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Sacrifice as Education in Augustine and Chrysostom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Stephen D. Benin
Stephen D. Benin
Affiliation:
Mr. Benin is assistant professor of comparative religion in the School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
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Extract

As eruditi et erudienti who had profited richly from pagan and Christian learning, Augustine and Chrysostom appreciated the power and influence of teachers and of pedagogical techniques. Both viewed God as the teacher, and both were captivated by the divine method of instruction. They saw this method as one of divine accommodation; that is, the Lord adapted his lessons and plan to human capacities. Augustine's and Chrysostom's works are replete with references to, and discussions of, divine accommodation; it is a common aspect of their thought which fits neatly and prominently into a lengthy and vibrant exegetical tradition.

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Research Article
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Church History , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , March 1983, pp. 7 - 20
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Copyright © American Society of Church History 1983

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References

1. I have adapted the phrase erudili et erudienti from Augustine's description of Chrysostom in Contra Julianum 1.6.22 (Migne, PL 44. 655, 661),Google Scholar where Augustine labels Chrysostom a distinguished witness to the faith, a defender of it, and places him among the most celebrated learned men and saints. On education in antiquity see Marrou, Henri-Irénée, A History of Education in Antiquity, trans. Lamb, G. (New York, 1956);Google Scholar and idem, Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique and Retractatio, Bibliothéque des Ecoles Francaises d'Athénes et de Rome 145 (Paris, 1949). Compare Brown, Peter, Augustine of Hippo (Berkeley, 1969), pp. 35–113,Google Scholar and Baur, Chrysostomus, John Chrysostom and His Time, trans. Gonzaga, M., 2d ed., 2 vols. (Westminster, Md., 1959), 1: 8–53.Google Scholar Augustine knew Symmachus well and listened attentively to the sermons and the baptismal instructions of Ambrose. Chrysostom studied with Libanius, Andragathous, Diodoros of Tarsus, and Meletius. One should recall the story in Sozomon's Ecclesiastical History 8.2 where Libanius announces on his deathbed that Chrysostom should have been his successor had not the “Christians stolen him”.

2. The use of accommodation in the works of either author has not yet been treated exhaustively. It is treated in Pinard, Henry, “Les Infiltrations Paíennes dan l'Ancienne Loi,”, Recherches des Sciences Religieuse 9 (1919): 197–221.Google Scholar Compare Altaner, Berthold, “Augustinus und die griechische Patristik,” Revue bènêdictine 62 (1952): 201–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

3. For general discussions of this, see Chadwick, Henry, The Early Church (Baltimore, 1967);Google Scholar Ladner, Gerhart B., The Idea of Reform (New York, 1967);Google Scholar Pontet, Maurice, L'exégèse de s. Augustin prédicateur (Paris, n.d.);Google Scholar Lubac, Henri de, Exégèse medièvale: Les Quatre sens de l'écriture (Paris, 1959);Google Scholar Couturier, Charles, “Sacramentum et Mysterium dans l'oeuvre de Saint Augustine,” Etudes augustiniennes (Paris, 1953);Google Scholar and Stephen D. Benin, “Divine Accommodation and the ‘Cunning of God’: The History of an Idea,” unpublished manuscript.

4. Augustine, , De catezichandis rudibus 15 (Corpus Christianorum 46: 147–148);Google Scholar hereafter cited respectively as De cat. rud, and CCh. The text dates from 400. Compare the translation by Christopher, Joseph P., St. Augustine, The First Catechetical Instruction, Ancient Christian Writers 2 (Westminster, Md., 1946), pp. 3–11,Google Scholar and especially p. 119, n. 46, where the advice of Cardinal Newman is recalled: “I cannot determine what I shall lecture on till I know who will come, for the speaker speaks according to the bearers”.

5. Augustine, , De doctrina christiana (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 80);Google Scholar hereafter cited respectively as De doc. chr. and CSEL. The text was begun about 395–398 and finished only in 426.

6. The Greek text was unavailable to me. I rely on the translation entitled “An Address on Vainglory and the Right Way for Parents to Bring Up Their Children,” in Laistner, M.L.W., Christianity and Pagan Culture in the Later Roman Empire (Ithaca, N.Y. 1951), pp. 85–111,Google Scholar especially section 52.

7. On the history of this heuristic principle, see Benin, Stephen D., “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me: Sacrifice in Medieval Christian and Jewish Thought” (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1980);Google Scholar Funkenstein, Amos, Hezisplan und natürliche Entwicklung, Formen der Gegenwartsbestimmung in Geschichtsaenken des hohen Mittelalters (Munich, 1965);Google Scholar and Grabmann, Martin, “Der Einfluss des heiligen Augustinus auf die Verwertung und Bewertung der Antike im Mittelalter,” Mittelalterliches Geistesleben 2(1936): 1–24.Google Scholar

8. Augustine, , Contra Faustum (CSEL 25.1. 249–792);Google Scholar hereafter cited as C. Faust.

9. Augustine, De Civitate Dei (CCh 48). See n. 24 below for references.

10. Chrysostom, , Adversus Judaeas (Migne, PG 48. 843–892);Google Scholar hereafter cited as Adv. Jud.

11. “Philosophi autem qui vocantur, si qua forte vera et fidei nostrae accomodata dixerunt, maxime Platonici, non solum formidanda non sunt, sed ab eis etiam tamquam an iniustis possessoribus in usum nostrum vindicanda” (De doc. chr. 2.40, 60 [CSEL 80.75]).

12. Ibid.

13. “Sed etiam liberales disciplinas usui veritatis aptiores et quaedam morum praecepta utilissima continent, deque ipso uno deo colendo nonnulla vera inveniuntur apud eos,” (De doc. chr. 2.40, 60 “CSEL 80.75]). Note the use of aptum and compare Augustine's use of aptum and pulchrum in n. 43 below.

14. De doc. chr. 2.42,63 (CSEL 80.78).

15. On Manichaeism, see Puech, Henri Charles, Le Manichéism: Son fondateur, sa doctrine (Paris, 1949).Google Scholar

16. C. Faust. 19.2 (CSEL 25.1.497–498).

17. C. Faust. 16.1 (CSEL 25.1.440).

18. “Et audetis (amen etiam sacrificia testamenti veteris execrari et idolatriam nominare ci in huiusmodi sacrilegium nos quoque sociare. Unde pro nobis prius respondemus sic illa jam non esse in operibus nostris, et ea tamen in mysteriis divinarum scripturarum ad intellegenda, quae his praenuntiata sunt, amplectamur, quia et ipse flgurae nostrae fuerunt et omnia talia multis et variis modis unum sacrificium, cuius nunc memoriam celebramus, significaverunt” (C. Faust. 6.5 [CSEL 25.1. 290–291]).

19. C. Faust. 6.5 (CSEL 25.1. 291).

20. C. Faust. 12.9 (CSEL 25.1.337).

21. C. Faust. 12.9 (CSEL 25.1.338). On Cain, see Mellinkoff, Ruth, The Mark of Cain (Berkeley, 1981).Google Scholar

22. “Gens autem Iudaea sive sub paganis regibus sub christianis non amiserit signum legis suae, quo a ceteris gentibus populisque distinguitur” (C. Faust. 12.13 ‘CSEL 25.1.342]).

23. “De sacrificiis autem animalium quis nostrum nesciat magis ea perverso populo congruenter imposita quam deo desideranti oblata?” (C. Faust. 18.6 [CSEL 25.1.494]). Compare C. Faust. 22.17 (CSEL 25.1.604–606).

24. On similitudo in Augustine, see Berrouard, M.F., “‘Similitudo’ et la définition du réalisme sacramentel d'après l''pître XCVIII, 9–10, de saint Augustin,” Revue des études augustinzennes 7 (1961): 321–337;Google Scholar and Ladner, , The Idea of Reform, pp. 185–190.Google Scholar Compare Augustine's In Ionannis Evangelium 26.11, 15, 18; 50.2; 116.4; 120.3; 123.2 (CCh 36.264–265, 268, 433–434, 648, 661–662, 676); De Civitate Dei 10.17, 32; 16.43; 19.23 (CSEL 40.1. 476–477, 503–510; 40.2.200–203,411–418).

25. Augustine, , Epistulae 98.7 (CSEL 34.2.528–529);Google Scholar hereafter cited as Ep. See also Berrouard, , “Similitudo,” pp. 323–324.Google Scholar The whole of letter 98 deals with the use of similitudo.

26. “Nempe saepe ita loquimur, ut pascha propinquante dicamus crastinam uel perendinam domini passionem, cum ille ante tam multos annos passus sit nec omnino nisi semel illa passio facta sit. Nempe ipso die dominico dicimus: ‘Hodie dominus resurrexit,’ cum, cx quo resurrexit, tot anni transierint. cur nemo tam ineptus est, Ut nos ita loquentes arguat esse mentitos, nisi quia istos dies secundum illorum, quibus haec gesta sunt, similitudinem nuncupamus, ut dicatur ipse dies, qui non est ipse sed reuolutione temporis similis eius, et dicatur illo die fieri propter sacramenti celebrationem, quod non illo die sed iam olim factum est?” (Ep. 98.9 [ CSEL 34.2.530]). It is the similitude of the days which is of importance, that is, the sign and that to which the sign refers.

27. “Si enim sacramenta quandam similitudinem rerum earum, quarum sacramenta sunt, non haberent, omnino sacramenta non essent” (Ep. 98.9 [CSEL 34.2.531]).

28. Following directly after the sentence in n. 27, the text continues: “ex hac autem similitudine plerumque iam ipsarum rerum nomina accipiunt. Sicut ergo secundum quendam modum sacramentum corporis Christi corpus Christi est, sacramentum sanguinis Christi sanguis Christi est, ita sacramentum fidei fides est” (Ep. 98.9 [CSEL 34.2.531]).

29. Ep. 98.10 (CSEL 34.2.531–533).

30. “Proinde prima sacramenta, quae observabantur et celebrabantur ex lege, praenuntiativa erant Christi venturi: quae cum suo adventu Christus inplevisset, ablata sunt, et ideo ablata, quia inpleta; non enim venit legem solvere, sed adinplere” (C. Faust. 19.7, 19.13 [CSEL 25.1.503–505, 510]). Note the skillful chiasmatic construction: inplevisset/ablata: ablata/ inpleta. Augustine's careful and stylistic use of language can be seen in n. 31 below.

31. “Si enim soni verborum, quibus loquimur, pro tempore conmutantur. Eademque res aliter adnuntiatur facienda, aliter facta, sicut ista ipsa duo verba, quae dlxi, facienda et facta, nec paribus morarum intervallis nec isdem vel totidem litteris syllabisue sonuerunt: quid mirum, si aliis mysteriorum signaculis passio et resurrectio Christi futura promissa est, aliis iam facta adnuntiatur, quandoquidem ipsa verba “futurum et factum,” “passurus et passus,” “resurrecturus et resurrexit,” nec tendi aequaliter nec similiter sonare potuerunt? Quid enim sunt aliud quaeque corporalia sacramenta nisi quaedam quasi verba visibilia, sacrosancta quidem verum tamen mutabilia et temporalia” (C. Faust. 19.16 [CSEL 25.1.512–513]). “Sicut ergo ista verba ita illa prioris populi sacramenta, qui per eum, qui non venit legem prophetas solvere sed adinplere, iam inpieta sunt, ideo tolli mutarique debuerunt…” (C. Faust. 19.17 [CSEL 25.1.514]). The definition of sacraments as visible representations brings to mind the gregorian metaphor of images as books for the unlettered; compare Africanus, Junilius, De partibus divinae legis (Migne, PL 68.33).Google Scholar

32. C. Faust. 19.17 (CSEL 25.1.514).

33. Ibid.; and compare Benin, “No Other Gods,” pp. 131–134.

34. “Inde est quod Timotheum iudaea matre et graeco patre natum propter illos, ad quos tales cum eo venerat, etiam circumcidit apostolus atque ipse inter eos morem huiusmodi custodivit non simulatione fallaci, sed consilio prudenti…” (C. Faust. 19.17[CSEL 25.1.514]).

35. Ep. 102.2.12 (CSEL 34.555).

36. Ep. 136.1 (CSEL 44.93).

37. Ep. 138.l.1,2(CSEL 44.126–127).

38. Ep. 138.1.2 (CSEL 44. 127).

39. Ep. 138.1.3 (CSEL 44.128).

40. Augustine, , De Vera Religione 17. 34 (CCh 32.208).Google Scholar The translation is from Burleigh, John H. S., ed., Augustine: Earlier Writings (Philadelphia, 1953), p. 241.Google Scholar

41. Ep. 138.1.4(CSEL 44.129–130).

42. Ep. 138.1.5 (CSEL 44.129–130). This in fact may have been the subject of Augustine's De Pulchro et Apto, which is no longer extant. See Kato, Takeshi, “Melodia interior: Sur le traité De Pulchro et apto” Revue des études Augustiniennes 12 (1966): 229–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

43. “Aptum fuit primis temporibus sacrincium, quod praeceparat deus, nunc vero non ha est. Aliud enim praecepit, quod huic tempori aptum esset, qui multo magis quam homo novit, ibid quid cuique tempori accommodate adhibeatur” (Ep. 138.1.5 [CSEL 44.130].

44. Ibid. I have used the translation in Brown, Augustine, pp. 317–318.

45. The phrase is used by Aphrahat, , De circumcisione 11,Google Scholar in Parisot, J., ed. Patrologia Syriaca, 2 vols. (Paris, 1894, 1907), 1: 499.Google Scholar The same idea is found in Ephrem, Isaac of Antioch, Jacob of Sarug, and Dionysius bar Salibhi. For the use of this principle in Syriac, see Kazan, Stanley, “Isaac of Antioch's Homily Against the Jews,” Oriens Christianus 49 (1965); 57–58;Google Scholar and Benin, , “No Other Gods,” pp. 101–119.Google Scholar

46. Brown, Compare, Augustine, pp. 318–319.Google Scholar

47. Ibid., p. 407. Augustine wrote De dono perserverantiae only two years before his death in 430. It brought, to use Brown's felicitous phrase, “a hard message for a hard age”.

48. For a discussion of Antioch in the age of Chrysostom, see Meeks, Wayne A. and Wilken, Robert L., Jews and Christians in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era, Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study 13 (Missoula, Mont., 1978);Google Scholar and Downey, Glanville, A History of Antioch in Syria (Princeton, 1961), pp. 447–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

49. See Benin, , “No Other Gods,” pp. 69–73;Google Scholar Migne, PG 48.880.

50. Migne, PG 48. 880. For the use of astheneia and sygkatabainō in Greek patristic writings, see Benin, , “No Other Gods” pp. 10–100;Google Scholar and Pinard, “Les Infiltrations.”

51. Adv. Jud. (Migne, PG 48. 880).

52. Ibid.

53. Ibid. Compare Chrysostom, Expositio in Psalmum 49, 121 (Migne, PG 55. 247, 349); and idem, In Genesim Homilia 27 (Migne, PG 53. 242); hereafter cited as In Gen. Hom.

54. Adv. Jud. (Migne, PG 48. 880).

55. Ibid.

56. Adv. Jud. (Migne, PG 48. 880–881).

57. Adv. Jud. (Migne, PG 48. 881).

58. Chrysostom, , Homilia in Epistola ad Colonessenses (Migne, PG 62.299–392);Google Scholar hereafter cited as Hom. Col.

59. Hom. Col. (Migne, PG 62. 328).

60. “Kathaper gar paidiois tois Ioudaiois grammatistēn ton Mōysea outōs autois epestēse, kai hōs paidia, outōs autous angēgagen ekeinos skiagraphōn, kathaper hēmeis ta stoicheia…kathaper oun hēmeis tois paidiois kai plakountas ōnoumetha, kai arguria didomen, en monon par' autōn apaitountes, to teōs badizein epi to didaskaleion” (Hom. Col. [Migne, PG 62. 328–329]).

61. “Outōs egeneto didaskaleion hē ēremos. Kai kathaper paidia chronisanta epi tēs diatribēs anachorēsai bouletai. Outō kai ekeinoi tote synechōs tēn Aigypton ezētoun, kai eklaion legontes. Apolōlamen, etzanēlōmetha, parapolōlamen” (Hom. Col. [Migne, PG 62. 329).

62. Hom. Col. (Migne, PG 62. 330–331).

63. Hom. Col. (Migne, PG 62. 331).

64. Ibid.

65. “Houtō pantaxou sugkatabainei” (Chrysostom, In Epistola ad Titum 1.3 [Migne, PG 62.678]Google Scholar hereafter cited as In Epist. Tit.).

66. Ibid. Compare Chrysostom, Quod Christus sit Deus 8 (Migne, PG 48. 823); idem, In illud: Pater, si possible est 3 (Migne, PG 51. 36–40).

67. In Epist. Tit. 1.3 (Migne, PG 62.278); In Gen. Horn. 18 (Migne, PG 53. 152). For the linguistic accommodation in rabbinic thought, compare the Hebrew maxim, dibberah torah kileshon benei adam, to its Latin equivalent, scriptura humane loguitur. On this, see Heinemann, Isaac, Darkhei ha 'Aggadah (Jerusalem, 1970), pp. 12, 96–98, 183;Google Scholar and Wolfson, Harry A., “The Veracity of Scripture from Philo to Spinoza,” in Alexander Marx Jubilee Volume (New York, 1950), pp. 603–630,Google Scholar reprinted in idem, Religious Philosophy:A Group of Essays (New York, 1965), pp. 217–245.

68. In Gen. Hom. 17 (Migne, PG 53. 134–135). On Chrysostom and the Jews in Antioch see Simon, Marcel, “La Polemique antijuive de S. Jean Chrysostome et le mouvement judaisiantd'Antioche,” Annuaire de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales et Slaves (Mélanges Franz Cumont) 4 (1936): 403–421;Google Scholar Meeks and Wilken, Jews and Christians; Downy, , History of Antioch, pp. 447–449;Google Scholar Baur, , Chrysostom, 1: 8–54, 138–196.Google Scholar

69. For several starting points on platonism, neoplatonism, and the Fathers, see Brown, Augustine; Marrou, Henri-Irénée, “Synesius of Cyrene and Alexandrian Neo-Platonism,” in The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth century, ed. Momigliano, A. (Oxford, 1963), pp. 126–150;Google Scholar Cameron, Alan, “The Last Days of the Academy at Athens,” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 195 (1969): 7–29;Google Scholar Ladner, The Idea of Reform; and Kelly, J.N.D., Early Christian Doctrines, 4th ed. (London, 1968).Google Scholar

70. “The school of Antioch… did not reject the allegorical method but used it very sparingly. And in the case of one of its most articulate representatives, St. John Chrysostom, it is clear that he not only prefers the historical-literal sense but actually rejects allegory [emphasis added]” (Oberman, Heiko, Forerunners of the Reformation (Philadelphia, 1981), p.282).Google Scholar Of course Chrysostom's use of accommodation disproves Oberman's assertion, which is the normal way of describing Chrysostom in particular and the Antiochene school in general. Chrysostom's use of accommodation should prove that one must not categorize any patristic school too rigidly.