Passion and Resurrection Narratives

Post Nicene Latin Interpretations

Andrew M. Bain

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781532674358
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Teologia cristiana

By grasping how the church of a particular time period reads the Scriptures, we can understand much of the Christianity of that age. This volume examines how the Gospel accounts at the heart of the Christian faith, the passion and resurrection of Christ, were interpreted by four key authors from late antiquity. In analyzing the readings and methods of Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, this work advocates for a reshaping of the categories commonly used to understand Latin patristic exegesis. It also prompts reflection upon habits of biblical interpretation and the pastoral application of Scripture in our own time.

1

Introduction

The study of the later Latin Fathers’ exegetical works could benefit from a modest broadening of its focus, and consideration of these ancient authors’ writings from some less familiar angles. Traditionally, scholarship has tended to describe these interpreters, alongside their Greek counterparts, by placing them somewhere along a continuum whose ends are labelled “literal” and “allegorical.” The biblical works of the major later Latin Fathers (and of some less well-known figures) have also been thoroughly analyzed in terms of the influences acting upon them. While scholarship over the past two decades or more has explored their exegetical works in terms of a wider range of categories, this process has tended to be piecemeal, with many major works continuing to give the greatest place to concepts such as allegory, literalism, and the senses of Scripture.1 What is needed are some additional categories within which the exegetical works of these Fathers can be analyzed, distinguished, and discussed. Ideally, these will be categories which are both demonstrably present within the deliberate practices and methods of the ancient authors themselves, as well as being of value to modern readers in understanding those same authors and using their methods and exegeses to prompt reflection on our own practices of biblical interpretation, today. This study attempts to provide such a group of additional categories, while downplaying to some extent the relative usefulness of the senses of Scripture and their associated concepts for providing meaningful distinctions between the different exegetical approaches of the later Latin Fathers. However, before moving into the body of the work, several preliminary issues must be discussed. Firstly, the approach and methodology employed in this study will be outlined, and the authors and texts studied shall be introduced. Secondly, several key terms used will be defined. Thirdly, the modern study of patristic exegesis in the Latin West shall be summarized, with particular reference to trends and patterns in the treatment of the authors and texts under consideration here. Lastly, we shall consider relevant technical matters such as texts used and the translation philosophy employed.

The Approach of this Study

This study attempts to gain an understanding of the character of fourth –and fifth-century Latin biblical interpretation by examining selections from four major Fathers who wrote between the mid-fourth century and the early fifth century: Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine. Taken together, the biblical works of these four authors include well over 50 percent of the corpus of surviving Latin exegetical material written between Nicaea and the fall of the Western Empire. The commentators chosen were also influential figures and exegetes, in their own time and afterwards.2 Hilary (ca. 315–367), bishop of Poitiers in Gaul, was the first major Latin theologian to emerge in the post-Nicene period. While relatively few of his works were purely exegetical by design, he is constantly using Scripture in order to serve his purposes, as shall be seen in chapter 3. Ambrose (339–397), bishop of Milan, was the major ecclesio-political figure of the Latin West in the 370s and 380s. As bishop of what was sometimes the imperial capital, his works on Scripture had substantial influence, and were instrumental in introducing the riches of Eastern scholarship to the West. Jerome (ca. 347–419/20), a native of Stridon in modern-day Croatia and subsequently a long-term resident of Bethlehem, was regarded by many in his own day, and many more since, as the leading exegete of the Latin West. A prolific commentator on the Bible, his works were highly regarded among his contemporaries for their being based on his presumed mastery of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. Lastly, Augustine (354–430), bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman Africa (modern-day Algeria) cannot be ignored in any study such as this. One of the most important theological figures in the history of Western Christianity, he has also left a substantial body of exegetical works to posterity.

The body of the exegetical works of these four major Latin authors is too substantial to be considered in its entirety in any meaningful depth. This book therefore takes a case-study approach, focusing on how each of the four chosen Fathers interprets the crucifixion and resurrection accounts within the Gospels.3 There are several advantages of choosing this particular area. Firstly, the Gospels, taken together, are one of the few instances where major commentaries from several Latin Fathers of the period are extant. Developing a study that is representative of the methods of later Latin exegesis as a whole would not be possible from surviving commentaries on most other books of the Bible: the Gospels and the Psalms in fact represent the only case where the works of four major figures are available.4 Secondly, the Gospels have been an important and well-known part of Scripture in every era of ecclesiastical history, and such a case study as this is therefore likely to be of greater interest to modern students of Scripture and scholars interested in biblical interpretation in other periods than most of the alternatives. Thirdly, the final chapters of the Gospels are of substantial importance to several major theological themes, such as the atonement, the resurrection and its consequences, and the nature of Christ. As a result, most commentators on these passages, both ancient and modern, tend to discuss such matters through their exposition of the text. Analysis of how commentators use the text to explore such theological themes is easier in this case study than considering the interpretation of other parts of the Gospels, due to the wealth of available material. It also yields interesting results, as shall become apparent in the chapters that follow. Lastly, although the four Fathers under consideration are not all commenting on the same Gospel, comparisons between them are relatively easy when it comes to the final chapters of the Gospels. This is because at this point in their discussions of the Gospels, all four commentators tend strongly towards reading all of the evangelists in harmony as they interpret them, rather than ri...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Embodying the Text
• Chapter 3: Faith in Realities
• Chapter 4: Through the Eyes of the Evangelist
• Chapter 5: Augustine and the Senses of Scripture
• Chapter 6: A Wide-Angle Lens
• Chapter 7: Conclusions: Interpretation Then and Now
• Bibliography