St. Augustine and the Psalms Part I

1. St. Augustine and the PsalmsPart I Ann T. Orlando 16 June 2007

2. Outline • Augustine’s Life and Works • Importance of Psalms to Augustine • Psalter Versions • Notes and Discussion on Psalms 1, 11, 99

3. Brief Biographical Sketch • Born near Carthage in 354 to a devoutly Catholic mother (St. Monica) and worldly father (Patrick) • In youth leads a life of pleasure searching for happiness • Flirts with Manichaeism • Becomes enamored with Platonism (Plotinus) • Conversion to Catholic Christianity • Ordained priest 391, bishop of Hippo 395 • Died on 28 August 430 • Peter Brown’s book Augustine of Hippo remains the most important biography of Augustine in English • Be sure to get the New Edition with Epilogue • Discusses discovery of 12 previously unstudied letters and sermons of Augustine (396-404)

4. Critical and Defining Issues for Augustine • Theodicy • Epistemology • Sacraments • Theology of Trinity • Ecclesiology • Justification • Primacy of love

5. Augustine’s Works • Augustine’s friend and biographer, Possidius, catalogued Augustine's works after his death and observed that no one would be able to read them all • Among the vitally important works • Against the Academics • On Free Will • Confessions • On the Trinity • City of God • On Christian Teaching • Retractions concerning On Free Will • Nearly innumerable letters, treatises, homilies, commentaries • Commentary, expositions, sermons on Psalms

6. Augustine’s Approach to Biblical Interpretation • The Bible is ‘one book’ which tells the story of salvation • Events in the OT describe both man’s relationship to God before the Incarnation and foreshadow the Incarnation • Bible understood literally and allegorically • Augustine wrote his rules for understanding Scripture in On Christian Teaching • The ‘acid test’ for understanding Scripture: “So anyone who thinks that he has understood the divine Scripture or any part of it, but cannot by his understanding build up this double love of God and neighbor, has not yet succeeded in understanding it.” (On Christian Teaching I:86)

7. Importance of Psalms to Augustine • The power of the Psalms on Augustine is found in his own words, especially in the Confessions • Begins with Ps. 47:2 ‘You are great Lord and highly to be praised’ • Augustine records how he discovered the Psalms between his ‘conversion’ and Baptism while he was on retreat (IX.iv.8) in Cassiciacum • According to his biographer, Possidius, as he neared death, Augustine requested that the penitential Psalms be written in large letters and put on the walls of his room so that he could meditate on them as he was dying

8. Composition of Expositions • Augustine began his expositions of the Psalms, his longest (in length and over time) work shortly after his ordination • He worked on them over 30 years (390-422) • Psalms 1-32, 110-117, and 119-133 were written in order • Psalm 118 was the last one • Augustine arranged the expositions himself as one work (covering 5 volumes in modern edition) • His expositions of the Psalms is the largest work written in Christian antiquity

9. Occasion for the Expositions • Usually homilies or didactic gatherings of faithful • Perhaps most often delivered at vespers • Many delivered at Carthage during festival of martyrs • Expositions tend to be less philosophical, but more practical

10. Versions of the Psalter • Augustine used an Old Latin Version, a translation from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) • Jerome in his new (early 5th C) Latin translation of the Old Testament, including the Psalms, relied primarily on the Hebrew version • Augustine argued with Jerome over which should be considered the ‘authoritative’ source (LXX or Hebrew) • Jerome’s translations became standard, except for the Psalter • Importance of Augustine’s Exposition of Psalms was such that both Latin versions were in frequent throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. • Since VII the LXX version has been set aside. • Note, however, that in the official Vulgate version both the LXX and the Hebrew-based Latin translations are given. The Psalms are the only book of the OT for which both are given.

11. Notes on Exposition of Psalm 1 • The first line of any book sets the theme for the entire book: It’s all about Jesus • Importance of consequences of original sin • Worst sin is pride • Nature of freedom

12. Notes on Exposition of Psalm 11 • Who is your neighbor • Pride • Importance of truth telling • Greedy go around in a circle

13. Notes on Exposition of Psalm 99 • So where is the word ‘confession’ in this Psalm? • It is in the LXX, not the Hebrew • Augustine against the Manichees • Augustine was a Manichee hearer in his youth • Manichaeism holds to two gods: evil, anthropomorphic creator god and good, spiritual god • Manichees rejected the OT as the testament of evil anthropomorphic god • Augustine against the Donatists • Donatism was the dominant form of Christianity in North Africa in 4th C • Donatists believed that the Church should be church of the ‘pure’ • Christian sectarian strife in North Africa was very violent: Donatists tried to have Augustine assassinated

14. Some themes in Exposition of Psalm 99 • Confession of praise and sin • Unity with God creator of all things • Purifying the inner self • Freedom and love in the Lord’s service • Church, even religious communities, are mixed bags (because everyone in them is a mixed bag; thus the need for confession of sin and praise) • Balanced view of Church on earth is needed • Importance of hope; image of ships in a harbor