 29^th year. In particular he had begun to read certain “philosophers” (we would call them scientists today) who had studied the sun and the moon and were able to predict accurately the precise day, and hour and extant of the next solar or lunar eclipse. This research and the accuracy of their calculations convinced him that they had discovered the truth. These truths seem to contradict central aspects of the Manichean myths. The Manicheans did not seem to have adequate answers to these and other philosophical problems but they assured him that when the Manichean Bishop, Faustus arrived he would answer all Augustine’s questions. Augustine notes,

Now, I had read widely in the works of philosophers, committed a good deal to memory and still retained it, and I began to compare certain elements from my reading with the long-winded myths of the Manichees. The philosophers’ conclusions seemed to me more probable . . . (5.3.3).

Augustine notes the human pride which accompanies the philosophers who examine these heavenly phenomena. Distracted with this knowledge they fail to look for the Creator who made these calculations possible. Augustine admits,

Many true statements do they make about creation, but they do not find the Truth who is artificer or creation because they do not seek him with reverence. (5.3.5)

In fact Augustine goes on to parallel these philosophers with the corruption of the human conscience as seen in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans 1:19-20. Their unsound reason, distorts the truth into a lie, “and they worship and serve the creature instead of the creator” (5.3.5). In spite of this distortion he admits they have come to many true conclusions and compare to Mani “who had written voluminously (and incoherently) on these subjects . . . there was a wide discrepancy” (5.3.6).

Finally Bishop Faustus arrived in Rome. He was a very persuasive and eloquent speaker. It quickly became evident that in spite of Bishop Faustus’ elegant speech, he was not knowledgeable about philosophy. Augustine says he was ill-educated in the liberal arts, apart from grammar, and had read very little of Cicero or Seneca. In the end Faustus turned out to be completely incompetent for Augustine’s purposes.

This created a crisis in Augustine’s belief because it was obvious that Mani was ignorant of these matters and yet “still had the effrontery to teach them” (5.5.8). To make matters worse Mani claimed to be speaking through the Holy Spirit, with his full authority. Augustine realizes that this was sacrilegious because Mani passed off “his erroneous opinions as those of a divine person—himself no less” (5.5.8). Although Augustine did not immediately leave the company of the Manicheans his enthusiasm for their beliefs was waning.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

All quotes in this series of blogs from Confessions are from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1997)

Image from Chapel of the Choir, Church of St. Augustine. Piazza Sant'Agostino 4, San Gimignano. Scene 4. After meeting Faustus of Mileve, Augustine decides depart for Ostia

Book 4: What is Beauty?

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Augustine recounts his early thoughts on the nature of beauty. He notes that he had written several books on the topic which he has now lost, though he seems quite familiar with their content. He theorizes that beauty has two aspects. First there is the idea that some objects have an inherent quality, ‘beauty’ which we recognize as intrinsic. We also recognize a second aspect; some things are beautiful because of their harmonious relation or adaption to other things.

Augustine begins to muse about a certain orator to whom he dedicated his work on beauty. Is the love of an orator different than the admiration of an actor? Can we love traits in someone that we wouldn’t wish to have for ourselves? He notes that someone can love a horse but not desire to change places with it (4.14.22). He asks, “Do I love in one man what I would hate to be myself, when I too am a man?” (4.14.22). Augustine analyses the problem philosophically and drives beneath the unity of the species ‘man’. An individual has hidden depths affections and ‘movements of the heart’ that are known only to the Lord. He concludes that our nature as individuals depends more on the will than on the intelligible structures we exemplify.[i]

Following the intuitions of Cicero, Augustine observed the unity found in virtue and the fragmentation of human life seen in the vices. Initially he thought that the disunity was caused by an indefinable substance of evil but looking back from the present the he notes that “evil is no substance at all” (4.15.24). Later he will understand that evil is not a thing but the absence of the good.[ii] As we shall see in Book 5, Augustine used the idea of ‘evil as a substance’ to avoid personal responsibility for his actions. Augustine thought that at this point that the mind or rational soul was the supreme good (4.15.24).

Augustine interrupts the flow of his narrative with yet another anecdote, this time from seven years before he writes his first book. At the age of twenty he reads a Latin translation of Aristotle’s Categories. Again he highlights a mistake that he fell into as he tried to understand God as an instance of the categories rather than as identical with the ‘transcendentals’ (4.16.29).[iii] He will later correct this mistake in Book 7.

Plato had argued that the sensible world is a reflection or shadow of ideas which transcend the sensible realm. Chief among these transcendental properties are the one, the true and the good. Aristotle agreed with these transcendental properties but saw them not manifest in ideas but in the forms of actual things. One significant difference between Plato and Aristotle is that Plato indirectly also includes beauty as a transcendental property. Plato “argues in the Lysis and Timeaus that whatever is good (Greek: agathon) is also beautiful (Greek: kalon), and in the Republic that everything that exists participates in the good.”[iv] Augustine’s error was to attempt to see God as mere category rather than as a transcendental property. Jacque Maritain describes transcendentals as “concepts which surpass all limits of kind or category and will not suffer themselves to be confined in any class, because they absorb everything and are to be found everywhere.”[v] Ultimately Augustine is left awash in his own pride. He compares himself to the Prodigal son, who, “left you and set out for a distant land to squander it there on the quest for meretricious[vi] gratifications” (4.16.30). He concludes his prayer in this book,

We need not fear to find no home again

Because we have fallen away for it:

While we are absent our home falls not to ruins,

For our home is your eternity (4.16.31).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Ibid., p. 108. Vaught notes that this is a development in thinking by Augustine which moved beyond common the Neo-Platonist thinking of Plotinus.

[ii] For a defense of Augustine’s views on evil against the objections of modern philosophers see Donald A. Cress, “A Defense of Augustine’s Privation Account of Evil,” Augustinian Studies (1989)20: 109 – 127.

[iii] Daniel Gallagher, “The Platonic-Aristotelian Hybridity of Aquinas’s Aesthetic Theory”, Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies Vol. 2, No. 1, 2006, p. 2-15. http://hortulus.net/journal/20061Gallagher.pdf Accessed 4/23/2011.

[iv] Ibid. p. 2.

[v] Jacques Maritain, Art and Scholasticism, trans. J. F. Scanlan (New York: Scribner, 1930), p. 30. As quoted in Gallagher.

[vi] “meretricious: of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meretricious

A Pope for All Ages

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A we approach the Beatification of Pope John Paul II I think we are all struck with the shear magnitude of his accomplishments. The Vatican Website lists the statistics for his life. John Paul II made 104 trips abroad and visited 129 unique countries. He visited 617 cites, and logged over 1,000,000 miles of travel during his 26 year long pontificate. He wrote 14 major Encyclicals, 14 Apostolic Exhortations, 14 Apostolic Constitutions, and 45 Apostolic Letters. He also performed 1338 beatification ceremonies and 482 canonizations. It seems everyone wants to claim him, he is A Pope for Workers; The Pilgrim Pope ; The Youth Pope ; The Feminist Pope ; The Pope for Catholic-Jewish Relations; The Champion of the Poor; The Pope for East-West Relations; and Pope of Diplomacy. Fearless in hope and love, the Pope who changed and saved lives.

Pope John Paul II, Pray for us!

Book 4: Anecdotes from Augustine’s Life

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In Book 4, Augustine tells us that he lived with a girl whom he does not name. The relationship was for pleasure and not for the purpose of marriage and family though he acknowledges that he was faithful to her. Later in Book 6 we will glimpse the deeper feeling he felt for this woman (6.15.25). Based on his discussion of his son Adeodatus in 10.6.14 the chronology of these nine years does not appear to be clear. It is likely that he had already taken this partner earlier (cf. 2.2.4).

Augustine relates a number of anecdotes from his life. A sorcerer tries to have Augustine engage his services in order to win a poetry contest through his occult arts and Augustine refuses. On the other hand, Augustine is greatly attracted to astrology. Looking back he sees how wrong minded this is and how even if astrology were to seem correct in its predictions this could be due to chance which he compares to the practice of randomly opening a book and happening upon a passage that appears to give a hidden message.

As the Catechism reminds us all forms of divination are grave sins against the first commandment;

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. (CCC 2116)

In this book Augustine also relates the painful experience of the death of a friend in Thagaste. One of the overall themes of Confessions is that of ‘friendship’ both in its positive and negative aspects. Augustine clarifies that “friendship is genuine only when you bind fast together people who cleave to you [God] through the charity poured abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (4.4.7). In this anecdote, he discusses a deep but purely human friendship. Meeting a childhood friend, Augustine leads him into Manichaeism and together they experience a friendship ‘sweeter than any sweetness’ (4.4.7). After only a year of being friends, the young man becomes fatally ill with a fever and is baptized. To Augustine’s surprise when his friend recovers temporarily he completely rejects Manichaeism. Augustine describes the anguish of their parting but comes to realize that his misery is due to his mind being chained by friendship to mortal things (4.6.11). “Woe to the madness which thinks to cherish human beings as though more than human!” (4.7.12). His intense grief over this loss, lead him to leave Thagaste and his memories there and to move to Carthage. In Carthage he notes that “what restored and re-created me above all was the consolation of other friends” (4.8.13) and allowing his mind to be distracted by their pleasant company.

This distraction is not truly a cure for his soul. Confronted with the death of a friend, the ‘god’ of Manichaeism is not able to bring rest to his soul. He is unable to live with his grief or to flee from it though he does flee to Carthage. The ‘re-creating’ he speaks of above is related to what he says about time. He writes;

Time does not stand still, nor are the rolling seasons useless to us, for they all work wonders in our minds. They came and went for day to day, and by their coming and going implanted in me other hopes and other memories. (4.8.13)

Time “becomes a principle of association that collects and disperses ideas and memories into the unity of the present moment”[i] The ideas and memories from earlier times are juxtaposed by time to rearrange their order and significance. Recollection is possible because time is linear but it is also discontinuous and reconstruction is necessary. The key to reconstruction or transformation is learning to love all things in God. Augustine writes;

If sensuous beauty delights you, praise God for the beauty of corporeal things, and channel the love you feel for them onto their Maker (4.12.18).

This is not a naive denial of the continued power of concupiscence after our conversion. Augustine notes, “Why follow your flesh, perverted soul? Rather let it follow you, once you are converted” (4.11.17). This is not to imply that once we are converted we effortlessly return to the state of original innocence experienced by our first parents in the garden. Augustine continues,

Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you. Stand with him and you will stand firm, rest in him and you will find peace. Where are you going, along your rough paths? (4.12.18).

We must seek Christ, the bridegroom, who has withdrawn from our sight, “so that we might return to our own hearts and find him there” (2.12.19). This interior transformation allows us to bring Christ into the world carry others off to God, because we “burn with the fire of charity” as we speak in the Spirit.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Vaught, Journey, p. 98.

Book 4: Augustine the Manichean

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In book 4, Augustine begins by describing his floundering in the Beliefs of the Manichaean sect for nine long years (from his nineteenth to his twenty-ninth year). Vaught notes the movement in Books 2-4 from stealing, to loving, then finally to deceiving. Augustine is deceived and he deceives others.

The founder of Manichaeism is Mani who was born in Babylonia under Persian rule in 217. Mani’s personal history was written by his enemies and contains often contradictory unreliable accounts.[i] In modern time several manuscript collections of Manichaean writings have been discovered in Northwest China (Turkestan) and Egypt.

The beliefs of the Manichaean appear to fit within the broad category of Jewish Christian heresy of Gnosticism.[ii] As we noted above in the introduction, Manichaeism was particularly concerned with the problem of the existence of evil. Where did evil come from? Did God create evil? These questions were answered by proposing a radical dualism between the realm of light, or God and the realm of darkness or Satan. According to the Manichaean doctrine, Adam and Eve are actually the progeny of male and female demons. The first human parents are not the creation of God but resulted from Satan’s evil initiative. Particles of the Kingdom of Light were trapped in the visible world. God countered this tactic of the devil by sending Jesus from the realm of light to reveal divine knowledge (Greek, gnosis) to Adam and Eve.

In Augustine’s time the Manichaean religion had spread to Rome and Carthage and across North Africa. In practical terms the adherents of this faith considered themselves Christians. They believed that the present visible world was a mixture of light and dark elements. God, “the Father of Greatness” set up the sun and moon as collector stations for light to pass back to the realm of light. Adam and Eve were created as the progeny of demons to counter the Sun and moon and keep the light trapped in the material world principally by generating offspring. In turn God countered this move by sending Jesus from the light-realm to reveal divine knowledge (gnosis) to Adam and Eve. Coyle notes that this was not the Jesus of orthodox Christianity, “for Manicheism seems to propose several entities called Jesus” yet none of them was a savior except as the bearer of saving knowledge. Further since they believed matter was evil, the “true” Jesus could not have been born of Mary.[iii]

The followers of the Manichaean religion tried to help the world through the agency of its members who were divided into the Elect (who were generally Manichaean presbyters, bishops, and deacons) and the auditors or hearers who included both men and women. The ultimate goal was the release of all light from matter through the agency of the Elect. The Elect carried out this task through digestion. They practiced a rigorous asceticism eating no meat and consuming certain grains, vegetables and fruits thought to contain light. Once enough light was release and great fire would erupt and complete the process of separation of light and darkness. The Elect followed a rigorous moral and ascetical code. They were not permitted to kill any living thing, including harvesting food (others had to do this for them) and they observed frequent prayer (seven times per day) and fasting. The Elect were perpetual wanders owning nothing and depending on the Hearers for their care. The Hearers lived a less restrictive life with fewer prayers and fasts and were allowed to marry (though procreation was discouraged).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Coyle, “Mani, Manicheism,” in Augustine through the Ages, p. 520.

[ii] The Standard work on Gnosticism is Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis: the Nature and History of Gnosticism, trans. Robert McLachlan Wilson (San Francisco: Harper, 1987) based on expanded revised German ed. (1980). Two other important works which argue persuasively that Gnosticism is a post-Christian phenomenon deserve mention. Edwin M. Yamauchi, Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A survey of the Proposed Evidences, 2^nd ed., (Eugene, Wipf and Stock, 1983) and Simone Pétrement, A Separate God: The Christian Origins of Gnosticism, trans. Carol Harrison (San Francisco: Harper, 1984).

[iii] Ibid. p. 522.

Book 3: Student Years at Carthage

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Arriving at the great capital of Africa, Carthage, Augustine says that he was “In love with loving” not that he was in love with anything but that he was “casting about for something to love” (3.1.1). Vaught comments, “If the love of stealing is a love of nothing, the love of loving is love for the deeper nothingness from which stealing for its own sake emerges.”[i] This vacant idea of loving is linked to sexual promiscuity, where the desire to love and be loved is sweeter if he can enjoy a lover’s body. His desire to experience strong emotions is fed by being a spectator at the theatrical shows featured Carthage. He enjoyed being moved to tears by the theatrical tragedies (3.4).

In Carthage Augustine became a master in the School of Rhetoric with a goal of working in the law courts (3.6). He associated with a group of friends who called themselves the ‘wreckers’[ii] but distanced himself from their activities of bullying sensitive freshmen.

Studying treatises on elegance, he discovered a work by Cicero, called Hortensius which contained an introduction to philosophy. He was “won over not by its style but by what it had to say” that is by the notion of philosophy as the love of wisdom. He notes, “I was aroused and kindled and set on fire to love and seek . . . wisdom itself” (3.8).

As mentioned earlier in the introduction, Augustine’s interest in philosophy led him to read the Sacred Scriptures. He was immediately put off with the poor Latin translation that existed at the time (cf. Sermon 51.6). He was looking for the elegant prose of Cicero and found instead what appeared to be barbarous and unappealing. He blames his lack of appreciation on pride.

About this same time he began to listen to a group of Manichaean’s who “subtly maneuvered” him into accepting their views. The raised questions about the origin of evil and criticized anthropomorphic descriptions of God, and the moral practices of the Old Testament saints (3.7.12). The Manichaean’s were confused about the existence of absolute morals found in God’s eternal law rather than codes based on human custom and did not understand the idea of progressive revelation (3.13-3.8.15). God had slowly revealed his nature in the Old Testament. Looking back Augustine called absurd the belief of the Manichaean’s that if one of their elect ate a fig and belched or groaned in prayer “he would spew out angles, or even particles of God” (3.9.17).

Augustine’s deception led his mother Monica to grieve for him with many tears and to implore God for help. As she beseeched God, she had a vision or dream which Augustine recounts. He notes, “She dreamed that she was standing on some kind of wooden ruler, and she saw a young man of radiant aspect coming toward her” (3.11.19). The young man was happy while she was sad. He asked her why she was sorrowful, and she said because of his ruin. He admonished her to take note that, “where she stood, there also did I” (3.11.19). She took courage in the belief that Augustine would eventually be a Christian, though for nine more years Augustine “floundered in the mud of the deep and the darkness of deception” (3.20).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Vaught, Journey, p. 69.

[ii] “Eversores, literarily those who upset, overthrow, sack the city” Boulding, WSA I/1, p. 78 n. 12.

Book 2: Adolescence

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In book 2 Augustine moves on to discuss the sins of the flesh he committed during adolescence. He notes that he only delighted in loving and being loved but without proper restraint. His erupting puberty sent him into a “fog of lust” and he “floundered in the tumultuous sea” of his fornications (2.2.2). He asks, “Who was there to alleviate my distress?” Why did his parents not encourage him to marry? Could he not have been content to use his sexuality to procreate children? Yet he recognizes that he would not have found peace in marriage, since he feels called to the celibate life. Yet at the age of sixteen his family tolerated him forming a relationship with a concubine, rather than a marriage (2.4).

In that same year he was forced to return to his native Madaura, while his father saved up to send him to Carthage. Although he recounts that his mother warned him to keep clear of fornication and adultery, he was reckless and did not head her advice. Driven on by peer pressure he recounts that he even pretended to obscenities that he had not committed (2.7) in order to appear a rascal to his adolescent friends.

In Augustine’s mind one particular episode in the adolescent life stands out, and that is the robbing of the pear tree.[i] Augustine reminisces about the thief of pears from a tree near his home. With a group of boys he stole the fruit simply to enjoy stealing. He notes that its fruit was “not enticing, either in appearance of flavor” (1.4.9). The boys took enormous quantities of fruit and ate very little, the rest they thru to the pigs. The wasteful act was done primarily for the sinful pleasure of doing what was forbidden.

Does Augustine intend to highlight this episode because of its parallel to eating the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil in the Genesis account of the Fall? Is there a contrast with his later conversion under the Fig tree in the Garden in 8.12.28? Both seem quite likely but why specifically a pear tree? Shanzer has proposed that the pear may also be a verbal allusion to the pagan Roman literary tradition.[ii] The common Roman understanding of pears is that they are ordinary and cheap. There are apparent parallels between this story and a parable in Horace about an unwanted gift of pears which also involves boys and pigs. Shanzer notes,

Horace explored the graceless and useless gift with a rustic fable that highlighted the behaviour of the giver. Augustine took a criminal and meaningless theft and explored it from the point of view, not of the giver or receiver, but of the taker. In both cases boys and pigs get pears, in neither does either derive any good from the fruit. The stories are two different reflections of the similar facts.[iii]

An even stronger reaction might come from a Manichaean background. Manichaean mythology believed that trees sprang up from the semen of demons and there fruit contained the particles that escaped from the Kingdom of Light. A Manichaean would never intentionally pick fruit and if they did they would ask one of the Manichaean elect to ingest it to release its hidden light.[iv]

While all of this must surely have been in his mind, the focus appears to be on the Genesis parallel and the mystery of sin. Augustine makes it clear he had no ethical reason to steal the fruit. It was stolen purely for the pleasure of the act itself. He also makes clear seven times in (2.8.16-2.9.17) that he would never have stolen the fruit alone. Does the theme of negative peer pressure, or the danger of bad friendships, parallel the situation of Adam and Eve? Does it parallel the ‘stolen’ pleasure of sexual concupiscence?

The next section of his text talks about how the beautiful form of physical things attracts our eyes (2.5.10). Augustine then discusses friendship which draws human beings together, but notes that “sin gains entrance through these and similar good things when we turn to them with immoderate desire” (2.5.10). He then moves on to enumerate a list of vices which lurk in “counterfeit beauty” (2.13); pride, ambition, flirtatiousness, curiosity, ignorance and stupidity, sloth, extravagance, avarice, envy, anger, timidity, and sadness (2.13). He concludes that, “a soul that turns away from you therefore lapses into fornication” (2.14). He asks, “Is there anyone who can take stock of his own weakness and still dare to credit his chastity and innocence to his own efforts?” (2.7.15). Although this incident of stealing fruit is real, it stands as a metaphor for his own meaningless stolen pleasures which are a part of the corruption of the bad company he kept.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i]Danuta Shanzer, “Pears before Swine: Augustine, Confessions 2.4.9” Revue des Études Augustiniennes, 42 (1996), 45-55. Augustine appears to have mixed thoughts from both the classical author Horace and the Bible in Gen 3.

[ii] Ibid., p. 50.

[iii] Ibid., p. 52-53.

[iv] Vaught, Journey, p. 55.

Infancy and Childhood (Confessions 1.6.7-1.20.31)

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In discussing his infancy Augustine is forced to talk about what he in a sense cannot know or understand because he cannot remember and as an infant he lacked the cognitive tools to assess his environment. This beginning highlights a profound place of humility that represents our common condition as humans. We all begin in a state of original innocence. Although we cannot examine this state through recollection we can explore it by inference through the observation of other infants. St. Augustine is not attempting to engage in scientific enquiry or to develop a theory of cognition. His focus is on the will and the practical context of communal interaction. Carl Vaught notes, “The infant’s struggles to express its desires reflect a fundamental opposition between positive and negative elements in its nature, and it is out of this internal conflict that the negative community of fallen individuals emerges.” [i] Here we begin to touch on the tension between original innocence and original sin in the human condition. The Church affirms that the doctrine of original sin is an essential part of the faith (CCC 388-390). The Catechism reminds us;

How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in Adam "as one body of one man".²⁹³ By this "unity of the human race" all men are implicated in Adam's sin, as all are implicated in Christ's justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. (CCC404)

Or solidarity with Adam leaves us afflicted with this condition but the Church has not clearly defined the exact mechanism for its transmission. Various theories were being debated at the time of St. Augustine and even today the Catechism calls this “a mystery that we cannot fully understand” (CCC404).

By analogy to other babies Augustine recounts his first smiles and also his tantrums “because my elders were not subject to me” (1.8) and even the “sins of infancy” including greed and jealousy (1.7.11) though he is quick to point out that we do not discipline infants for this behavior because they would “not have been able to understand” (1.7.11). Ultimately Augustine moves on, comparing his infancy to a dark blank in his memory on par with the time he spent in his mother’s womb (1.12).

Moving on to his boyhood Augustine begins to describe his acquisition of language. Some modern philosophers have criticized Augustine for what they perceive to be his overly simplistic approach to the subject. Ironically this is based on a failure to read him carefully. Augustine makes it clear that language is learned through a framework of social conditioning based on the interactions with the linguistic community formed by his parents and nurses (1.8.13).[ii]

Augustine’s early school experiences appear to be mostly negative. He enduring being beaten at school and recounts his heart felt fear of such torments. Hi parents only mocked his punishments. Looking back he notes the irony of disciplining children for their love of play when many similar adult pursuits are considered “business” (1.15). Yet he acknowledges his fault, “I sinned because I disobeyed them not in order to choose something more worthwhile, but simply because I loved games” (1.10.16). His disobedience was motivated by the triple concupiscence of vain glory, curiosity, and lust. For these follies he begs God’s mercy.

Next he recounts an incident where he became deathly ill with a fever. He earnestly begged to be baptized but recovered. He notes;

My cleansing was therefore deferred on the ground that if I lived I would inevitably soil myself again, for it was held that the guilt of sinful defilement incurred after the laver of baptism was graver and more perilous (1.11.17).

Looking back Augustine, asks God to what purpose his baptism was delayed. He could have entered adolescence with the graces of this sacrament to face the waves of temptation. God has turn to profit the lessons he learned.

In his studies Augustine loved Latin literature and hated Greek. He preferred learning in the language of his community rather than studies in a foreign tongue. His boyish mind was taken with the frivolous tales of Virgil’s Aeneid. He notes how he wept “over Dido, who killed herself for love” (1.13.20). He notes further that he gave full reign to his curiosity studying the Greek and Roman myths which model many obscene deeds. He complains about the use of words as finely-crafted vessel into which “the wine of error” was mixed “by teachers who are drunk themselves” (1.26). Augustine recounts how he became a gifted speaker, yet he recounts how empty and vacant it is to recount “licentious deeds in correct and well-turned phrases, in ample and elegant style” (1.18.28). One can be trained in fine speech yet still neglect the eternal rules directed to unending salvation (1.29).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Carl G. Vaught, The Journey toward God in Augustine’s Confessions: Books I-VI, (Albany: SUNY Press, 2003), p. 32.

[ii] Vaught, Journey, calls Augustine’s account “proto-Wittgenstienian.” p. 41.

The Paradox of God’s Omnipresence (Confessions 1:2.2-1.6)

2011-04-21T14:06:00.001-05:00

St. Augustine begins with a series of paradoxical questions about the nature of God. If the heart naturally longs for God, how does the soul encounter him? Do we first invoke him or praise him, or do we first know him or call upon him? What is the role of faith? Following intuitions from Scripture, Augustine notes that beyond the natural knowledge of God is the preaching of the Gospel. The incarnation leads to the progression of first hearing, then believing, to calling and seeking, and then ultimately to finding and praising. It is in finding that we fulfill the natural longing that God has placed in each heart.

Yet how do we conceive of this relation between the soul and God? How can God be said to “come into us” or “fill us”? How can we contain an infinite God? In fact God is everywhere wholly present, yet cannot be contained wholly by anything or anyone. Augustine notes;

“Yet all those things which you fill, you fill with the whole of yourself . . . Are you not everywhere in your whole being, while there is nothing whatever that can hold you entirely?” (1.3.3).

God is series of paradoxes, “supremely merciful and infinitely just, most hidden yet intimately present, infinitely beautiful and infinitely strong, steadfast yet elusive, unchanging yourself though you control the change of all things, never new, never old, renewing all things. . .” (1.4.4).

Ultimately it is through the eyes of faith that Augustine is able to understand. He says “Lord open the ears of my heart.” “The house of my soul is too small for you to enter: make it more spacious by your coming. It lies in ruins: rebuild it” (1.6).

One is reminded of C.S. Lewis’ final Narnia book, The Last Battle, where Lewis compares Narnia to the experience of heaven.

The further up and further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.

Elsewhere quoting the text of Isaiah 7:9 (Old Latin of the LXX), Augustine will say, “Unless you believe, you will not understand.” (Answer to Faustus, 12:46, and 22:53)[i] This phrase is probably the source of Anselm’s famous motto is “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Answer to Faustus, a Manichean, Trans. Roland Teske, S.J., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21st Century, Ed. Boniface Ramsey, (New York, New City Press, 2007),12:46 (p. 156), 22.53 (p. 335). Cf. also his Sermon 118.1 where he says “faith precedes, understanding follows.” Sermons III/4 (94A-147A) Trans. Edmond Hill O.P., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21st Century, Ed. John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 1992), p. 225.

Restless Hearts: Introduction (Book 1.1)

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St. Augustine’s work begins with an introduction. O’Donnell points out the uniqueness of this introduction, noting that in “the history of Latin literature, its originality and oddity are clear”.[i] Rather than opening with a letter of dedication, Confessions begins with an abrupt direct address to a silent God. “Great are you, 0 Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; your power is immense, and your wisdom beyond reckoning” (1.1)[ii]

The opening words echo Psalm 48:1 “Great is the LORD and highly praised” (NAB) and Psalm 96:4 “For great is the LORD and highly to be praised” (NAB) and Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, vast in power, with wisdom beyond measure” (NAB). It is as though we have walked into a room to find Augustine praying and praising God.

Even though we are human and exist as part of a fallen creation we still long to praise God. Augustine reminds us; “You stir us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you” (1.1). These are the most famous words of this work. It is as if we were created with a God-shaped hole in our hearts. We have a natural God-given appetite for praising God. It is something which happens spontaneously in the human person.

The closest analogy is human love. If we imaging a young man who sees a young woman. The man looks at her not so much out of duty or social convention, but initially out of intrigue for her beauty. If the mysterious chemistry of human attraction is right between them, in further encounters he can be captivated by her beauty, intrigued by her person, draw by her personality. She remains a beautiful woman but also becomes a person with a name. St. Augustine puzzles over the mystery of ‘knowing.” He notes;

“Grant me to know and understand. Lord, which comes first: to call upon you or to praise you? To know you or to call upon you?” (1.1)

Do we not need to know and to believe before we can praise? But it would appear that merely seeking is enough to lead us inexorably toward praise. We are draw to praise by our very nature;

“But scripture tells us that those who seek the Lord will praise him, for as they seek they find him, and on finding him they will praise him” (1.1)

This whole section echoes St. Paul in Romans 10:14. Faith comes through hearing the Word preached. St. Augustine concludes; “My faith calls upon you, Lord, this faith which is your gift to me, which you have breathed into me through the humanity of your Son and the ministry of your preacher.” These words parallel St. Augustine’s own experience of conversion as he listened to the preaching of Bishop Ambrose. He notes later in our text,

“As I opened my heart to hear how skillfully he spoke, the recognition that he was speaking the truth crept in at the same time, though only slowly by degrees” (Conf. V.14.24).

Although friendships and other human relationships can bring us joy, our heart remains restless and without peace until we find rest in God.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] James J. O’Donnell, Augustine, Confessions: Text and Commentary. 3 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992) Online edition: http://www.stoa.org/hippo/comm1.html#CB1C1S1 Accessed 3/4/2011.

[ii] Once again unless otherwise noted all quotes are from , St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., New York, New City Press, 1997.

The Thematic Structure of Confessions

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Augustine divides his work into 13 books. Generally scholars have had difficulty finding a way to link the autobiographical material in Books 1-9 with Augustine’s soul searching present reflections in Book 10 and finally his allegorical exegesis of Genesis 1 in Books 11-13. Augustine’s treatment of the theme of memory and the Eucharistic theme Cavadini has identified show how these apparently varied parts fit together. The internal structure of the first nine books seems to follow ages of man according to the ancient world: infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth and maturity. In addition to this simple structure, Augustine may be employing other rhetorical techniques.

William A. Stephany has argued that one can recognize a clear structure to the first nine books of Confessions that is call a chiasm (from the Greek letter chi or ‘X’).[i] In a simple chiasm the elements in one statement are paralleled and reversed in the next statement A-B parallels B-A. For example Amos 5:5;

but do not seek Bethel; Do not come to Gilgal, and do not cross to Beer-sheba.

For Gilgal shall be led into exile, and Bethel shall become nought. (NAB)

In a more complex chiasm a series of items pair leaving a central item for emphasis such as “lying” in Psalm 52:3b.

Psalm 52:1b-5a[ii]

Stephany argues that,

“Books 1-9 of the Confessions form a chiasm, with Book 5 at the center and the other books arranged in pairs on either side of the central book: Book 4, in other words, balancing Book 6; Book 3 balancing Book 7; Book 2 balancing Book 8; and Book 1 balancing Book 9. So seen, Book 5 becomes the center of Augustine's narrative of conversion, the point to which the first four books lead, and from which the last four proceed.”[iii]

A diagram of the flow of Augustine’s account of his life shows the clear parallel elements;

Special emphasis is given to Book 5 and the parallel elements show contrasts between the Fallen and redeemed states. Stephany also comments on the contrasts within Book 5 between the Manichean bishop and Bishop Ambrose;

“At the beginning of the Book, Augustine awaits one Bishop expecting the truth, but he received only rhetoric; at the end of the Book, he frequents the sermons of the other Bishop out of professional curiosity, expecting only rhetoric, but he received the truth.”[iv]

As we begin to work our way through the various books, we will try to keep this overall structure of Books 1-9 in mind. It is interesting to note that this same structure is seen in the famous Carmen Christi hymn found in Philippians 2. This is one of St. Augustine’s favorite passages.

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] William A. Stephany “Thematic Structure in Augustine’s Confessions,” Augustinian Studies 20 (1989):129 – 142.

[ii] Robert L Alden, “Chiastic Psalms (II): A Study in the Mechanics of Semantic Poetry in Psalms 51-100” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 19-3 (1976) 191-200, esp. 191-192.

[iii] Stephany, 129-130.

[iv] Ibid. 139.

What Sort of Book is Confessions?

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The Genre of Confessions

James J. O’Donnell comments; “Augustine never practices the humility of the man who would escape attention. In prostrating himself before the divine in the Confessions, Augustine performs an astonishing act of self-preservation and self-justification and paradoxically, self-aggrandizement.”[i] Charles T. Mathewes has pointed out that our perception of St. Augustine precisely at this point is clouded by our modern notions of autobiography. Is the act of writing one’s story down not inherently vain? Mathewes argues that Augustine’s work “is not in fact merely autobiographical, it is properly speaking anti-autobiographical”[ii] The aim is pedagogical and psychological, helping us to recognize negatively that our sinful lives are far less intelligible than we presume and positively that our existence is a gift of sheer grace on God’s part. There is no presumption that we narrate our own lives, but rather that the story is only intelligible from the perspective of salvation.[iii] Does this allow St. Augustine to escape O’Donnell’s criticism? Augustine is probably not completely free of vanity, but Mathewes’ point is well taken and topic of grace is one of Augustine’s most prevalent themes.

Although parts of the work may have been published previously the work as a whole has a definite unity. The work seems to be divided into three parts. Books I-IX discuss Augustine’s past life, Book X his present life and books XI-XIII are a commentary on Genesis 1 and some philosophical issues. Scholars are not agreed on a single unifying theme. The ascent of the soul to God (or the fall and return of the soul to God) is one prominent theme. Others have focused on Book XI.2.26 and Augustine’s treatment of memory. Augustine discusses a memoria (memory) of the past (Books I-IX ), a contuitus (an intensive look) of the present (Book X) and an expectatio (anticipation) of the future (Books XI-XIII).[iv]

John Cavadini has suggested that although Augustine follows the ancient custom of not speaking directly about the secrets of the Eucharistic rite, he is nonetheless alluding to a Eucharistic understanding throughout this discourse.[v] The theme of memory is in fact Eucharistic. He notes that, “the Eucharist is at the intersection of memory and hope.”[vi] In fact, “the person bound to the Eucharist in faith is bound to the memorial of God’s mercy that configures or even defines all of one’s own memory.”[vii]

A related theme is St. Augustine’s connection between the vices of 1 John 2:16 “the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the arrogance of a life” (concupiscentia carnis est, et concupiscentia oculorum, et superbia vitæ) and the triple concupiscence of the vices libido (lust of the flesh), curiositas (curiosity) and superbia (pride of life)[viii] O’Donnell sees this triadic pattern as the key to the first eight books and part of Book X. In Book X Augustine discusses each of the five senses as concupiscence of the flesh. He discusses touch (X.30.42), taste (X.31.45), smell (X.32.48), hearing (X.33.50) and sight (X.34.53) before moving on to curiosity (X.35.57) and finally worldly ambition (ambitio saecula) in Book X.38.63.[ix]

In the end, Augustine’s ‘confessions’ are not his alone but those of Adam and Eve and of the whole human race. The Confessions are rather the story of God’s own saving action and gracious work of forgiveness which culminates on the cross and is made present to us in the Eucharist. It is the story of our fallen state and of the “healing remedy who hung upon a tree, the medicine for our wounds” (Conf. X.13,35).

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] O’Donnell, Augustine, p. 36.

[ii] Charles T. Mathewes, “Book One: The Presumptuousness of Autobiography and the Paradoxes of Beginning” in A Reader’s Companion to Augustine’s Confessions, Ed. Kim Paffenroth and Robert P. Kennedy, (Louisville: Westminster Press, 2003), p. 8.

[iii] Ibid., p. 8-9.

[iv]Van Fleteren, “Confessions,” 227-232, esp. 28.

[v]John C. Cavadini, “Eucharistic Exegesis in Augustine’s Confessions” Augustinian Studies 41:1 (2010) 87-108, esp. p. 89.

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] Ibid.

[viii]Cf. 1 John 2:16 “sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life (NAB).” N. Joseph Torchia, “Curiositas In The Early Philosophical Writings of Saint Augustine” Augustinian Studies 19 (1988) 111 – 119. Torchia notes, “curiositas is intimately connected with Augustine’s theory of the soul’s fall. Curiositas abets the fall in several ways. In epistemological terms, it inspires the soul’s interest in lesser realities; such an interest manifests itself in natural science and those intellectual pursuits which direct the soul to vain, empty images. In a metaphysical sense, it prompts the soul to abandon a “higher”, contemplative mode of being in favor of a “lower,” temporal one. In a moral context, curiositas fosters the soul’s commitment to partial, limited goods in opposition to an abiding commitment to a greater, all-encompassing Good,” p. 118.

[ix] Cavadini, p. 100 n. 53.

St. Augustine the Catholic

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Augustine’s Conversion

Augustine’s despair quickly began to change, when in Holy Week in the year 386 he heard the preaching of St. Ambrose of Milan. He notes, “As I opened my heart to hear how skillfully he spoke, the recognition that he was speaking the truth crept in at the same time, though only slowly by degrees” (Conf. V.14.24). In particular he was struck by the following truths;

“I heard some difficult passage of the Old Testament explained figuratively; such passages had been death to me because I was taking them literally. As I listened to many such scriptural texts being interpreted in a spiritual sense I confronted my own attitude, or at least that despair which had led me to believe that no resistance whatever could be offered to people who loathed and derided that law and the prophets.” (Conf. V.14.24)

Augustine was intrigued by the citation of St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians; ‘The letter kills but the spirit gives life’ (2 Corinthians 3:6). He notes,

“I was delighted to hear Ambrose often asserting in his sermons to the people, as a principle on which he must insist emphatically, The letter is death-dealing, but the spirit gives life. This he would tell them as he drew aside the veil of mystery and opened to them the spiritual meaning of passages which, taken literally, would seem to mislead. (Conf. VI.4.6)

Augustine became aware of the possibility of the spiritual sense of Scripture and this led him to accept the authority of Sacred Scripture. He notes,

“It is because we are weak and unable to find the truth by pure reason that we needed the authority of the Sacred Scripture. . . .The Authority of sacred writings seemed to me all the more deserving of reverence and divine faith in that scripture was easily accessible to every reader, while yet guarding a mysterious dignity in its deeper sense.” (Conf. VI.5.8)

These shifts in his thinking prepared him for the mystical experience in the garden which he recount in Book VIII of Confessions. Augustine heard a child’s voice instructing him to "Pick it up and read, Pick it up and read” (Conf. VIII. 29) and imitating the example of St. Anthony whom he had just been reading he responds by picking up the Scriptures and reading Romans 13.

Fr. Bertrand de Margerie, S.J. notes that St. Augustine internalized two things from this experience of conversion. Firstly, that the words of Scripture are speaking to him directly as the ever-living Word of God. Secondly he saw the connection between divine providence and Church tradition, in the parallel between his experience and St. Anthony’s. [i]

After a short retreat with his friends, Augustine returned to Milan to be baptized. Not long after this his mother Monica died and he made plans to travel back Africa to establish something very like a monastery in Thagaste dedicated to the study of Scripture.[ii]

Augustine’s Ordination and Consecration

His qualities as a speaker and his recent conversion prompt the local people to acclaim him as a candidate for the priesthood. St. Augustine was ordained a priest in 391.[iii] Shortly after this the local Bishop Valerius has him consecrated as coadjutor Bishop. Realizing his short comings, Augustine pleaded with Bishop Valerius to allow him some time to study Scripture to prepare for this new role.[iv]

John M. Rist notes, “Yet at the time of his ordination Augustine’s biblical knowledge was still quite limited, for his intellectual formation had to this point been largely unscriptural.”[v] Augustine had spent most of his time studying Cicero, Virgil, Terence, and Sallust and only more recently the neo-platonic philosophy of Plotinus. Beginning what was to become a lifetime of commenting on Scripture, Augustine first wrote a series of sermons on our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.

Today, St. Augustine’s extant works total over 5 million words! This has led to the famous saying of St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636) that ‘the man who claims to have read all of Augustine is a liar’. Joseph Kelly comments, however, “The Famous remark of the Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636), that anyone who claimed to have read all the works of Augustine was a liar, was referring not to the number of the saint’s works but to their accessibility in the early middle ages.”[vi] No one library in the early middle ages contained all of St. Augustine’s works

St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636)

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

[i] Bertrand de Margerie, S. J. An Introduction to the History of Exegesis Volume III Saint Augustine, Trans. Pierre de Fontnouvelle. (Petersham, Massachusetts: Saint Bede's Publications, 1991).

[ii] There is some debate about how formally one should use the term ‘monastery.’ G. P. Lawless “Augustine's First Monastery: Thagaste or Hippo? Augustinian Studies 25: 1/2(1985) 65 – 78. Lawless argues with P. Brown for monastic style life at Thagaste. He notes, “Life at Thagaste was characterized by surrender of property and possessions (certainly in Augustine's case), fasting, fraternity, dialogue, prayer, spiritual reading, (principally the Scriptures) and work of an intellectual bent.” p. 68.

[iii] Allan Fitzgerald, O.S.A. “When Augustine Was Priest,” Augustinian Studies 40:1 (2009) 37–48.

[iv] St. Augustine, Letter 21 in Letters (1-99) II/1, trans. Roland Teske, S.J., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed. John Rotelle, O.S.A., (New York, New City Press, 2001), p. 55-57. Cf. Michael Cameron, “Valerius of Hippo: A Profile” Augustinian Studies 40:1 (2009) 5–26.

[v] Rist, Augustine, p. 15.

[vi] Joseph F. Kelly, “Late Carolingian Era” in Augustine through the ages: an encyclopedia Ed. Allan Fitzgerald, John C. Cavadini. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) p. 127. More details here

Text © Scott McKellar 2011

St. Augustine’s Own Story: Confessions

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Introduction

This series of posts will follow St. Augustine’s own story of his life in his most famous work, Confessions. Augustine will describe his infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth[i] as well as his conversation and early life as a Christian. As we read Confessions we will examine each stage of his life in some detail but as an initial framework we should note some significant turning points in his life which divide his life into four periods. His life is divided into four periods by three ‘sign posts.’ [ii] The period of his early life, his conversion and Baptism (386), his ordination to the priesthood (391) and subsequently to the episcopacy, and the period following his re-examination of Paul’s letter to the Romans and his reply to Simplicianus (396). At each of these points his thinking takes a significant shift.

St. Augustine was born in Tagaste (now Souk Ahras in Algeria) in the year 354 AD. North Africa had long since fallen under the control of Rome and had experienced a long period Romanization and of material prosperity. Peter Brown notes an inscription at Timgad in modern southern Algeria which reads, ‘The hunt, the baths, play and laughter: that's the life for me!’ [iii] Augustine was the son of a non-Christian Father, Patricus, and a Christian mother, Monica.

Augustine’s Early Life

Apparently the general atmosphere of the home was Christian it was not initially very pious. Although St. Augustine recounts that he first learned his faith from his earliest memories. “with my mother’s milk”. . . “my tender little heart had drunk in that name.” (Conf. III.4.8) Following a misguided practice of the times, young Augustine was enrolled by his parents in the catechumenate but not baptized. He notes; “My cleansing was therefore deferred on the pretext that if I lived I would inevitably soil myself again, for it was held that the guilt of sinful defilement incurred after the laver of baptism was graver and more perilous” (Conf., I, 11.17)[iv]. He laments this practice, and what he regards as the squandering of his youth. He notes that in his youth he initially turned his “attention to the Holy Scriptures to find out what they were like” (Conf. III.5.9). Unfortunately, after comparing the Bible to Cicero’s dignified Latin prose he judged the Scriptures to be ‘unworthy’ (Conf. III.5.9) He later notes,

“My swollen pride recoiled from its style and my intelligence failed to penetrate to its inner meaning. Scripture is a reality that grows along with little children, but I distained to be a little child and in high and mighty arrogance regarded myself as grown up.” (Conf. III.5.9)

Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J. comments on the difference between the Latin Bible Augustine read and the later Vulgate translation;

“The Latin Bible that Augustine read was different. Its language was uncultivated, awkward, grammatically deficient, sometimes barbarous, and occasionally incomprehensible. A man trained to exquisite good taste, who sneered at those who said omo instead of homo, (Confessions 1, 18, 29) might well find the Christian Bible repulsive.”[v]

The main concern of his parents was for his career and so he was sent to the metropolis of Carthage to study rhetoric. His studies of Cicero lead him to an interest in philosophy. In his personal life he entered an unofficial marriage with a concubine and had a son, Adeodatus.

Augustine the Manichean

While in Carthage, he joined a self styled ‘Christian’ group following the Mesopotamian prophet Mani. He became an ‘auditor’ (listener or hearer) of the Manicheans. Manichaeism answered the question of the existence of evil by proposing a radical dualism between the realm of light, or God and the realm of darkness or Satan. Adam was the product of the mating of a male and female demon, as was Eve. The first human parents are not the creation of God but resulted from evil’s initiative. Light was trapped in the visible world. God counters this tactic by sending Jesus from the light realm to reveal divine knowledge (gnosis) to Adam and Eve. For the Manicheans Jesus was not the same as the orthodox Christianity, since human flesh in their view has evil origins and comes about through procreation which emulates the demonic origin of Adam and Eve[vi].

Augustine’s conversion takes place after he succeeds to the Chair of Rhetoric in Milan in 383. Here he meets Bishop Ambrose who is an eloquent speaker and who defends the Old Testament against the criticisms of Manicheans. St. Augustine’s main difficulty with the Bible (aside from the poor Latin style of his translation) was the lack of agreement between the genealogies of Christ in Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Looking back he writes;

“I am speaking to you as one who was myself caught out once upon a time, when as a lad I wanted to tackle the divine Scriptures with techniques of clever disputation before bringing to them the spirit of earnest inquiry. In this way I was shutting the door of my Lord against myself by my misplaced attitude; I should have been knocking at it for it to be opened, but instead I was adding my weight to keep it shut.”[vii]

Again looking back in his work The Usefulness of Belief (AD 391), Augustine writes,

“But there is nothing more rash—and rashness as a boy I had plenty—than to desert the professed expositors of books which they possess and hand on to their disciples, and instead to go asking the opinion of others who, for no reason I can think of, have declared most bitter war against the authors of these books.”[viii]

Under the teaching of the Manicheans Augustine had come to profess “despair” which led him to believe that the Old Testament was filled with difficulties that could not be resolved (Conf. V.14.24).

[i] St Augustine follows the ages of man according to the ancient world: infantia, puerita, adulescens, and iuventus. Frederick Van Fleteren, “Confessions” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Erdmanns, 1999, p. 229. James J. O’Donnell notes, “To approach that book with the best effect, let us dwell on the Augustine of 397, the forty-two-year-old getting ready to tell his story in the form destined to become famous. For him, “youth” (iuventus) ended at forty-five, to be succeeded by “maturity” (gravitas) and then by “old age” (senectus) at sixty.” O’Donnell, Augustine: A New Biography (New York: Harper 2005) p. 26-27.

[ii] John M. Rist, Augustine, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. p. 14.

[iii] Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, Revised Edition with a New Epilogue, ?

[iv] Unless otherwise noted all quotations from, St. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21^st Century, Ed John Rotelle, O.S.A., New York, New City Press, 1997.

[v]Joseph T. Lienhard , Augustinian Studies Volume 27, Issue 1 – 1996, p. 9).

[vi] J. Kevin Coyle, “Mani, Manicheism,” in Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, O.S.A., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999, esp. 521-522, cf. Serge Lancel, St. Augustine, trans. Antonia Nevill, London, SCM Press, 2002, p. 31-36.

[vii] St. Augustine, Sermon 51, trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., The Works of Saint Augustine for the 21st Century, Ed. John Rotelle, O.S.A., New York, New City Press, 1997, 51.6.

[viii] St Augustine, De utilitate credendi , vi, 13, trans. Burleigh, p. 301.

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

2011-01-26T08:55:00.001-06:00

The doctrine concerning of the universal call to holiness is central to the teachings of Second Vatican council. I would like to suggest that St. Paul was the most important source for this truth highlighted by Lumen Gentium.

I would like to invite you to journey with St Paul as he explores the theme of the universal call to holiness. For St. Paul, this journey begins on the road to Damascus which St. Luke narrates in Acts 9. Prior to his conversion, Saul is a pious Pharisee. He was probably from the School of Shammai which believed that Israel must be free of the gentile yoke. He tells us in Acts 22; “I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as you all are this day” (Acts 22:3). As a zealous Pharisee, he had gone “to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). Saul is feeling very righteous as travels to Damascus, so when he experiences “a light from heaven [that] flashed about him” (Acts 9:3) he is expecting a heavenly cheer. He expects to hear, “well done my good and faithful servant.” Saul may have been thinking of the stories from other Rabbinic mystics who had seen visions of the Merkabah or throne of God descending from heaven as the prophet Ezekiel experienced in the Old Testament. Instead what he hears shocked him. He feel to the ground, began to dialogue with a heavenly voice. The voices cries out, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” To which Saul replies with some confusion, “Who are you, Lord?” And the heavenly voice replies, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (Acts 9:5-6).

We need to think about this, the heavenly voice said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting…” We need to ask, did the Rabbi Saul ever literally persecute Jesus? Had he even met Jesus? As far as we can tell the answer is “No.” He had persecuted Christians, or the followers of the way as they are called in this passage. Here for the first time he learns the central truth about communion in Christ. To persecute the Church is to persecute Jesus. Jesus and the Church are one. After this life changing encounter, Saul the Rabbi becomes Paul the Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God (1 Corinthians 1:1).

I would like to note a small pet peeve about this passage. In Catholic art since the middle ages, St. Paul is always depicted as falling off a horse in this episode. If you search the text carefully you will not find a horse. What you do find, however, is that after St. Paul was blinded the men he was with “led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus” (Acts 9:8). If you have a blind man and a horse, would you lead him by the hand, or put him on the horse and lead the horse instead?

Returning to our main point, St. Paul learns that to persecute the Church is to persecute Jesus. Jesus and the Church are one. From this experience the Apostle Paul gains one of his most characteristic ways of describing all of the faithful as “in Christ Jesus.” The expression “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus” occurs 164 times in the Pauline corpus. Furthermore, if you investigate this theme, to be “in Christ” is to be “in the Spirit.”

Writing to the Galatians St Paul, notes,

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27)

By virtue of our baptism we have been joined to Christ.. This oneness includes bearing his image, being holy as he is holy. This is the inescapable vocation of all the faithful.

SGM

The Christian Faith is Rooted in History

2011-01-10T15:08:00.001-06:00

What happened after Jesus commanded the Apostles “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”(Mt. 28: 19-20)? How did the Church survive the periodic persecution of the Romans for 300 years as a mostly underground, house church, yet emerging as the Church of the Roman Empire under Constantine? How did she overcome the heresies which threatened to hopelessly divide her? How did she begin to convert the barbarian tribes that overran the Roman Empire and build Christendom anew? How did Christendom emerge into a powerful rivalry between church and state? Is the story of the Church’s development of doctrine, its struggle to develop as an institution, its Saints, a story worth exploring today?

The Christian faith is rooted in history. Central to our faith is the fact that Jesus Christ became man and lived and taught and left us a rich legacy, which his apostles and disciples have since spread to every continent. The Christian announcement of Jesus Christ as Savior and Son of God is the product of faith, but is, nonetheless, based upon history and revelation. How the Church produced the Bible is itself a fascinating story of history, of which many Christians are ignorant. They are unaware that the New Testament canon was not finalized until the end of the fourth century by Church councils. This fact alone has great significance for those trying to understand the Church’s development. Church history also makes clear that the Bible is salvation history, not a mere collection of stories.

The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the Western world. It has made its mark on history, yet many Christians today see no reason to study it. Myths about the Church abound. Historical study of the Church was and is an important part of how the Church understands herself. Certainly, historical factors played a role in the great debate of the second and third centuries in defining Christ in the face of challenges by the heretical Arians and others who denied his divinity. The great churchmen and councils that decided these issues, beginning with the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. which gave us the Nicene Creed, are the very fabric of Church history. The terms “Trinity” and “apostolic succession,” neither of which are found in Scripture, require the study of history for a full understanding. It is only through the study of history that we learn their Christian perspective and meaning.

To study Church history is to see the work of God amidst the strife and turmoil of man’s story. What did Christ mean when he said “the gates of hell” would not prevail against the Church? What significance did the keys he gave to St. Peter have for the Church or the power of binding and loosing? History puts these questions into perspective and helps us to understand our faith better as we see the Church marching through the ages. Her development from a seedling into a great institution is not without blood and tears, but Christians need not change the subject when the Crusades or the Inquisition become the topic of discussion. We don’t defend the extremes of either, but rather note that they were a reflection of their time and culture and there were some meritorious reasons for doing these things. The way that the Holy Spirit reveals truth is gradually over the course of centuries. The Church is growing into the fullness of Christ, and even today we fall short

It has been said that the Church is “the greatest humanizing agent the world has ever seen” and this is demonstrated in history. It was the Church which created the monasteries, which kept alive culture during the so-called “Dark Ages.” Even some secular histories now acknowledge as much. Still the prevalent view is that the rise of science, reason and a more humane approach to human affairs arose in the Enlightenment period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But according to historian, Thomas Woods in his work, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, this occurred much earlier in the Middle Ages and it was the Church and its institutions, especially monasteries, hospitals, cathedral schools, universities, etc. that laid the foundation for the development of the scientific revolution, of modern international law and human rights, and of modern economic theory. This is not mere triumphalism or misplaced devotion since to give credit where credit is due is only just. Nor is this an attempt to ignore the corruption or abuses that infected the Church and made possible the Protestant Reformation and led to Council of Trent and beginning of a Catholic revival. On the contrary, these too are a part of the fabric of our Church history. Let’s explore them together!

On the Feast of St. William of Bourges,

Dr. Claude Sasso

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Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Holy Martyr

2011-01-06T10:07:00.001-06:00

One of the more famous individuals from the close of the apostolic era was the man tradition remembers as "Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Holy Martyr.” Polycarp was born around 69-70 A.D. According to St. Irenaeus, Polycarp was a disciple of St. John the Apostle and was personally appointed by Apostles as the bishop of the church in Smyrna (modern day Turkey). St. Polycarp was the leading figure among the churches in Asia in the mid second century. The Martyrdom of Polycarp records that Bishop Polycarp served faithfully for eighty-six years (Mart Pol 9.3) before being heroically martyred on February 23, 155.

Because of his long life and direct connection to the Apostles he was an important defender of orthodoxy against such heretics as Marcion and Valentinus. St. Irenaeus recounts that he knew Polycarp from his childhood, and he revered him as a holy saint. Irenaeus notes, “I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse-his going out, too, and his coming in-his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord.” He recalls the story of Marcion coming to Polycarp and asking if Polycarp would recognize him. Polycarp replies, “Of course I recognize you, the first born of Satan!” (Adv Haer 3,3,4).

St. Irenaeus relates how St. Polycarp journeyed Rome around 150-155 A.D. A dispute had arisen over the date of Easter between the church in Asia and the Church in the West. Polycarp met with Pope Anicetus. Each bishop felt obliged to follow the traditions they had been handed down. Polycarp felt Easter should be celebrated on the 14^th day of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan, while Anicetus on the Sunday after the 14^th of Nisan. Polycarp appealed to the practice of St. John and the Apostles, while Anicetus to the custom of his predecessors and to dominical usage. Although the Pope and bishop Polycarp could not achieve common ground in their practice they remained in communion and parted on the best of terms. While there could be no tolerance of the heretical views of Marcion or the early Gnostics, the Church could embrace different liturgical traditions.

St Irenaeus tells us that Bishop Polycarp wrote a number of letters “to neighboring Churches to confirm them, or to certain of the brethren, admonishing and exhorting them.” Unfortunately only St. Polycarp’s letter addressed to the Philippians remains. The theme of the letter is summed up in Polycarp’s exhortation, “‘Therefore prepare for action and serve God in fear’(1 Pet. 1:13; cf. Ps. 2:11) and truth, leaving behind the empty and meaningless talk and the error of the crowd” (Pol Phil 2.1). The letter is a rousing call to live the Christian life fully and consistently in the midst of the confusion and temptations of the world. The letter is filled with quotations from the New Testament and St. Clement’s letter to the Corinthians. One can clearly see the “interwovenness” of Sacred Tradition in his letter. The living interpretive presence of Christ is expressed in the Church through his apostolic ministry. Polycarp notes, “For I am convinced that you are all well trained in the sacred Scriptures” (Pol Phil 12.1). Scripture is the center of the Church’s Tradition and it is made manifest in the preaching, teaching, doctrine and liturgy of the Church.

The Church in Philippi is again battling the heresy of docetism which denies that Jesus came in the flesh. Polycarp complains that these heretics twist “the sayings of the Lord to suit their own sinful desires” (Pol Phil 7.1). Sacred Scripture requires the interpretive presence of the Church. Knowing our faith well also helps us to live our faith in the midst of our daily life. One difficult distraction that Polycarp mentions is greed and the love of money (Pol Phil 2.1; 4.1; 5.2; 6.1; and 11.1). This was apparently the difficulty of a fallen away presbyter of the Church in Philippi named Valens (Pol Phil 11.1-4). Polycarp councils the Philippians to treat Valens kindly in hopes of winning him back from his waywardness.

The ultimate test of a disciple’s faithfulness is martyrdom. Polycarp’s martyrdom is recounted in detail in the Martyrdom of Polycarp (AD 156). This document is a combination of a letter and an act of martyrdom or eyewitness account of martyrdom (Cf. Acts 7, Revelation 6:9-11). The account of Polycarp’s death is the first full account of this type. Suffering death by Martyrdom was considered the ultimate imitation of Christ. The ‘baptism of blood’ of the martyr was considered the equivalent of normal Baptism. Since at least the second century the anniversary of the martyr’s death was celebrated with a feast at the tomb of the martyr and later churches were built over these tombs. The martyrs were venerated as powerful intercessors and their relics were sought after. St. Polycarp’s death is extremely heroic. The witnesses record, “Then the materials prepared for the pyre were placed around him; and as they were also about to nail him, he said: ‘Leave me as I am; for he who enables me to endure the fire will also enable me to remain on the pyre without moving, even without the sense of security which you get from the nails.’” (Mart Pol 12.3). The fire was miraculously unable to kill Polycarp, so his executioner had to stab him with a dagger. His body was later cremated by the soldiers and his friends gather up his bones and began to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.

Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.

SGM

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St. Ignatius of Antioch (Part II)

2011-01-05T09:48:00.001-06:00

As mentioned previously, St. Ignatius was condemned to death during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. His writings give us a unique glimpse of the life and beliefs of the Church at the close of the first century. In his writings we are still very close to Christ and his Apostles. Can we see the face of Jesus reflected in his writings?

St. Ignatius, in his letter to the Philadelphians, speaks of the unity we share through our fellowship or communion through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the focus of the oneness we profess in the creed. It is a sacramental sign of this unity. St. Ignatius writes;

“Take care, therefore, to participate in one Eucharist (for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup which leads to unity through his blood; there is one altar, just as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow servants), in order that whatever you do, you do in accordance with God” (Ignatius to the Philadelphians 4.1).

Later in his letter to the Smyrnaeans, St Ignatius addresses a problem with the heresy of docetism. Although not a unified movement, the early Christians had to correct the tendency among some early Christians to consider the humanity and sufferings of the earthly Christ as merely apparent rather than real. St. Ignatius links this belief to a very low regard for the Eucharist. He notes;

“They abstain from Eucharist and prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ who suffered for our sins, which the Father raised up by his goodness. They then who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes; but it were better for them to have love, that they also may attain to the Resurrection” (Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans 6.2). Seeing the face of Jesus clearly in the face of the early Church allows one to profess as well our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Earlier in his letter to the Ephesians, St. Ignatius refers to the Eucharist as “the medicine of immortality, the antidote we take in order not to die but to live forever in Jesus Christ” (Ignatius to the Ephesians 20.2).

Our unity focuses not just on the Eucharist by also on the Bishop. St. Ignatius writes;

“You must all follow the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and follow the presbytery as you would the apostles; respect the deacons as the commandment of God. Let no one do anything that has to do with the church without the bishop. Only that Eucharist which is under the authority of the bishop (or whomever he himself designates) is to be considered valid. (2) Wherever the bishop appears, there let the congregation be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not permissible either to baptize or to hold a love feast without the bishop.” (Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans 8.1-2)

This passage highlights the role of the bishop in preserving the unity of the Church. In numerous other passages St. Ignatius emphasizes a divine hierarchy of the bishop, presbyters, and deacons. The Catechism reminds us that the bishop is the “guarantor and servant of the unity, catholicity and apostolicity of his Church” (CCC 1292). The Eucharist is celebrated under the authority or presidency of the bishop. The Catechism notes, “The bishop of the place is always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides; the bishop's name is mentioned to signify his presidency over the particular Church” (CCC 1369). St. Ignatius observes that only the Eucharist which is under the authority of the bishop is valid. It is not permissible to hold an agape feast without the authority of the bishop.

St. Ignatius is also the first Church Father to use the word ‘catholic.’ Scholars will dispute whether it is appropriate to capitalize the word as ‘Catholic.’ Generally the basic meaning of ‘catholic’ is taken as the universal Church as opposed to the local church. William Schoedel has pointed out that studies of the original Greek word for ‘catholic’ make it unlikely that it refers to geographic extension, or universal as opposed to local. In the context of St. Ignatius the meaning of ‘catholic’ is more likely a reference to an organic unity under the bishop which parallels the universal church is an organic unity under Christ. Schoedel observes, “Thus we may say that the ‘catholic’ church here is not the universal church opposed to heresy, but the whole church resistant by its very nature to division.” Later the unity of the Church reflected in the whole allowed the Church to call herself ‘Catholic’ in the sense of the fullness of unity in distinction to heresy and in her mission for geographic extension to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20). The Catechism notes that “the word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal,’ in the sense of ‘according to the totality’ or ‘in keeping with the whole.’ There is a double sense in which the Church is ‘catholic’. The Church is ‘catholic’ because Christ is present in her (giving her correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession) and secondly because “she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race” (CCC 830-831).

We can see the face of Jesus in the community reflected in the letters of St. Ignatius. As Pope Benedict has recently noted, “In Christ, charity and truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan” (Caritas in Veritate, 1). Just as St. Ignatius answered those who thought Jesus only seemed to be flesh, today we must constantly dialogue with a dictatorship of untruth and the mere appearance of human opinion rather than a truth based in the person of Christ. Holy Mary, Seat of Wisdom, Pray for us.

SGM

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St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch

2011-01-04T16:52:00.001-06:00

The Fourth century church historian Eusebius tells us that St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch was condemned to die in Rome by becoming “food for wild beasts on account of his testimony to Christ” (Ecc. Hist 3, 36). St. Ignatius was condemned during the reign of the Emperor Trajan (107 A.D.). He was transported “under the strictest military surveillance” which he recounts as “being bound amidst ten leopards that is, a company of soldiers who only become worse when they are well treated.” Ignatius was taken as far as Smyrna where he was greeted by Polycarp the local bishop. From Smyrna Ignatius writes letters to four local churches. He writes to Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia (modern day Turkey), and to the neighboring cities of Magnesia, Tralles and Rome. Ignatius is then taken to Troas in the north-west corner of Asia. From Troas he wrote letters to the Philadelphians, to the Smyrnaeans and to Bishop Polycarp.

I would like to begin this reflection by focusing on Ignatius’ letter to the Ephesians. In this letter he highlights the role of the bishop as a source of unity in the Church. He writes,

“Thus it is proper for you to act together in harmony with the mind of the bishop, as you are in fact doing. For your presbytery, which is worthy of its name and worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop as strings to a lyre. Therefore in your unanimity and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung.” (Ignatius to the Ephesians 4:1). Later he adds a warning to those who might attempt to act without a bishop, “Let no one be misled: if anyone is not within the sanctuary, he lacks the bread of God. . . Therefore whoever does not meet with the congregation thereby demonstrates his arrogance and has separated himself . . . Let us, therefore, be careful not to oppose the bishop, in order that we may be obedient to God. (Ignatius to the Ephesians 5:1-3).

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Ignatius addresses the intriguing question of why Jesus allowed himself to be baptized by John the Baptist?” Recently Pope Benedict XVI has reflected on this question in his work Jesus of Nazareth. He observes,

“Baptism itself was a confession of sins and the attempt to put off an old, failed life and to receive a new one. Is that something Jesus could do? How could he confess sins? How could he separate himself from his previous life in order to start a new one?” (p. 16-17).

The answer on one level is that Jesus did this to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Pope Benedict notes, “Righteousness is man’s answer to the Torah, acceptance of the whole of God’s will, the bearing of the “yoke of God’s Kingdom.” (Jesus, p. 17). St. Ignatius addresses this question by recounting a primitive confession of the Church, “For our God, Jesus the Christ, was conceived by Mary according to God’s plan, both from the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit. He was born and was baptized in order that by his suffering he might cleanse the water” (Ignatius to the Ephesians 18:2). St. Ignatius affirms that Jesus was baptized in order to “cleanse the water.”

In the Eastern Church the Feast of Epiphany is Jesus day of Baptism. Eastern iconography depicts the waters of Jesus’ Baptism as a liquid tomb leading down to Hades. There is a close connection between Jesus Baptism and Easter. St. John Chrysostom writes, “Going down into the water and emerging again are the image of the descent into hell and the Resurrection.” Jesus’ Baptism purifies the waters of Baptism and joins them to the entire mystery of salvation. Pope Benedict notes, “The sacrament of Baptism appears as the gift of participation in Jesus world-transforming struggle in the conversion of life that took place in his descent and ascent” (Jesus, p. 21). As St. Paul, notes, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). It is through baptism that we are brought into communion with Christ, and so into communion with his suffering, death and Resurrection. Earlier St. Ignatius describes the mystery of Christ’s person in another early creed, “There is only one physician, who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond it, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ignatius to the Ephesians 7.2). It is only through the mystery of Christ who is “flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man” that the waters of Baptism become a life giving means of grace and the foundational Sacrament of initiation. Flowing out of this baptismal union with Christ is a universal vocation to holiness and apostolic witness. The Christian life becomes an active participation in the life of Christ and a light to the world in which we live. Holy Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, pray for us. (Novo Millennio Ineunte 74).

SGM

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Matthew’s Divorce “Exception Clause”

2010-12-22T16:02:00.001-06:00

In today’s world we experience daily the tragedy of divorce and its effects on the family and our culture. With a few rare exceptions among various small Christian communities, the Catholic Church is the only church which refuses to accept divorce under any circumstances. The Catechism reminds us;

The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble.¹⁷⁴ He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.¹⁷⁵

Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death."¹⁷⁶ (CCC 2382)

Particularly in some Protestant groups, the apparent “exception clause” given by Jesus in Matthew 19:9 is cited as justification for divorce and the freedom to remarry; “And I say to you: ‘whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery’” (RSV-CE). The Catholic NAB Bible translates this, “I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery” (NAB). What is Jesus saying here? Is he intending to allow an ‘exception’ allowing divorce?

First we need to examine the context of these verses. In this gospel narrative the Pharisees approach Jesus with a question to “test” him. “And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?’” (RSV-CE Mt 19:3; cf. Mk 10:2)

There were two main Pharisaic schools at the time of Jesus and they differed in their interpretation of the Mosaic Law on divorce as found in Deut 24:1-4:

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if she then finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and become another man’s wife . . . then the former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife . . .”

Rabbinic interpretations apparently turned on the ambiguous phrase in Deut 24:1 translated “some indecency.” The Hillel school interpreted “indecency” so loosely that a man could put his wife away for virtually any reason, even for burning his dinner. The school of Shammai interpreted the verse much more strictly--limiting the legitimate reasons for divorce to sexual impurity on the part of the wife.

Responding to this dilemma Jesus answered; ‘Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one”? So they are no longer two, but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.’” (Mt 19:4-6; cf. Mk 10:6-9)

Jesus does not agree with either ‘school’ of interpretation but directs the discussion back to the fundamental nature of the human person created in the ‘image of God’ “in the beginning.” God’s original intensions in creating man and woman in the image and likeness of God—as a human family are ‘normative’ for our understanding of marriage. From this foundation Jesus draws the decisive conclusion, “what God has joined let no man put asunder.” Pope John Paul II states, “In the light of these words of Christ, Genesis 2:24 sets forth the principle of the unity and indissolubility of marriage as the very content of the Word of God, expressed in the most ancient revelation.”

Following in the footsteps of Christ, the Church understands marriage as indissoluble. The Church interprets Christ’s words as upholding “the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble” and as abrogating the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law” (CCC 2382). Such accommodations would include those suggested by the Pharisees which parallel modern views of many Christian communities.

What then do we make of the apparent exception clause? “And I say to you: ‘whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery’” (Mt 19:9).

The Greek word translated as “unchastity” in the RSV is porneia. There are three possible meanings of porneia.

1. “fornication (or perhaps better sexual impropriety of any kind hence “unchastity”)

2. incest

3. adultery

The NAB Bible translates Matthew 19:9, “I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” In translating “(unless the marriage is unlawful)” the text of the NAB is interpreting the word porneia along the lines incest. Gentile marriages in the first century Palestine did not necessarily follow the strict Jewish laws regarding the prohibition of marriage to a relative which would be considered invalid or unlawful under Jewish law.

It is also possible that what was in mind is the discovery of unfaithfulness or ‘unchastity’ during the protracted betrothal or engagement. We must remember that the first century customs for marriage were quite different than our own. The English words ‘engaged’ and ‘betrothed’ do not convey the same meaning today as they would have in the New Testament. Joseph was ‘betrothed’ to Mary, and when he mistakenly suspected unfaithfulness on her part when she was discovered to be with child, “he decided to divorce her quietly” (Matt 1:19). Divorce was necessary to break off the betrothal. The couple was already considered married after the betrothal but typically waited a year before completing the marriage by consummating their relationship.

In both of these cases we are dealing with an unlawful or incomplete marriages which are not exceptions to the divorce rule but circumstances under which the marriage may in fact not have taken place lawfully or completely. A judgment by the Church that a marriage has not occurred is called an annulment.

To me its seems most likely that Jesus had in mind the idea of unchastity referring to the pre-marital engagement period during which in Jewish custom the couple are actually married but have not yet consummated the marriage. Under these circumstances and before consummation occurred if one of the couple was found to have committed “unchastity” then divorce is possible since no real marriage had taken place. A valid marriage requires both an exchange of consent and consummation with a human act that is open to life.

Although the Greek porneia has also been translated as “adultery” (or “fornication” which is sometimes interpreted as adultery), it is important to realize that there is a distinct Greek word for “adultery,” moicheia, used twice in that same verse. Note the verse with the Greek words shown; “And I say to you: ‘whoever divorces his wife, except for porneia, and marries another, commits moicheia; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits moicheia’” (Mt 19:9). If we translate porneia as ‘adultery’ Jesus would appear to be saying something odd, “whoever divorces his wife, except for adultery, and marries another, commits adultery.” Why would adultery break the bounds of an indissoluble marriage such that you can freely remarry without committing adultery?

It should also be pointed out that Christian tradition records Jesus as unequivocally opposed to divorce. Neither Luke nor Mark records any exception;

“Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18).

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mk 10:11-12).

The liberal attitude towards divorce and remarriage we see today is a very modern conception in Christian tradition. Against this view, the Church has consistently urged us to recognize marriage as indissoluble and that a marriage between a baptized man and woman which has been ratified and consummated “cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death” (CCC 2382).

Wednesday the Fourth Week of Advent,

SGM

Matthew’s Divorce “Exception Clause”

2010-12-22T15:56:00.001-06:00

The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble.¹⁷⁴ He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.¹⁷⁵

Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death."¹⁷⁶ (CCC 2382)

There were two main Pharisaic schools at the time of Jesus and they differed in their interpretation of the Mosaic Law on divorce as found in Deut 24:1-4:

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if she then finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and become another man’s wife . . . then the former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife . . .”

Jesus does not agree with either ‘school’ of interpretation but directs the discussion back to the fundamental nature of the human person created in the ‘image of God’ “in the beginning.” God’s original intension in creating man and woman in the image and likeness of God are ‘normative’ for our understanding of marriage. From this foundation Jesus draws the decisive conclusion, “what God has joined let no man put asunder.” Pope John Paul II states, “In the light of these words of Christ, Genesis 2:24 sets forth the principle of the unity and indissolubility of marriage as the very content of the Word of God, expressed in the most ancient revelation.”

The Greek word translated as “unchastity” in the RSV is porneia. There are three possible meanings of porneia.

1. “fornication (or perhaps better sexual impropriety of any kind hence “unchastity”)

2. incest

3. adultery

It should also be pointed out that Christian tradition records Jesus as unequivocally opposed to divorce. Neither Luke nor Mark records any exception;

“Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18).

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mk 10:11-12).

Early Church Leadership in The Didache

2010-12-21T16:19:00.001-06:00

Writing before he became Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger noted that “the light of Jesus is reflected in the saints and shines out again from them” (The Yes of Jesus Christ). He notes, “God’s speaking to us reaches us through men and women who have listened to God and come into contact with God” (The Yes of Jesus Christ). As we continue to reflect on the message of the Didache we seek to find the face of Christ reflected there.

In chapter eleven of the Didache we are introduced to itinerate or travelling ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’ who are to be shown hospitality and respected but who are not to ask for money for themselves or to ‘out stay’ their welcome. We read, “Now concerning the apostles and prophets, deal with them as follows in accordance with the rule of the gospel” (Didache 11:3). The pattern St. Paul established for his own ministry was to earn his own wages. The travelling apostles described here are the equivalent of missionaries and church planters rather than the original circle of the Twelve plus Paul.

Hospitality was to be shown to all travelers provided they were willing to work. “Everyone ‘who comes in the name of the Lord’ is to be welcomed” (Didache 12:1). The visitor, “if he wishes to settle among you and is a craftsman, let him work for his living” (Didache 12:3). Provision should even be made for those who need further assistance, we are told, “But if he is not a craftsman, decide according to your own judgment how he shall live among you as a Christian, yet without being idle” (Didache 12:4). This matches the advice of St. Paul, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If anyone will not work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The kindness shown to these itinerate peoples recognizes their inherent dignity as persons and is mirrored in the modern the advice given in the Compendium of Social Doctrine, which notes that,

“Regulating immigration according to criteria of equity and balance is one of the indispensable conditions for ensuring that immigrants are integrated into society with the guarantees required by recognition of their human dignity. Immigrants are to be received as persons and helped, together with their families, to become a part of societal life” (CSDC 298).

The Didache moves on to discuss the phenomena of prophets who were active in leadership of the Church. Prophets who have been tested and approved and who wish to settle in the community are to be treated with special dignity. They are to receiving the “first fruits” of the wine, oil, money and clothing. We are told, “Take, therefore, all the firstfruits of the produce of the wine press and threshing floor, and of the cattle and sheep, and give these firstfruits to the prophets, for they are your high priests” (Didache 13:3). There role as ‘priests’ even relates to the Eucharist. In the long section relating prayers for the Eucharist we are told, “But permit the prophets to give thanks however they wish” (Didache 12:7).

The Church structure found in the Didache is still very primitive and in the process of developing into its mature form. “Therefore appoint for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are humble and not avaricious and true and approved, for they too carry out for you the ministry of the prophets and teachers. You must not, therefore, despise them, for they are your honored men, along with the prophets and teachers” (Didache 15:1-2). It is likely that at this early stage the titles ‘bishop’ and ‘presbyter’ were not distinguished (cf. Titus 1:5-9). Initially an Apostle, or his delegated coworkers in the apostolic circle (Timothy, Silas, Titus, Barnabas), were the leaders of Churches. Later a transition occurs with a single bishop in each community replacing the Apostles, and being assisted by presbyters. The strong involvement of prophets may have been an unusual element.

The phenomenon of Christian prophecy was still quite common in the early second century. St. Ignatius the Bishop of Antioch recounts his own prophecy in his letter to the Philadelphians, “I called out when I was with you, I was speaking with a loud voice, God’s voice: “Pay attention to the bishop and to the presbytery and deacons. . . . the Spirit itself was preaching, saying these words: “Do nothing without the bishop. . . . .” (Ign. Philadelphians 7:1-2). Ignatius encourages Polycarp to pray for the same gift, “but ask, in order that the unseen things may be revealed to you, that you may be lacking in nothing and abound in every spiritual gift” (Polycarp 2:2). Polycrates, the Bishop of Ephesus, describes the three prophetic daughters of the Apostle Philip “who lived in the Holy Spirit” at Ephesus and he describes Bishop Melito of Sardis (d. 190 A.D.) as “the Eunuch who lived altogether in the Holy Spirit” (Hist. Eccl. 5.24). The writer of the Shepherd of Hermas describes the experience prophecy (Herm Man. 11.9) as does Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho (39.1; 82.1; 88.1). The phenomena of prophecy also created difficulties for the early Church. The heretic Montanus and his prophets Maximilla and Pricilla claimed to receive a “new prophecy” which predicted the imminent end the world. The Montanists formed their own churches and eventually thought of their “new prophecy” as having greater value that Sacred Scripture. The Church rejected the Montanists as false prophets. At the same time the Church continued to recognize the role of genuine Christian prophecy. Although the Church gained more caution, St. Irenaeus of Lyon (190 A.D.) continued to describe prophetic phenomena in his churches at the close of the second century.

As we reflect on the gift of prophecy in the early Church, may we fan into flames the gift of the Spirit we have received through our Baptism, in order that we to might better reflect the face of Jesus, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love.

Tuesday the Fourth Week of Advent,

SGM

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The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (Didache)

2010-12-20T17:07:00.001-06:00

Once again we are drawn to see the face of Christ reflected in the writings of the early Christians. The ancient document titled in English, The Teaching of the (Twelve) Apostles is regarded by modern scholars as a late first/early second century ‘church manual’ which was used to prepare catechumens for baptism and to pass on the primitive traditions about church order. The modern consensus is that the title was added later, so the work is typically referred to as The Didache which is Greek for ‘Teaching.’ In the first Christian centuries this work was highly esteemed. The document may have been regarded as Scripture by Clement of Alexandria in the second century and Origen in the third century. By the fourth century the Didache was excluded from the canon of Scripture, though it is still recommended for reading by St Athanasius and Didymus the Blind. Sections of the Didache were incorporated in later “Church Orders.”

Modern studies have suggested that this work is a composite document which was edited between 70 -110 A.D. It is likely that two short sections of the Didache were used by the early Church to train catechumens who were being prepared for baptism. There is a section on good and evil behavior entitled ‘the Two Ways’ (1:1-6:2) and a section containing ancient liturgical traditions found in 6:3-10:6. This material is roughly contemporary with St. Mark’s Gospel. Scholars believe that the ‘Two Ways’ section may have existed as an earlier independent document in the Jewish world. The editor then added certain sayings of Jesus, most likely from Matthew’s Gospel. Other material concerning the behavior of traveling missionary apostles, and prophets and of the leaders of the community were then added near the close of the first century.

The original Jewish ‘Two Ways’ tradition focused on the teachings of the ten commandments, “There are two ways, one of life, the other of death, and between the two ways there is a great difference.” (Didache 1:1). The Christian version of this tradition found in the Didache replaces the authority of the law with that of the sayings of Jesus. One interesting note in this section of the document occurs after quoting the fifth and sixth commandments, “You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery.” The Didache includes an example after this prohibition, “you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide.” Both the Old Testament and Jewish custom recognized the grave offence of this act, but this is the first explicit instance of a Christian prohibition against this intrinsically evil act (Cf. Evangelium Vitae 62).

The later section of the Didache (Chapters 7-15) deals with variety of topics. The Didache gives instruction on how to perform Baptism, on the Eucharist, and even how to deal with traveling apostles and prophets. The section on Baptism advises;

“Now concerning baptism, baptize as follows: after you have reviewed all these things, baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”in running water [literally “living water”]. But if you have no running water, then baptize in some other water; and if you are not able to baptize in cold water, then do so in warm. But if you have neither, then pour water on the head three times “in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit” (Didache 7:1-3).

The words; “after you have reviewed all these things” (Didache 7:1) refer to the catechesis in the ‘Two Ways’ document. The baptismal advice of the Didache parallels the requirements found in the rabbinic traditions recorded in the Mishnah in the early second century. The Mishnah, (Mikwaot 1:1-8) distinguishes six grades of water with two criteria: "living" water is ranked above "drawn" water, and cold above hot. The Didache expresses preferences similar to rabbinic traditions but is more flexible.

Proselyte baptism also played a role in role in Gentile conversions to Judaism. Later Talmudic traditions view the newly baptized proselyte “like a child newly born” (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamoth 48b) with a completely new legal identity and understood that “God forgives the proselyte all his sins” through the conversion rite (Talmud Yerushalmi, Bikkurim 3:3). There is even evidence of a first century rabbinic dispute between Eliezer ben Hyrkan (ca. A.D. 90) and Jehoshua ben Chananja over whether circumcision or immersion made a man a Jew. As Pope Benedict has pointed out, already at the time of Jesus, John the Baptist was administering baptism “as a concrete enactment of conversion that gives the whole of life a new direction forever” (Jesus of Nazareth). Later Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit creating a new sacramental dimension to this rite. In the Didache, Baptism takes place in the name of the Trinity and implies incorporation into the Eucharistic community which has been “gathered together and became one” (Didache 9:4) in the Eucharist. The newly baptized are invited to join in the Eucharist celebration. The privilege of receiving the Eucharist is denied to those who are not yet baptized;

“But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for the Lord has also spoken concerning this: ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs.’” (Didache 9:5).

Once again we can see the organic development of our Church traditions. Aspects of our modern Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) are already highlighted here in the first century.

Monday the Fourth Week of Advent,

SGM

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St. Clement of Rome

2010-12-19T11:26:00.001-06:00

As we continue our theme of seeking the face of Christ in the face of the early Church we must examine the letter of St. Clement to the Romans. Clement of Rome is an acclaimed figure in antiquity. Christians and heretics alike tried to claim him as their own. He is venerated in the prayers of Roman Canon, which names the first three popes (after Peter) as ‘Linus, Cletus, and Clement.’ Yet the actual text of the letter of St. Clement to the Corinthians begins with no mention of the author. Early church tradition has always ascribed the letter to Pope St. Clement I of Rome. St. Irenaeus claims that Clement had personally known the Apostles Peter and Paul and that “the preaching of the Apostles still echoed in his ears” (Adv. Haer. III, 3.3). Tertullian wrote that Clement of Rome was consecrated by Apostle Peter himself (De praescr. haeret. 32).

Clearly Clement of Rome was a well known and famous person but in spite of this little is known about his life. The name Clement was fairly common. While there are a number of intriguing possibilities, most scholars think that St. Clement was an otherwise unknown slave or freedman from a wealthy Roman family who took the name of Clemens. Traditionally scholars have dated the letter near the end of the reign of Domitian (95 or 96 A.D.)

Clement’s letter show parallels to a type of political letter in which the orator appeals for unity against factions which have arisen in a region outside of Rome. It would be rash to speculate, that this demonstrates the early church incorporated a Roman imperial model of leadership. By mid-second century, the pattern of a single bishop in each town claiming full apostolic authority and assisted by a council of presbyters emerged without dispute. St. Clement notes,

“Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect fore-knowledge of this, they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry.” (1 Clement 44)

The fact that Clement uses a particular governing style does not mean he wishes to adopt the full Roman mindset. One must also deal with the irony of scholars who on the one hand wish for a weak and disorganized church structure in Rome during this period, but on the other hand claim Clement is marketing an imperial model power in his letter almost as though he were a patriarch!

The letter Clement writes to the Corinthians exhorts them to heal the schism or faction that a certain group of younger leaders have created by deposing some bishops who were appointed by the Apostles (1 Clement 42:1-5; 44:1-6).

Some scholars have highlighted the central theme of the letter as ‘order’ which may represent a parallel to the philosophy of Stoicism common during this period. Another group of scholars have emphasized the theme of ‘restoring peace’ following a Jewish-Christian theology which highlights obedience to the will of God as expressed by the Old Testament prophets. It is certainly possible to embrace both of these at once. Clement may well be interested in both ‘order’ and ‘peace’. Echoing St. Paul in Philippians 2:6-11 and 2 Corinthians 8:9, Clement highlights the supreme dignity of Christ under the title the “Scepter of God’s majesty” (1 Clement 16:2). Christ is the sign of ‘order’ and a model of humility. Clement writes,

“The apostles received the gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus the Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is from God, and the apostles are from Christ. Both, therefore, came of the will of God in good order. Having therefore received their orders and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and full of faith in the Word of God, they went forth with the firm assurance that the Holy Spirit gives, preaching the good news that the kingdom of God was about to come” (1 Clement 42:1-3).

We can see the pattern of authority founded by God. God recognized the lordship of Christ, who in turn shared his authority with the apostles. The apostles then passed on their unique authority to the bishops who are empowered by the Spirit to preach the Gospel and shepherd the Church. This divine order is established by God for the good of the Church. The Church exists in communion with Christ as the means through which Christ is made present in the world.

Fourth Sunday of Advent,

SGM

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The Monarchical Episcopate

2010-12-18T21:15:00.001-06:00

When we use the term ‘Monarchical Episcopate,’ it refers to the idea that a single bishop was appointed as the leader of a geographic area, usually a city. Bishops are the successors of the apostles, appointed by them to lead (CCC 77). In the New Testament, Titus is told to “appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). We must recall that in the letter to Titus the terms ‘elder/presbyter’ and ‘bishop’ are used without a distinction between the two terms (cf. Titus 1:5-9). There is strong evidence that by the end of the second century a clear distinction between ‘bishops’ and ‘presbyters’ was made. One sees the pattern of a single bishop leading a community. Prior to this time there may well have existed communities which collegial leadership existed without a ‘residential bishop.’ This makes sense where originally an apostle was giving leadership to the community (either directly or through his delegate), and then after the passing of the apostle a transition to a new leadership model would emerge. It is likely that some communities initially had a more collegial type of leadership while others quickly had a single leader. By mid-second century, the pattern of a single bishop in each town claiming full apostolic ministry and assisted by a council of presbyters emerged. St. Clement of Rome (c. 96 A.D.) notes,

“Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect fore-knowledge of this, they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. We are of opinion, therefore, that those appointed by them, or afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole Church, and who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry.” (1 Clement 44)

The fact that Clement says “we are of the opinion” in the above passage and does not explicitly name himself the ‘Bishop of Rome’ in his letter has led some modern interpreters to say that Clement’s letter must be viewed as evidence that the church in Rome had only collegial leadership in this time period. Many Protestant interpreters feel compelled to argue that there was no single bishop administering the Roman church. Some even speculate further the leaders of the Roman church were scattered among house churches and were no more than parish priests without a central leader. This seems like a rather heavy burden of speculation to place on the single word ‘we’. While it is certainly possible there was a time of transition between the direct leadership of the apostles and a single bishop ruling the church of Rome, as Otto Karrer has pointed out it is very reasonable to believe the bishop-presbyters worked together and that “one of them was probably responsible for unity amongst his colleges and within the congregation as a whole.” The one responsible for this leadership was soon called the ‘bishop.’ Other examples from the same era show exactly this picture. St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107 A.D.) who is himself a bishop, in his Letter to the Ephesians describes the bishops “who have been appointed throughout the world” (3:2). He writes;

“Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung” (Ephesians 4:1).

While the terms ‘bishop’ and ‘elder/ presbyter’ were not clearly distinguished in the New Testament, the communities St. Ignatius writes to across Asia have three clearly distinguished offices: bishop, presbyter, and deacon. One can see this again in St. Ignatius’ Letter to the Trallians, He writes;

Similarly let everyone respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, as also the bishop who is a type of the Father, and the presbyters as the council of God and as the band of the apostles. Nothing can be called a church without these. (Trallians 3:1)

Even more boldly St. Ignatius writes to the Smyrnaeans;

“You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ (followed) the Father, and (follow) the presbytery as the apostles; respect the deacons as the commandment of God. Let no one do anything apart from the bishop that has to do with the church. Let that be regarded as a valid Eucharist which is held under the bishop or to whomever he entrusts it” (Smyrnaeans 8:1).

While some scholars see St. Ignatius’ early second century comments as an endorsement and promotion of what would eventually be the norm in the mid-second century, there is little evidence of resistance. One suspects the scholarly attempt to emphasize earlier diversity in church order is motivated not by historical integrity but by the desire to dissent from modern church order.

Saturday the Third Week of Advent,

SGM

Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers (Part II)

2010-12-16T16:25:00.001-06:00

Initially the movement was considered Jewish but the Church rapidly became predominantly Gentile, though of course many Christian traditions have Jewish origins. The early Christians used the Greek translation of the Old Testament as their Sacred Scriptures. The early Christians pointed to the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. To these Scriptures they gradually add the memoirs of the apostles, the Gospels, and the later writings of the New Testament. In antiquity some of the documents found in the Apostolic Fathers were considered to be part of Sacred Scripture by early church theologians and historians. The canon established by the Church at the time of Athanasius in AD 367, excluded these writings from full canonical status. The rejection of these documents as part of Sacred Scripture does not mean the documents were lacking in orthodoxy, but only in the judgment of the Church they are not inspired Scripture. At the time these documents were written the Church had no legal status in the Roman Empire and was subject to frequent persecutions. These persecutions lead to the martyrdom of some of the early Fathers.

The Apostles also established common patterns for worship and behavior in the churches they founded (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33). Most important among these beliefs and practices were the rites surrounding the celebration of the Eucharist. St. Paul notes; “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). In saying that he “received” and “delivered” this tradition, the Apostle Paul is using the technical language of tradition. St. Paul does not give us the full Eucharistic prayers but recounts the essential story of the institution narrative. The Didache repeats some other early prayers from this Eucharistic tradition,

And concerning the Eucharist, hold Eucharist thus: First concerning the Cup, "We give thanks to thee, our Father, for the Holy Vine of David thy child, which, thou didst make known to us through Jesus thy child; to thee be glory for ever." And concerning the broken Bread: "We give thee thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou didst make known to us through Jesus thy Child. To thee be glory for ever. (Didache 9)

It is likely that these prayers are modeled on the Jewish prayers of “sanctification” or (qiddush) that were given before a meal. Normally the form begins “Blessed are you, Lord our God.” The Greek equivalent of this blessing is “We give you thanks” (eucharistein). It is from this word that we get the name ‘Eucharist.’ Studying the early Fathers helps us to discern the lines of continuity and the organic development between the New Testament and the later Church.

Thursday, Third Week of Advent,

SGM

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Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers (Part I)

2010-12-15T20:48:00.001-06:00

In the previous post I introduced that theme of seeking the face of Christ as it is reflected in the face of the Church. We see this resemblance most clearly in the faces of the fathers of the Church. The term “Apostolic Fathers” refers to a collection of texts of the earliest Christian writers to succeed the apostles. Although many of the works found in the Apostolic Fathers were revered in antiquity, some of them fell out of use and were actually lost until modern times. The full text of The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, or in its Greek title, the Didache, was only rediscovered in 1883. In fact the excitement surrounding the discovery of the Didache in 1883 was much like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in our era. Geographically the writings of the Apostolic Fathers come from a region sweeping around the Mediterranean Sea. The letter of Clement to the Corinthians and the Shepherd of Hermas are from Rome, Polycarp was from Smyrna in modern-day Turkey, the Didache and Barnabas have a variety of suggested locations from Antioch to Jerusalem, to Alexandria. The dating of the Apostolic Fathers varies considerably. Some of the materials date form the first century and are contemporary with the New Testament. The Didache is a composite document which may incorporate an earlier Jewish catechetical tract. Most of these works are dated in the early second century.

The writers of the Apostolic Fathers were not speculative theologians but most often Bishops. Clement was the bishop of Rome, Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch, Polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna, the Didache is a manual of church discipline which attempts to pass on the traditions of the apostles through the bishops as they are remembered by one community. In each case the concern was with concrete pastoral problems in these new communities founded by the apostles. Questions relating to worship, liturgy, the Eucharist, catechesis of new converts, and the authority of bishops were raised in much the same manner as the New Testament. It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus had a community of followers and that he intended to pass down the leadership of this community to the Twelve Apostles. Jesus intended to found the Church (CCC 857). Peter and the other Apostles engaged in missionary activity and are soon joined by the Apostle Paul. The Church expanded rapidly into the Roman Empire around the Mediterranean establishing communities in most major cities. As the Catechism reminds us; “In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority” (DV 7). Indeed, “the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time” (DV 8) (CCC 77).

Wednesday, Third Week of Advent,

SGM

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Like Father, Like Son (Part II)

2010-12-14T21:03:00.001-06:00

In order to qualify as an “orthodox writer from Christian antiquity” it is generally necessary to fulfill four conditions that are summarized for us by St. Vincent of Lérins (The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins III.8, 77).

A “Father” of the Church, the must demonstrate:

(1) orthodoxy of doctrine,

(2) holiness of life

(3) ecclesiastical approval

(4) antiquity.

Orthodoxy relates to a judgment by the Church of how well the writings of a particular person harmonize with the deposit of faith and its exposition in various Church councils. The orthodoxy of the writer needed to be matched by holiness of life.

Ultimately these criteria flow out of the ‘mark’ of apostolicity held by the Church. The Church is apostolic in three ways (CCC 857). The Church has apostolicity of origin. The origin of the Church is found in Christ rather than early heretics such as Marcion, Valentius, or Montanus. The Church has apostolicity of doctrine. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Church is the guardian of the deposit of faith. Finally the Church has apostolicity of succession. The authority of Christ granted to the Apostles is passed down to bishops who minister in succession to them. The ‘Church Fathers’ are held up as teachers and models of this apostolic tradition.

In this series of posts, I wish to introduce us to the earliest of the Fathers of the Church. In modern times the earliest collection of the Church Fathers, during up to the second century, are called the Apostolic Fathers. This term is used to describe the earliest Christian writings after the New Testament. These writers are described as still hearing the very echo of the Apostles in their ears. The Apostolic Fathers generally include the writings of bishops and early popes such as St. Clement of Rome; St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Polycarp, as well as other church documents such as the Didache; letter of Diognetus, the Letter of Barnabas, and the Shepherd of Hermas. In this series on the Apostolic Fathers we will begin with an introduction to the history and background of this time period and then we will briefly examine each of these writings.

On the Feast of St. John of the Cross,

SGM

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Like Father, Like Son (Part 1)

2010-12-14T21:01:00.001-06:00

As the father of a modestly large family of five children, I have the opportunity to learn many lessons about parenting and family life. I become more aware of who I am, as I see myself reflected in the lives of my children.

Over the past three years, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has been giving an extended series of Wednesday audience talks on the mystery of the relationship between Christ and the Church or the light of the face of Christ that is reflected in the face of the Church. We see this reflection on the face of the earliest apostles and then on the faces of the fathers of the Church. As each of us deepens in our desire to see the face of Jesus we are reminded that we do so as part of a great family. In a world where family life is often given a low priority, the Holy Father is inviting each of us to grow in our relationship with our spiritual family.

Today when we speak about the ‘Church Fathers’ we are referring to the writings of a series of early Christian teachers which the Church has deliberately held up as profitable for study and reflection. Many of these writers were bishops who ministered in direct succession to the first Apostles. Their teachings give us a glimpse of the face of Jesus as reflected in Sacred Tradition. These writers took the deposit of faith that they received from Christ through the Apostles (1 Corinthians 11:2, 16; 1 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6) and began the slow process of reflecting on its meaning in the life of the Church.

The title, ‘father’ probably stems from Jewish usage. The Gospel accounts speak of the “traditions of the elders” (Matthew 15:2) and “the elders of the people” (Matthew 21:23). The Jewish title ‘elders’ (prebuteroi) was taken over by the early Church to describe their own leaders along with the term ‘episcopoi’ or bishops (1 Timothy 3:1-7; 5:17-20; Titus 1:5-9). Initially the terms ‘presbyter/elder’ and ‘bishop’ are used somewhat interchangeably. Early in the second century the terminology became more stabilized with a single ‘bishop’ being assisted by ‘presbyters’ and ‘deacons’. The Greek ‘presbuteros’ was translated into Latin as ‘presbyter’ and into Old English as ‘preost’ or ‘priest.’ In Jewish tradition the wise older person is also connected with the term ‘father.’ For example Luke refers to ‘Father Abraham’ (Luke 16:24) and the Apostle Paul to the ‘patriarchs’ or ‘fathers’ (Romans 9:5; Cf. Romans 4:12). These men are seen as models and teachers of the tradition of the elders. This leads St. Paul to affirm; “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church” (1Corinthian 4:15-17). From this verse we can see how an apostle and later the ‘bishop’ could be regarded as the teacher and model of tradition and thus be called a ‘father.’

The study of the lives, the writings and the doctrine of orthodox writers of Christian antiquity is called ‘Patrology’ (from the Latin patres). Specifically the term refers to the Greek writers of the East up to St. John Damascene, (c. A.D. 750), and the Latin writers of the West up to St. Gregory the Great (A.D. 540-604). These apparently differing dates may seem confusing but they relate to specific decisions in the East and West about when ecclesiastical approval for new fathers ended.

On the Feast of St. Lucy,

SGM

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Is the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception only a Modern Teaching?

2010-12-10T10:24:00.001-06:00

We just celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Very few Catholics, unfortunately, know about the definition or the history behind it. I recently noticed that some opponents of the Catholic faith have insisted that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is exclusively post medieval in origins. These claims ignore the evidence about the thriving discussions and disputes over the doctrine before 1500. One of the little known facts about the definition is that a similar one was attempted once before at a major Church council. The definition was not honored by the Church, however, because the council itself had strayed into schism. The Council of Basel (remember it is not an official council of the Catholic Church!) which started in 1429 by order of Pope Martin V, settled on the following as a definition:

This doctrine, asserting that the glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God, through the special preventing and operating grace of the divine Being, was never actually subjected to original sin, but was always exempt from original and actual sin, holy, and immaculate, we define and declare as pious, and consonant to Ecclesiastical worship, to the Catholic Faith, to right reason, and to Sacred Scripture; by all Catholics to be approved, and held, and embraced ; (and also) that it is not lawful for any one to preach or to teach anything to the contrary. J. D. Bryant, The Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of God: a Dogma of the Catholic Church (Boston: Donohue, 1855) 184-186.

Although the Council of Basel was not legitimate – the council fathers there went so far as to elect an anti-pope – the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was increasingly seen as legitimate and perfectly in keeping with the other doctrines of the faith. In 1457, a provincial council held in Aviginon, presided over by two papal legates, both cardinals, adopted the decree of Basel with the following understanding:

We enjoin that the decree on the Conception of the most Blessed Virgin. Mary, which was made in the Council of Basle, be inviolably observed; and we strictly forbid any person whatever, under pain of excommunication, from presuming to preach or dispute publicly to the contrary; and if any so do, it is our will that he incur the aforesaid sentence by the very fact. And in the first Synod to be celebrated in each several diocese, we ordain that the aforesaid decree be promulgated, and that it be enjoined on the curates of the churches, to make it known to the people. William Bernard Ullathorne, The Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God: an Exposition (Baltimore: Murphy, 1855) 181.

Four decades later the doctrine was so commonly accepted the finest theology school in the world – the University of Paris – that the faculty members and students there enjoined to take this oath:

We, being all assembled together the third time, after much grave and mature deliberation, have bound and pledged ourselves by a special oath to defend and maintain that most pious doctrine which declares the blessed Mother of God to have been preserved from original sin by a special privilege of God; which doctrine we have long believed and do still believe true; decreeing that henceforth no one can be enrolled in this sacred college unless he profess, by the same oath, that to the best of his ability he will be a strenuous supporter and defender of this religious doctrine. But if, which Heaven forbid! any one of us, going over to the enemies of the Virgin, shall in any manner dare to favor the contrary assertion, which we deem false, impious, and erroneous, despising not only our authority, but that of the Synod and the Church, which is, undoubtedly, the highest, him we decree to be stript of our honors and driven from our society as a heathen and a publican. Luigi Lambruschini A polemical treatise on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin (New York: Sadlier, 1855) 57-58.

All of this, and much more, happened BEFORE 1500.

Dr. Tim Brennan (Guest blog)

A Little Known Great Pope - Pope Damasus I (Feast Day, December 11th)

2010-12-10T10:09:00.001-06:00

Rarely have popes had pontificates as momentous as that of Pope Damasus I who was pope from 366 -384. St. Ambrose said Damasus was "elected by the judgment of God," but his pontificate began in strife and violence. Although he was elected by a clear majority at the age of 62, some Romans attempted to supplant him with an anti-pope, a deacon named Ursinus. They went so far as to resort to violence to place Ursinus on the Chair of Peter. In the fierce fighting that followed, 137 people were said by the pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus to have been killed in just one battle inside a church. Damasus' pontificate became so renowned, however, that the Council of Chalcedon (451) called it the "ornament and glory of Rome," and the historian Theodoret (393 – 457) wrote that Damasus lived a holy life, was zealous in catechesis and never neglected to defend apostolic doctrine.

Ursinus was banished by the Roman Emperor Valentian to Gaul - from where he had just returned from a previous banishment only in 367. Damasus moved quickly to heal the schism created by Ursinus and his followers. Valentian also used the magistrates and power of Roman law against the schismatics. Damasus, however, treated them with kindness - especially after they failed a trial by ordeal which they themselves had demanded to prove the righteousness of their cause. Damasus' kindness did not waiver even after the schismatics falsely accused him of adultery - a charge of which he was acquitted by a jury of 44 bishops. More libels followed, but they amounted to nothing. Damasus' response was to make a vow to God, through the intercession of the great Roman martyrs, for the reconciliation of the schismatics. Many of those schismatics did return to full unity with the Bishop of Rome and showed their thanks by adorning the tombs of the invoked martyrs.

Damasus acted decisively against heretics and schismatics such as the Arians and Luciferians. He convened the First Council of Constantinople against the Arians, for instance. He made great use of legates and ambassadors to ensure the protection of Christians from heresies and schism. Damasus is said to have ordained 31 priests, 12 deacons, and consecrated 60 bishops. He is said to have built two churches and rebuilt or refurbished the parish he and his father had both served in as pastors. To this day that church is known as St. Lawrence in Damaso. He is often credited with regulating the psalmody and ordering the psalms of David to be chanted throughout the west, with the Gloria l'atri ending each psalm. His greatest accomplishment, however, was convincing St. Jerome to come to Rome and take up the enormous task of producing a new Latin translation of the Bible - which would become known as the Vulgate.
Pope Damasus died on December 11, 384 wracked by a fever. His tomb was discovered, along with those of his mother and sister, in the early 18th century in the catacombs near the Ardeatine Way.

Ursinus survived Pope Damasus. He again tried to become pope - until he was flatly rejected by the papal conclave which unanimously elected St. Siricius. It is a pity that so great a pope as Damasus is today little more remembered than the anti-pope who caused him so much trouble!

Dr. Tim Brennan

Senate Rejects DADT Repeal

2010-12-09T17:17:00.001-06:00

Technorati Tags: DADT,Catholic response

In breaking news the Senate Rejected the Defense Bill, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal in 57-40 Vote

Today in a press briefing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs spoke out again on the issue:

"The president strongly believes that one of two things are going to happen: Either Congress is going to decide this legislatively, or the courts are going to decide this. And, uh, the policy is going to come to an end. Congress has to ask themselves how they want to end this -- what role they want to play in ensuring that it's done in an orderly way."

I would like to point Catholics to an interesting article by Archbishop Timothy Broglio (Archbishop for the Military Services USA) published in the Washington Post Online edition. After extensively quoting the Catechism he notes;

There is no doubt that morality and the corresponding good moral decisions have an effect on unit cohesion and the overall morale of the troops and effectiveness of the mission. This Archdiocese exists to serve those who serve and it assists them by advocating moral behavior. The military must find ways to promote that behavior and develop strong prohibitions against any immoral activity that would jeopardize morale, good morals, unit cohesion and every other factor that weakens the mission. So also must a firm effort be made to avoid any injustices that may inadvertently develop because individuals or groups are put in living situations that are an affront to good common sense.

SGM

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

2010-12-07T15:42:00.001-06:00

In the year 1854 Pope Pius XI proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He noted;

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

This doctrine seeks to explain how Jesus could be born without original sin. Jesus was free from original sin because Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin from the moment of her conception. Although this is a distinctively Catholic solution to the problem of how Jesus could be born without original sin, and yet also be of the family of Adam and Eve. Protestant theology also needs to provide an answer to this puzzle. How was Jesus conceived without original sin?

One might ask, is the doctrine of the immaculate conception scriptural? Obviously the exact words “Immaculate conception” are not found in Scripture but the same could easily be said for the word ‘Trinity.’ The doctrine is seen in Scripture but theology and Tradition have provided us with the technical vocabulary.

The scriptural background to this doctrine is found in the words of the Angel Gabriel in Luke 1:28. The Catholic edition of the RSV translates the greeting of the Angel Gabriel as;

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!

The Angel Gabriel’s greeting begins, with the Greek word chaire or “rejoice.” In Latin this would be “Ave” which we traditionally translated “Hail.” This greeting is filled with Old Testament connotations. In many Old Testament passages Zion is invited to rejoice in the coming messianic joy of the Kingdom (Joel 2:21-23; Zeph 3:14; Zech 9:9). There is a clear connection here between Zephaniah 3:14-15 and Luke 1:28. The Jerusalem Bible preserves the poetry of Zephaniah;

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion;

Israel shout aloud!

Rejoice, exult with all your heart,

daughter of Jerusalem!

Yahweh has repealed your sentence;

he has driven your enemies away.

Yahweh, the king of Israel, is in your midst;

you shall have no more evil to fear.

One is particularly struck by the words “the Lord, the king of Israel is in your midst” in connection with the incarnation. The Angel Gabriel continues, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28, RSVCE).

The Greek word behind RSVCE translation “full of grace” is kecharitōmenē. This is a highly inflected form of the Greek charitoō. This word is quite rare in the Bible. Fr. Ignace de la Potterie notes that the verb used here is from a special class of causative verbs.

In a religious context causative verbs would express the transforming of the person acted upon--the effect that grace has on someone. The verb kecharitōmenē in Luke 1:28 is a perfect passive participle. Being acted upon is also the normal sense of the passive voice and antecedent action is the basic meaning of the perfect tense.

An awkward but extremely accurate translation would be, "Rejoice in the transforming grace you have received, for the Lord is with you!” A much more succinct translation would be “Hail, [Mary] full of grace”. It is possible in translating the participle to emphasis either the verbal aspect as indicated in the above translation or to turn the action into a title “the-one-having-been-transformed-by-the-grace-you-have-received.” This explains the NAB translation which renders the verse, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Yet following the NAB it is difficult to communicate the full impact of the Greek verb in the title “favored one.” Mary is the “favored one” because God has chosen to transform her with his grace to prepare her for the incarnation.

The Church has supplied the the exact moment that Mary received this transforming grace as ‘the moment of conception’, and Luke 1:28 clearly points to this. The perfect tense of the verb above indicates that at some point prior to Mary receiving the angel’s greeting she had already been transformed by grace in preparation for the incarnation. The formal definition of the dogma simply clarifies the details of the nature and timing of this grace;

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Luke 1:28 is clearly a strong scriptural support for this doctrine. Holy Mary, Our hope Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!

On the Vigil of the Feast to the Immaculate Conception

SGM

Apothegm

Acts of the Apostles: Poor Ignorant Fishermen?

Acts of the Apostles: Peter and John in Jerusalem

Acts of the Apostles: Pentecost

Acts of the Apostles: Jewish Background on the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’

Acts of the Apostles: Introduction

Pat Robertson, and the After-Wife

Archbishop Gomez on the need to consider America's renewal

Archbishop Gomez on the need to consider America's renewal

Immigration and the ‘Next America’ perspectives from our history

A rose by any other name. . .

In persona Christi

The Entrance Antiphon

New Roman Missal (Part 2)

Welcoming the New Roman Missal (Part 1)

Must We Keep Our Vows?

Comprehending the Trinity

Book 13: Why did God create?

Heaven and Earth: Book 12

Book 11: Time and Eternity

Augustine and Concupiscence (10.30.41- 10.35.57)

The Power of Memory

Book 10

St. Monica

Book 9: Death and Rebirth

Book 8: Conversion

Book 7 Augustine’s Neo-Platonism

The Problem of Evil (7.3.4-7.8.12)

Book 7: Encounter with Neo-Platonism

Book 6: Friends and Philosophy

Ambrose Enlightens Augustine

Book 6: Enlightenment in Milan

Book 5: Augustine Moves to Rome

Confessions Book 5: Meeting Faustus

Book 4: What is Beauty?

A Pope for All Ages

Book 4: Anecdotes from Augustine’s Life

Book 4: Augustine the Manichean

Book 3: Student Years at Carthage

Book 2: Adolescence

Infancy and Childhood (Confessions 1.6.7-1.20.31)

The Paradox of God’s Omnipresence (Confessions 1:2.2-1.6)

Restless Hearts: Introduction (Book 1.1)

The Thematic Structure of Confessions

What Sort of Book is Confessions?

St. Augustine the Catholic

St. Augustine’s Own Story: Confessions

Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J. comments on the difference between the Latin Bible Augustine read and the later Vulgate translation;

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

The Christian Faith is Rooted in History

Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Holy Martyr

St. Ignatius of Antioch (Part II)

St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch

Matthew’s Divorce “Exception Clause”

Matthew’s Divorce “Exception Clause”

Early Church Leadership in The Didache

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (Didache)

St. Clement of Rome

The Monarchical Episcopate

Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers (Part II)

Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers (Part I)

Like Father, Like Son (Part II)

Like Father, Like Son (Part 1)

Is the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception only a Modern Teaching?

A Little Known Great Pope - Pope Damasus I (Feast Day, December 11th)

Senate Rejects DADT Repeal

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Immigration and the ‘Next America’
perspectives from our history