Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics ln
De doctrina christiana
- Humiliation, Love, Sign, and Discipline-
B.- Hoon Woo
• Abstract - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This essay attempts to analyze Augustine's hermeneutics and homiletics in his
De doctrina christiana. I will offer a succinct synopsis of the work and highlight
various points showing Augustine's hermeneutical and homiletical characteristics.
Augustine stresses the importance of humiliation in the study of Scripture. He also
regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian
faith. In Augustine's hermeneutics, sign has an important role. God can
communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus,
humiliation, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical
presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine
endorses some teaching of the Platonism of his time, he corrects and recasts it
according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline,
he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the
meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human
knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the
interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of
all, to love God and neighbor.
Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics in
De doctdna christiana: / B.- Hoon Woo
97
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“Take, Read!” With these two words begins the climactic turnover
of Augustine’s impressive story of conversion. Obeying that voice,
he picked up the Word of God, read it, and his new life started
(Confessiones 8.12). There was nothing to him more precious than
Scripture, because he was regenerated, taught, and empowered by it.
Scripture was the origin of all knowledge and wisdom for Augustine.
As soon as he became an ordained priest in 391, he asked for time
off to dedicate himself to an intensive study of the Bible (Epistula
21).1) Thus, it is no wonder that he wrote the book, De doctrina
christiana (henceforth DDC), to teach Christians how to read and
preach the Bible.
The date when Augustine began writing this book is presumed
somewhere between 395 and 396.2) By that time, he had already
been writing commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, and Paul’s letters to
the Romans and Galatians.3) He seems to have wanted to give to
other Christians some important observations and principles from his
own study of the Bible. Henri-Irénée Marrou insisted that Augustine
had written this book to establish a Christian culture which could
rank with the classical culture.4) However, it is better to consider, as
1) Edmund Hill, O.P. trans. and notes, Teaching Christianity (Hyde Park, NY:
New City Press, 1995), 96; P. H. Green trans. and note, On Christian
Teaching (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), Introduction, vi.
2) R. P. H. Green ed., Augustine: De Doctrina Christiana, Oxford Early
Christian Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), Introduction, xi-xii;
James O’Donnell, “Doctrina Christiana, De,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine
through the Ages, 278.
3) Green, On Christian Teaching, Introduction, vi.
4) H.-I. Marrou, Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique (Paris: E. de
Boccard, 19584), Part III, Chap. 1.
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Augustine himself said in Prooemium 1 and 1.1.1, the purpose of
DDC was to provide basic instruction so that a Christian can
understand the Bible (inveniendi ratio) and teach it to others
(proferandi ratio).5) Augustine embarked on writing this book around
395/6 but Retractationes 2.4 says that he left it unfinished and
completed it around the time he wrote the Retractationes.6) One can
call the first part of DDC (Books I-III) Augustine’s hermeneutics,
and the second part of it (Book IV) his homiletics.7)
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After explaining the purpose of DDC in Prooemium 1, Augustine
expects three responses from this book (DDC prooem. 2): first,
those who cannot understand its instruction; second, those who
understand but fail to apply it; third, those who think it unnecessary.
5) Hill, Teaching Christianity, 95-7; Green, On Christian Teaching, Introduction,
vii-viii; O’Donnell, “Doctrina Christiana, De,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine
through the Ages, 278.
6) Hill, Teaching Christianity, 96-7; Green, On Christian Teaching, Introduction,
x; O’Donnell, “Doctrina Christiana, De,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through
the Ages, 278.
7) In this essay, hermeneutics means “the classical discipline concerned with the
art of understanding texts” as Karla Pollmann says in her article, “Augustine’s
Hermeneutics as a Universal Discipline!?,” in Karla Pollmann and Mark
Vessey eds., Augustine and the Disciplines: From Cassiciacum to Confessions
(Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 206; Homiletics is
the science that studies the composition and delivery of a sermon as usually
defined. But the delivery was more stressed in Augustine’s time, because
most of sermons were delivered “extemporaneously” and were recorded, if
possible and permissible, by the notarii, who took notes hearing the sermon
and later transcribed it. See Éric Rebillard, “Sermones,” in Fitzgerald ed.,
Augustine through the Ages, 790.
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Augustine replies mainly to the last response. He stresses the
importance of humiliation in the study of the Bible, with the
exemplars of a barbarian Christian slave, the apostle Paul, and the
Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 (DDC prooem. 4-7).8) Both learner and
teacher need to be humble, because they learn and teach what
ultimately belongs to God (DDC prooem. 7-8; 1 Cor. 4:7).
The content of Book I is a summary of Christian doctrine, which
applies more to the meaning of doctrina. Although DDC mainly
deals with the subject of hermeneutics and homiletics, the content of
1.5.5-1.22.20 can be called a compendium of Christian doctrine,
which follows the model of a baptismal creed.9) Because the aim of
his book is to understand the teaching of the Bible, Augustine
divided knowledge into two (DDC 1.2.2): that of things (res) and
that of signs (signa). Things which are not employed to signify
something are learned through signs, which are employed to signify
something. Book I deals with “things qua things.” To things, God,
human beings, and the others belong. Human, as a kind of thing,
should enjoy (frui) some things and use (uti) others (DDC 1.3.3).
Because they are created by and for God, the ultimate object of
their enjoyment (fruitio) should be God alone (DDC 1.5.5). From
here on, Augustine surveys the “Christian doctrine”-the Trinity (DDC
1.5.5), the divine attributes (DDC 1.6.6-1.8.8), God as Wisdom
(DDC 1.9.9), God as Truth (DDC 1.10.10), the Incarnation of
Wisdom (DDC 1.11.11-1.13.12), the salvation of the sinners (DDC
1.14.13), the resurrection and ascension of Wisdom (DDC 1.15.14),
8) Edmond Hill’s translation of the first sentence of prooem. 7 is wrong, in
which the subject should be the angel not the apostle Philip, as the Latin
says, “ad apostolum angelus misit.”
9) O’Donnell, “Doctrina Christiana, De,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through
the Ages, 279.
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the church as the body and bride of Christ (DDC 1.16.15-1.18.17),
and the last resurrection and judgment (DDC 1.19.18-1.22.20),10)
After the review of Christian doctrine,
Augustine treats the
problem of love in tenns of use and enjoyment until the end of
Book I (DDC 1.22.21-1.40.44). Many questions about love of neighbors,
self-love, love of God, using or enjoying human beings, and God's
using of us, are dealt with. The duplex commandment of love in
Matthew 22 is the fulfillment and end of the law and thus the core
of Christian faith and Scripture (DDC 1.26.27; 1.35.39).11) Therefore,
10) Peter Lombard wrote his Sententiae along the lines of this thought. Sententiae
quoted DDC 63 times and Book I of it begins with a quotation from DDC
1.2.2 with some changes as follows. "Veteris ac novae Legis continentiam
diligenti indagine etiam atque etiam considerantibus nobis praevia Dei gratia
innotuit, sacrae paginae tractatum circa res vel signa praecipue versari. Ut
enim egregius doctor Augustinus ait in libro de Doctrina christiana: « Omnis
doctrina vel rerum est, vel signorum Sed res etiam per signa discuntur.
Proprie autem hic res appellantur, quae non ad significandum aliquid
adhibentur, signa vern, quorum usus est in significando ». (While considering
the contents of the Old and New Law again and again by diligent chase, the
prevenient grace of God made it lmown to us that a treatise of the Sacred
Page (=the text of Scripture or the study of Scripture) is chiefly about things
or signs. For as Augustine, the excellent Doctor, says in the book on
Christian Doctrine: « Every doctrine is of things, or signs. But even things
are learned through signs. But those are properly named things, which are not
employed to signify anything; but signs, those whose use is in signifying ».)"
Bolds mine. The original text and translation are obtained from Alexis
Bugnolo with minor modification of the English translation. The CD-Rom of
the work is available on http://www.franciscan-archive.org/lombarduslI-Sent.html;
Internet; accessed 25 September 2013. On the influence of DDC in Peter
Lombard's Sententiae and the Middle Ages, see Jacques-Guy Bougerol, "The
Church Fathers and the Sentences of Peter Lombard," in Irena Backus ed.,
The Reception of the Church Fathers in the West (Boston and Leiden: Brill,
2001), 116-7; Edward D. English, Reading and Wisdom: the De Doctrina
Christiana of Augustine in the Middle Ages (Notre Dame and London:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1995).
11) For the importance of the duplex commandment of love in the history of the
Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics in
De doctrina christiana: / B.- Hoon WOO II
101
although we may be misled in the interpretation of the Bible, we
should not miss the target of building up this love. O’Donovan said
that the idiosyncratic scrutiny of love with the relation to enjoyment
and use was never repeated by Augustine so that the argument in
this book must be regarded as “experimental” and “inconclusive.”12)
Augustine’s description on this theme, however, gives many insightful
points of Christian life.
It
should
be
noted
that
Augustine
suggests
“hermeneutical
presuppositions” at this point. One needs humiliation (DDC prooem.
4-8), love (DDC 1.22.21-1.40.44), and knowledge about signs (DDC
1.2.2 and Book II) in order to interpret the Bible fittingly. Humiliation
is a basic disposition of the interpreter of the Bible. The confidence
of the exegete and preacher arises from the conviction that his or
her mind depends on God absolutely (DDC 1.1.1).
Every text of Scripture should be interpreted along with the norm
of love (DDC 1.36.40; 3.10.15), the rule of faith (regula fidei, DDC
2.9.14; De Genesi adversus Manicheos 1.21.41), and the triad,
hope-faith-love
(DDC
1.39.43).
Karla
“normative horizon of hermeneutics of
Pollmann
Augustine.”13)
calls
this
the
Augustine did
not interpret the Bible without any presupposition. Love, the criteria
in the interpretation of Scripture, should act through and through,
natural law tradition, see B. Hoon Woo, “Pannenberg’s Understanding of the
Natural Law,” Studies in Christian Ethics 25, no. 3 (2012): 361, 363.
12) O. O’Donovan, The Problem of Self-Love in St. Augustine (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1980), 26; Green, On Christian Teaching, Introduction, xii.
The love to creatures in God can be compared with the love of benevolence
and the love of complacence of Jonathan Edwards. See Paul Ramsey ed., The
Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 8, Ethical Writings (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1989), 559n.1.
13) Pollmann, “Hermeneutical Presuppositions,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine
through the Ages, 426-9; Karla Pollmann, Doctrina Christiana (Fribourg,
1996); A. C. Thiselton, Two Horizons (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 149-54.
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because it is the chief purpose of Scripture (DDC 1.35.39). In the
last days, every Christian will reach eternity and Scripture will
perish, including all scientific hermeneutics (DDC 1.39.43). But
“there remain faith, hope, and love, these three; the greatest of these
is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).14)
The interpreters of Scripture need to know about the concept of
signs. They can distinguish various signs and employ suitable
hermeneutical principles according to the context of the Bible. Most
of all, they should realize that they can know the God (res) of the
word from the word (signa) of God (DDC 1.6.6). Toward a correct
interpretation of the Bible, humiliation functions as a presupposition
of attitude, love acts as the first principle of the entire scheme, and
knowledge about signs provides a practical exegetical tool.
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A sign is a thing which is used to signify other things and to
make them come to mind (DDC 1.2.2; 2.1.1). The most common
signs are spoken and written words (DDC 1.2.2; 2.3.4-2.4.5).
Although God cannot be fully expressible, Augustine gave emphasis
to the possibility of God’s communication with humans by signs in
Scripture (DDC 1.6.6).15) Augustine was the first man who synthesized
14) Augustine defines love as the impulse of one’s mind to enjoy God on his
own account and to enjoy oneself and one’s neighbor on account of God
(1.33.37; 3.10.16).
15) Michael Cameron, “Sign,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through the Ages, 794;
Augustine developed the hermeneutics of res and signa with the allegorical
exegesis to defend the Old Testament against Manichees. See Ekkehard
Mühlenberg, “Augustin,” in Hans D. Betz, Don S. Browning, Bernd Janowski,
and Eberhard Jüngel eds., Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 1
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the classical and Hellenistic theories of signs.1 6) Among the mam
stream in the theories of signs, i.e., that of Aristotle and that of
Stoics, the former theory filtered into the works of Cicero (106-43
BC, De inventione rhetorica 1.30.47-48) and Quintilian (circa 35-100,
Institutio Oratoria 5.9.9-10), which regarded the sign as an instrument
of inference)7) In his commentary on Aristotle's De Interpretatione,
Ammonius said,
"according to the division of the philosopher
Theophrastus, the relation of speech is twofold, first in regard to the
audience, to which speech signifies something, and secondly in
regard to the things about which the speaker intends to persuade the
audience."18) If we match DDC with this division, the first part
belongs to DDC Book IV and the second part to DDC Books I-III.
Augustine, although influenced. by these theories, advanced his own
theological theory of signs, with whose help one can infer the mind
of God from the events and words of Scripture.1 9)
Books II and III of DDC enumerate all kinds of sIgns and
explain how to interpret them. Signs are divided into natural (naturalia)
and conventional (data); the latter is divided into animal (bestiae)
and human (hominess); the latter is divided into non-words (cetera)
and words (verba); the latter is divided into spoken words (voces)
and written words (/itterae); the latter is divided into unknown signs
(signa
ignota) and ambiguous SIgns (signa ambigua); both the
4
(Tiibingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998 ), 964.
16) See R. A. Markus, "St. Augustine on Signs," in R. A. Markus ed., Augustine:
A Collection of Critical Essays (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1972), 61-91.
17) Michael Cameron, "Sign," 793.
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Cited from Karla Pollmann, "Augustine's Hermeneutics as a Universal
Discipline!?," 216-7 with minor changes in translation.
19) Michael Cameron, "Sign," in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through the Ages, 794.
104
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172:
former and the latter are divided respectively into particular signs
(signa propria) and figurative signs (signa translata), among which
the unknown figurative signs belong to the pagans.20)
In addition to exegetical knowledge (Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria
1.4.1-3 and 1.8.1-21) which follows the order of reading (lectio),
textual criticism (emendatio), explanation (enarratio), and judgment
(iudicium),21) one needs to know the original language (Hebrew and
Greek) and broad background information on Scripture (DDC
2.9.14-2.40.60).
Augustine’s understanding of signs includes several hermeneutical
presuppositions as important factors. First, the interpreter should
proceed with humility, because only a humble person can grasp the
truth of Scripture (DDC 2.41.62). Second, the interpreter must have
a spirit of active inquiry and should not hesitate to learn and use
pagan education for the purpose of leading to Christian learning,22)
because all truth is God’s truth (DDC 2.40.60-2.42.63). Third, the
heart of interpreter should be founded, rooted, and built up in love
which is the final goal of the entire Scriptures (DDC 2.42.63).
The sign does not function as its own goal, but its purpose lies
20) See figure 9.1 which shows the contents of DDC in Karla Pollmann,
“Augustine’s Hermeneutics as a Universal Discipline!?,” 215.
21) Karla Pollmann, “Augustine’s Hermeneutics as a Universal Discipline!?,” 207.
22) On this point, see Augustine’s Confessiones 8.9. This opinion which regards
the pagan wisdom as a preparation of the gospel (praeparatio evalgelii) was
succeeded from Origen (Epistulae ad Gregorium Thaumaturgum, see J. P.
Migne ed., Patrologia Graeca, 11.88-89), Gregory of Nazianzen (Philocalia,
cap. 13), and Gregory of Nyssa (Vita Mosis, see J. P. Migne ed., Patrologia
Graeca, 44.360). The axiom ‘philosophia est ancilla theologiae’ (philosophy
is the handmaid of theology) was resulted from this thought. See, for
example, comments on Ex. 3:22, 11:2, 12:36 in Joseph T. Lienhard, Ancient
Christian Commentary on Scripture: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2001).
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in its role as a signification (res significans, DDC 3.9.13). God gave
signs as a means to reveal himself; Christians need to exercise
hermeneutical principles in order to understand that divine revelation.
Even if the Scriptural text is obscure, it has meaningful benefits.
For the obscure text prevents us from falling into pride, triggers our
intelligence (DDC 2.6.7), tempers our faith in the history of
revelation (DDC 3.8.12), and refines our mind to be suitable to the
holy mysteries (DDC 4.8.22). When interpreting signs, the literal
meaning should first be sought, and then the figurative meaning
(DDC 3.10.14-3.23.33). Augustine suggests the hermeneutical principle
that the obscure Scriptural verse is interpreted with the help of plain
and simple verses, which formed the doctrine of “scriptura scripturae
interpres” (Scripture is the Interpreter of Scripture) in the Reformation
Era. Moreover, he introduces the seven rules of Tyconius the Donatist
to interpret the obscure meaning of the Bible, which demonstrates
his
understanding
that
all
truth
belongs
to
God
(DDC
3.3.42-3.37.56). In order to apply Augustine’s hermeneutics of the
sign appropriately in modern times, every division of theology must
be involved and interdisciplinary approaches must be taken.
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Augustine put his hermeneutics on a solid foundation of a
normative presupposition (humiliation and love) and a peculiar theory
on signs. In addition, he had his own metaphysics, which was
working with these principles. It is well known that Augustine’s
metaphysics was influenced by the Platonism of his age, which he
seems to have learned from Hortensius (Confessiones 3.4) of Cicero
and some “books of the Platonists” (libri Platonici, Confessiones
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7.9.13).23) There are still heated discussions as to how much
Plotinus (204/5-270) and Porphyry (234?-301?) influenced Augustine.
It seems certain that he constructed his metaphysics with the help of
these two Platonists. Anne-Marie Bowery pointed out the concrete
topics that revealed Plotinian influences on Augustine: conception of
beauty, vision of God and belief in divine illumination, emphasis on
the soul, the insistence on the purification of the mind as a
requirement for understanding truth, the view of evil as privation,
conception of time and eternity, and desire of spiritual and intellectual
community.24) Bowery, however, indicated that there were prominent
differences.25)
First,
contrary
to
the
Plotinian
impersonal
One
(Enneades 6.7.1), Augustine’s God was a personal God who was
revealed in Christ. Second, Augustine contended that the soul was
good at first, but fell into evil because of sin, while Plotinus
insisted that the soul was deteriorated because it fell into Matter
(Enneades 1.8.10; 1.8.15).26) Third, for Augustine, the soul was
23) Scott Macdonald, “The divine nature,” in Eleonore Stump ed., The Cambridge
Companion to Augustine (Cambridge, U.K. and New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2001), 71; Frederick Van Fleteren, “Plato, Platonism,”
Frederick Van Fleteren, “Porphyry,” and Anne-Marie Bowery, “Plotinus, The
Enneads” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through the Ages, 651-4, 661-3, 654-7
respectively.
24) Marie Bowery, “Plotinus, The Enneads,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through
the Ages, 655-6.
25) For a good discussion, see Yung Han Kim, “On the Spirituality of Saint
Augustine,” Journal of Christian Philosophy 11, no. 2 (2010): 1-54 (in
Korean).
26) A succinct summary of Augustine’s theodicy can be found in B. Hoon Woo,
“Is God the Author of Sin?-Jonathan Edwards’ Theodicy,” Puritan Reformed
Journal 6, no.1 (2014, forthcoming). In Book I and II of On the Free Choice
of the Will (De libero arbitrio voluntatis), Augustine argues that God is not
the author of sin, but that sin results from the perverted free choice of
humanity. For Augustine, free choice is an intermediate good (bonum
medium), superior to goods of the body but inferior to the highest goods.
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created by God; for Plotinus, the individual soul was part of the
universal soul (Enneades 3.5.3). The fourth and most important
difference between Augustine and Plotinus was the way of salvation.
For the former, humans can be saved by the grace of God and the
mediation of Christ (Confessiones 7.20-21; 26-27); for the latter,
humans can be saved by the rare and unusual encounter with the
One (Vita Plotini, 24).27) Although Augustine, in his early times,
was inspired by Platonic thought, they gradually drifted apart as his
biblical idea matured.
The main feature of his metaphysics in DDC is a ranking of
natures from the bottom to the top (DDC 1.23.22; 2.23.35). There
are various levels of hierarchy in the world. The lowest part of the
world (mundi pars infirma) surrendered to the apostate angels. In
contrast, God is the most genuine Being; He is Being itself, Truth
itself, and Good itself (Confessiones 7.9.13ff; De civitate Dei 12.2;
De libero arbitrio 2.14-15; DDC prooem. 7, 1.32.35).28) Augustine
contends that being (ens) can be exchangeable with goodness (bonum,
DDC 1.32.35).29) For him, evil is a privation of being, i.e., the
goodness (Confessiones 7.12.18; De civitate Dei 11.9). It is notable,
however, that Augustine changed this concept of ontological hierarchy
into the idea of the order of love (ordo amoris), so that biblical
teaching
might
temper
this
Neo-Platonic
emanationism
(DDC
1.27.28-1.28.29). One should love God the most, and should love
other things for God’s sake. Augustine’s metaphysics is theocentric
in that he arranged all things with the standard of loving God.
27) Marie Bowery, “Plotinus, The Enneads,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through
the Ages, 656.
28) Emilie Zum Brunn, St. Augustine: Being and Nothingness, trans. Ruth Namad
(New York: Paragon House, 1988), 13-14.
29) Thomas Aquinas follows this thought in Summa Theologiae Ia.5.
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God has supremacy not only in the order of being and goodness,
but also in particular attributes. God is inexpressible, transcendent,
and unchangeable (DDC 1.6.6-1.8.8).30) God is Life itself and
Wisdom itself (DDC 1.8.8, 1.11.11).31) All truth belongs to God
(Confessiones 10.23.33; DDC prooem. 7; 2.18.28). The theocentric
character of Augustine’s metaphysics can be detected from these
absolute confessions on the divine attributes (Confessiones 1.4).
The theocentric metaphysics of Augustine is closely related to his
hermeneutics. When he suggested the hermeneutic principle of
figurative expressions, he insisted that evil works should not be
ascribed to God (DDC 3.11.17). In correcting mistranslations of
various Latin Bibles,32) one can apply this theocentric metaphysics
as the criterion of right correction. For example, a wrong translation
of 1 Corinthians 1:25 of the Latin Scripture should be amended
with this principle (DDC 2.13.20).
30) These terms which are used just to explain Augustine’s idea should not be
interpreted in the context of Kant or Karl Barth. Augustine’s conceptions of
these words, though having a metaphysical implication, are simple, biblical,
and doxological.
31) Edmond Hill’s translation of the first sentence of 1.8.8 is obscure, which
runs, “Now all who think about God think about him as something alive; so
those alone can avoid absurdity in their reflections about God who give some
thought to life as such ” Green rightly translates it as follows. “And since
all who think of God think of something alive, the only thinkers whose
conceptions of God are not absurd and unworthy can be those who think of
life itself.”
32) Augustine never used a Bible which comprised all scriptural texts. He used a
group of manuscripts of individual Scriptures. In his time, people contacted
with Scripture usually through the ‘ear.’ There was not ‘a standard version,’
while there were a number of “Italian” translations, especially of the New
Testament. Thus, the interpreter of the Bible needed to choose the best
translation. See James O’Donnell, “Bible,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine
through the Ages, 99-103.
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Augustine explains his homiletics in Book IV of DDC. He
describes it practically in relation to the classical theory of oratory,
which has five parts: inventio (the choice of the subject and
decision of the order), dispositio (the structure of the oration),
elocutio (the arrangement of words and figure of speech), memoria
(learning by heart), and pronuntiatio (the delivery).33) He constructed
this theory in four parts: the basic principles of rhetoric (DDC
4.1.1-4.56.10), a study on the rhetoric of Scriptural texts (DDC
4.7.11-4.11.26), an analysis of styles (DDC 4.12.27-4.21.50), and
some peculiar rules of rhetoric for sermons (DDC 4.22.51-4.31.64).34)
The essential part of Book IV deals with three styles of sermons
(genera tenue / docere [to teach]; genera medium / delectare [to
amuse]; genera grande / flectere [to persuade]), which was influenced
by Cicero’s Orator 1.3.35) Augustine stresses the importance of
principle and discipline at the same time. Preachers need to practice
again and again (DDC 4.3.4) so that they can use these styles in
any situation of preaching (DDC 4.19.38). But they should pay
attention to the priority of order. Continuous and diligent study of
the Bible is more important than mere memorization, that is to say,
they should pursue wisdom more than knowledge (DDC 4.5.7).36)
33) Cicero’s De oratore and Orator are exemplar of this theory, which seems to
exert an influence even in modern times. For example, see the order of D.
M. Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1972).
34) See the titles of Editio maurinorum (=Editio benedictina) of DDC, Book IV.
35) Adolf Primmer, “The Function of the genera dicendi in De doctrina
christiana 4,” Duane W. H. Arnold and Pamela Bright eds., De Doctrina
Christiana: a Classic of Western Culture (Notre Dame: University of Notre
Dame Press, 1995), 68-86.
36) Likewise, early modern Reformed theologian, Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676),
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The best is the combination of wisdom and eloquence as seen in the
Pauline letters and prophetic writings (DDC 4.6.9-4.7.21). Yet, he
does not praise eloquence itself; rather he prefers a concrete
proclamation than a showing off of rhetorical technique (DDC
4.7.14-15).37) It is truth, not rhetoric, that preachers try to deliver
(DDC 4.28.61).38)
The most significant practice and discipline is prayer. Augustine
advises to be a prayer before being a preacher. Preachers should
pray before and after his sermon (DDC 3.37.56; 4.15.32; 4.17.34;
4.30.63). Augustine himself was a good model of this practice.
Before the preaching, he invited the congregation to pray (Epistula
29). After the sermon he also prayed (Sermones 153.1).39) For
Augustine’s homiletics, the time of prayer is the most precious tim
e,40) because that time is a time when all the audience meets God
37)
38)
39)
40)
emphasized the superiority of faith over reason. B. Hoon Woo, “The
Understanding of Gisbertus Voetius and René Descartes on the Relationship
of Faith and Reason, and Theology and Philosophy,” Westminster Theological
Journal 75, no. 1 (2013): 49-51. Descartes desperately defended the autonomy
of human reason and its proper use. In his philosophical enterprise, faith
seemed to hinder the autonomy and the use of reason. Voetius, however,
argued that human reason was surrounded by error and sin, so that perfect
knowledge was impossible for humans. He maintained that human beings
would be able to learn the truth from divine revelation, which was the only
principle in the pursuit of truth.
Augustine himself had taught the rhetoric from the age of 18 (372) to the
time of his conversion (386). Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), Chap. I.
For a similar view, see Jeffrey A D. Weima, “What Does Aristotle Have to
Do with Paul: An Evaluation of Rhetorical Criticism,” Calvin Theological
Journal 32, no. 2 (1997): 458-68.
Éric Rebillard, “Sermones,” in Fitzgerald ed., Augustine through the Ages,
773.
Refer to Robert Leuenberger, Zeit in der Zeit: Über das Gebet (Zürich: Theologischer
Verlag, 1988).
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the Truth, and through that time they can understand the truth of
God more fully. Prayer is a major means of grace in knowing God.41)
Augustine says that love is the most important discipline in
Christian life in his sermon, De disciplina christiana.42) If one adds
another to Christian discipline besides love, prayer will come first.
４＆ Ｉｕｔｇｒ｛ｊｏｔｍ＆ Ｘｋｓｇｘｑ
The preacher should be a good example of all sermons. The
manner of life can be an eloquent sermon (copia dicendi, forma
vivendi; DDC 4.29.61). In most of the cases, it seems to be true
that the sermon of a preacher cannot be better than his or her life,
but vice versa seems also to be true: the sermon cannot be worse
than the preacher’s life. The more a preacher endeavors after
humiliation, discipline, and love, the better his or her sermon
becomes. And now these three are always necessary for all Christian
teachers: humiliation, discipline, and love. But the greatest of these
is love. For “the goal of this command is love” (1 Tim. 1:5 cited
in DDC 1.26.27; 1.35.39; 1.40.44; 4.28.61).
41) See Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 157: How is the Word of God
to be read? Answer: The holy Scriptures are to be read with an high and
reverent esteem of them; with a firm persuasion that they are the very Word
of God, and that he only can enable us to understand them; with desire to
know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them; with diligence,
and attention to the matter and scope of them; with meditation, application,
self-denial, and prayer (bolds mine); Question 178-196; Westminster Shorter
Catechism, Q’s and A’s 88, 98-107; The Heidelberg Catechism, Q and A
116; Calvin, Institutio, III.xx.
42) J. P. Migne ed., Patrologia Latina, vols. 40, 669-678 [Augustinus]
(Petit-Montrouge: apud J.-P. Migne, 1845).
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Primary Sources
Green, R. P. H. ed. Augustine: De Doctrina Christiana, Oxford Early
Christian Texts. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Green, R. P. H. trans. and note. On Christian Teaching. Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press, 1997.
Hill, Edmund O.P. trans. and notes. Teaching Christianity. Hyde Park, NY:
New City Press, 1995.
Martin, Joseph ed. Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, Corpus Christianorum,
Series Latina, XXXII. Belgium: Turnhout, 1962.
Migne, J.-P. ed. Patrologia Graeca, vols. 11 and 44. Petit-Montrouge: apud
J.-P. Migne, 1856-8.
. Patrologia Latina, vols. 32-47 (Augustinus). Petit-Montrouge:
apud J.-P. Migne, 1844-55.
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hœŽœš›•Œ’šG oŒ™”Œ•Œœ›ŠšG ˆ•‹G o–”“Œ›ŠšG •G
kŒG ‹–Š›™•ˆG Š™š›ˆ•ˆa V iUTG o––•G ~––G ＆ ＆ ＆ ＆ ＆ XX\
<Abstract>
Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics
ill
De doctrina christiana
-Humiliation, Love, Sign, and Discipline-
B.-Hoon Woo
(Calvin Theological Seminary)
TIlls essay attempts to analyze Au¥Ustine's hermeneutics and homiletics in his
De doctrina christiana. I will offer a succinct synopsis of the work and highlight
various points showing Augustine's hermeneutical and homiletical characteristics.
Augustine stresses the importance of humiliation in the study of Scripture. He also
regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian
faith. In Augustine's hermeneutics, sign has an important role. God can
communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus,
humiliation, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical
presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine
endorses some teaching of the Platonism of his time, he corrects and recasts it
according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline,
he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the
meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human
knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the
interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of
all, to love God and neighbor.
11 6
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B. Hoon Woo