Transcript Lecture 3 Bible and

Lecture 3: Formation of Biblical
Canon and Introduction to
Augustine
Ann T. Orlando
14 March 2007
Introduction
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Development of Canon of Scripture
Various early heresies and their relation to
Scripture
Approaches to interpreting Scripture
St. Augustine
Issues Surrounding
Christian Scripture
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The OT (Septuagint): in or out?
 Relation of creator God to Father of Jesus Christ
 How can there be suffering if the creator God is a good God?
(theodicy problem)
 Is God anthropomorphic; as OT might indicate?
 Relation to Judaism
What is in NT?
 Paul primary or Gospels
 What literature about Jesus is sacred
 What writings of early believers is in/out (e.g., Epistle of
Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermes)
Answers to these questions determined which books considered
authoritative by various Christian groups
In this era many Christian groups selected books to support their
theology; Canon is from Greek word for rule or measure
Judaism(s) During Jesus’ Lifetime
End of Second Temple Period
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Before and during Jesus’ life there were many types of Judaism
in Palestine (Josephus describes this):
 Pharisees: upholders of the Law (Torah)
 Sadducees: from aristocracy and high priests, did not believe in
resurrection of dead; closely associated with Temple
 Essenes: disgusted with impurities in Temple; left for desert ;
Dead Sea Scrolls usually associated with them
 Zealots: ‘terrorists’ against Roman occupation
Diaspora Jews not living in Palestine but scattered around
Mediterranean;
 Greek Jews (Hellenists in Acts of Apostles); Septuagint (LXX)
Greek translation of Bible c. 200 BC in Alexandria
 Jews in Rome; ordered to leave Rome by Claudius in 44 CE
 Jews in Mesopotamia who did not return after the exile in 6th C
BC, but flourished under Persian rule
Concentration of Jewish Settlements in
First Century
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www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/jewish.html
Development of Rabbinic Judaism
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During the First War with Rome 66-73 AD, the Sadducees, Essenes
and Zealots were destroyed
In 117 AD the Emperor Trajan destroyed the Hellenistic Jewish
community in Alexandria; after this the Greek (or Hellenistic) Jews
seemingly either converted to Christianity or rabbinic Judaism
Second Palestinian War, Bar Kochba rebellion, 132-135; after this
war, Romans did not allow Jews into Jerusalem
The Pharisees were the group out of which rabbinic Judaism grew
in the 2cd and 3rd C CE. They reestablished contact with the
Mesopotamian Jews and their theology; rejected use of Greek
philosophy and parts of the OT written in Greek, not Hebrew
Hellenistic (Greek) Jewish theology was taken over, preserved and
used by early Christian theologians, especially in Alexandria
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Philo of Alexandria, contemporary of Jesus and Paul; extensive use of
allegory and Platonic philosophical concepts in his OT commentaries
Christian OT in the Second and Third
Century
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Virtually all Christian groups which recognize
OT, refer to the Septuagint, the Greek version
Septuagint developed c. 200 BC in
Alexandria
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Septuagint was the ‘official’ Scripture of Diaspora
Greek Jews in Roman Empire
New Testament authors used Septuagint when
they quoted Scripture
2cd C Gnosticism:
Scripture and Gnosticism
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Gnostics rejected the OT
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Gnostics accepted many different types of literature
about Jesus
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God of OT was evil, creator God
God of OT was anthropomorphic, not spiritual
Gospel of Truth, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip;
Recent discovery (1945) of many Gnostic texts at
Nag Hammadi, Egypt
Key Gnostic: Valentinus, early 2cd C, Alexandria
and Rome
2cd C Marcion:
OT Out; only Paul, Luke In NT
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Most important impetus for development of
Scriptural canon was Marcion (c. 110-160)
Wealthy sea captain, who carefully studied Christian
literature
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Initially part of orthodox Roman church
Decided that only Paul and parts of Luke were
canonical
Opposed to Judaism and so rejected OT
Left Roman church to start his own church; spread
very rapidly around Mediterranean; Marcionites in
West for next 200 years; in East much longer
Defenders (Developers) of Orthodoxy
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2cd Century defenders of orthodoxy
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St. Ignatius of Antioch
St. Justin Martyr
St. Irenaeus
Tertullian
Note how these people from different parts of
Empire knew of each other; network of
orthodox believers;
Rome, Antioch, Alexandria centers for large,
famous Christian schools
Styles of Scriptural Interpretation
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More literal; associated with Antioch
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Highly allegorical; associated with Alexandria
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St. John Chrysostom (late 4th C)
Origen (3rd C)
St. Gregory of Nyssa (4th C)
But all Orthodox theologians will understand the OT
typologically, that is, prefiguring Jesus Christ
Example: sacrifice of Isaac (In rabbinic Judaism,
binding of Isaac)
Translating the Bible into Latin: Jerome
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Remember, almost all Christian groups in early centuries used
Greek Old Testament; and of course, the New Testament was
originally written in Greek
St. Jerome undertook an authoritative translation of OT and NT
into Latin; there were older Latin versions, but not complete and
not very good
Jerome translates into Latin (Vulgate) using Greek and Hebrew
versions of OT
 Uses the books of the Septuagint
 Uses order in Septuagint
In addition to translations, Jerome also develops first Latin
commentaries of most books of the Bible
Note: translating the OT into Latin using Hebrew as well as
Septuagint was controversial; Augustine, for instance was
opposed to this.
St. Augustine (354-430)
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Born in North Africa
Included here because most famous opponent of
Manichaeism in West; he was a Manichean hearer
for 11 years
Towering giant of Western Christianity (even more
than Origen was in the East)
Only limited knowledge of Greek; wrote in Latin
Story of his move away from orthodox Catholic
Church toward Manichaeism and his return is
chronicled in the Confessions
Developed rules for interpretation of Scripture (On
Christian Teaching)
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3
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Founder was Mani (215 - 277), Persian
Synchristic combination of Gnostic and Montanist
Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism:
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C: Mani
“As once Buddha came to India, Zoroaster to Persia, and
Jesus to the lands of the West, so came in the present
time, this prophecy through me, the Mani, to the land of
Babylonia"
Very potent, well organized religion
Accepts some aspects of NT
‘Martyred’ by Persians as a Zoroastrian heretic
Lasted for over a Millennium (Dominicans founded
to combat Cathars, a Manichean sect is 13th C)
Main Points of Manichaeism
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Solve the theodicy problem by saying that
there are two gods: one evil, one good
Material world associated with evil god
Special knowledge comes from good god;
only available to initiated Manicheans
Scripture includes parts of NT, Zoroastrianism
and works of Mani
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Mani considered himself reincarnation of Apostle
Paul and/or incarnation of Holy Spirit
Introduction to Confessions
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Written shortly after Augustine was named bishop of
Hippo (395-400)
Written at the request of his friend Paulinus of Nola;
written 11 years after his baptism
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It is Augustine the bishop reflecting in middle age on events
in his youth;
It is not a telling of the story of his youth
May have been written as a defense against charge
that Augustine was still a Manichean
Became an instant best seller
It is first and foremost a prayer, not an
autobiography; there should be an AMEN at end of
Book XIII
Structure
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Division of 13 Books is Augustine’s division
Usually considered in two parts:
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Augustine’s past (I-IX)
Augustine's present (X-XIII)
NB: The last 4 books (Part 2) are an integral
part of the whole
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In spite of the fact that some editors either
abbreviate them or leave them out altogether
Which we will NOT do; Books X-XIII will be
studied with equal vigor in this class
Structure of Part 1
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Can be viewed as being a chiasm
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Book I: Birth and relationship of infant with mother
 Book II: Bondage of Flesh
 Book III: Slavery of eyes and mind; problem of evil
 Book IV Ambition of World
 Book V Encounter with Faustus, Manichaeism,
philosophy; moving from Carthage to Rome
 Book VI: Recognition of emptiness of world’s ambition
 Book VII: Freedom of mind; resolution of problem of evil
 Book VIII: Liberation from bondage of flesh
Book IX: Relation to Monica, her death
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Structure of Part 2
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Book X: Augustine the Bishop at the end of his reflection on his youth,
meditates on
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Book XI: Augustine the Bishop meditates on
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“God created the heavens and the earth”
How to interpret Scripture and authorial intent
Book XIII: Augustine the Bishop meditates on
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“In the beginning”
What is Time
Book XII: Augustine the Bishop meditates on
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Memory and knowledge
Sin
Trinity
Church
NB: Augustine uses the word ‘confessions’ more often in these last four
than the previous nine books
Confessio: both ‘accusation of oneself and praise for God’ Sermon 67.2
Summary of Books I and II
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Book I: The Early Years
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Our heart is restless until is rests in You
Grasping, selfish infants
Beaten in school as a child
Is childhood innocent?
Book II: Adolescence
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Discovers sex
Father borrows money to send him to best school
Parental pride in his achievements and success; feeds his
ambitions
Friends convince each other to steal pears
Some Key Points in Confessions Book
III
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Lust vs. love i, ii, iii
Importance of philosophy iv
Note why Augustine turns away from Catholic
Christianity v
Note some of his descriptions of Manichean
customs vi, x
Discussion on evil as absence of good vii
Natural law, justice, local custom vii, viii
Reaction of Monica; especially her dream in which
she sees Augustine standing next to her on the
same rule xi, xii
Augustine’s Reflection on Confessions
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confessionum mearum libri tredecim et de malis et
de bonis meis deum laudant iustum et bonum atque
in eum excitant humanum intellectum et affectum.
interim quod ad me attinet, hoc in me egerunt cum
scriberentur et agunt cum leguntur.
Retractions 2.6.1
The 13 books of my confession, of both my bad and
good, praise the just and good God, and moreover
they excite the human intellect and affection towards
Him. As for what pertains to me, they did this in me
when they were written, and they do this when they
are read.
Assignment
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Read Augustine, Confessions Book III
CCC 115-120, 75-79
Write 1-page paper