A Pastoral Theology of Desire. Reading Augustine’s Theology of Desire in A Broader Corpus
Abstract
The Enarrationes in Psalmos are an important source for understanding the Augustinian theology of desire, linking it to his systematic theology and his pastoral practice. In this paper I illustrate by overviewing the expositions on Psalms 11 (12), 12 (13), 23 (24), and 26 (27). These Psalms teach us to love, trust, and seek God only, a failure to do which marks the Donatist schism. Augustine mingles ideas from pagan philosophy’s quest for eudaimonia or beata vita—the good, happy, and blessed life—with biblical ideas. We want a stable happiness, and we must pursue wisdom; we can find stability in the rock that is Christ, to follow whom is to pursue wisdom rightly. Our desires must be converted to God, the only complete and perfect good and the source of eternal happiness, whom we must single-mindedly pursue with prayer and faith. While we must desire the eschaton and look to no earthly satisfaction, earthly goods may be received as gifts from God. One thing we can learn from studying the Enarrationes is how closely connected are the ideas of right love, the right church, and the right end; all three go together in Augustine’s theology.
Keywords:
Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, desire, ecclesiology, eschatology, eudaimoniaReferences
Augustinus, De beata vita, ed. Green – Daur, CCL 29, Turnhout, 1970.
Augustinus, De civitate Dei, ed. B. Dombart – A. Kalb, CCL 47-48, Turnhout 1955.
Augustinus, Confessiones, ed. L. Verheijen, CCL 27, Turnhout 1990.
Augustinus, De doctrina Christiana, ed. J. Martin, CCL 32, Turnhout 1962.
Augustinus, Enarrationes in Psalmos, ed. E. Dekkers – J. Fraipont, CCL 38-40, Turnhout 1956, tr. M. Boulding, Expositions of the Psalms, v. 1-6, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century 3/15-20, Hyde Park 2000-2004.
S. Aurelii Augustini Opera Omnia, Editio Latina. Sant’Agostino, in: https://www.augustinus.it/latino/index.htm
Baker K., Augustine’s Doctrine of the Totus Christus: Reflecting on the Church as Sacrament of Unity, “Horizons” 37 (2010) p. 7-24. (Crossref)
Bavel T.J. van, Augustine’s View on Women, “Augustiniana” 39 (1989) p. 5-53.
Bavel T.J. van, The Longing of the Heart: Augustine’s Doctrine on Prayer, Walpole 2009.
Boone M.J., Augustine’s Preaching and the Healing of Desire in the Enarrationes in Psalmos, Lanham 2023. (Crossref)
Boone M.J., Reason, Authority, and the Healing of Desire in the Writings of Augustine, Lanham 2020.
Boone M.J., The Conversion and Therapy of Desire: Augustine’ Theology of Desire in the Cassiciacum Dialogues, Eugene 2016. (Crossref)
Boulding M., St. Augustine’s View of the Psalms as a Communion of Faith between Generations, “The Downside Review” 126/443 (2008) p. 125-134. (Crossref)
Burnaby J., Amor Dei: A Study of the Religion of St. Augustine, Eugene 2007.
Byassee J., Praise Seeking Understanding: Reading the Psalms with Augustine, Grand Rapids 2007.
Camacho P., The Weight of Love: Augustine on Desire and the Limits of Autonomy, Leuven 2016 (Ph.D. diss.).
Cameron M., Augustine’s Construction of Figurative Exegesis Against the Donatists in the Enarrationes in Psalmos Chicago 1996 (Ph.D. diss.).
Cameron M., Christ Meets Me Everywhere: Augustine’s Early Figurative Exegesis, Oxford 2012. (Crossref)
Cameron M., Totus Christus and the Psychagogy of Augustine’s Sermons, “Augustinian Studies” 36 (2005) p. 59-70. (Crossref)
Cary P., Outward Signs: The Powerlessness of External Things in Augustine’s Thought, Oxford 2008. (Crossref)
Desmond W., Augustine’s Confessions: On Desire, Conversion and Reflection, “Irish Theological Quarterly” 47 (1980) p. 24-33. (Crossref)
Edwards R.E., The Flight from Desire: Augustine and Ovid to Chaucer, New York 2008.
Geest P.J.J. van, Space in Coercive Poetry: Augustine’s Psalm Against the Donatists and His Interpretation of the Fear of God in Enarrationes in Psalmos, “Perichoresis” 14 (2016) p. 21-37. (Crossref)
Harrison C., Rethinking Augustine’s Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity, Oxford 2008.
Kamimura N., “Rhetorical Approach to the Poor and Poverty: A Case Study of Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos”, Research Grant Report: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research: Augustine’s Understanding and Practice of Poverty in an Era of Crisis (2012) p. 25-40.
Lindén J.-I., Desire and Love in Augustine, in: Platonic Love from Antiquity to the Renaissance, ed. C.S. O’Brien – J. Dillon, Cambridge 2022, p. 133-150. (Crossref)
McLarney G., St. Augustine’s Interpretation of the Psalms of Ascent, Washington 2014. (Crossref)
Ployd A., Augustine, the Trinity, and the Church: A Reading of the Anti-Donatist Sermons, Oxford 2015. (Crossref)
Van Fleteren, F., Principles of Augustine’s Hermeneutic: An Overview, in: Augustine: Biblical Exegete, ed. F. Van Fleteren – J.C. Schnaubelt, New York 2001, p. 1-32.
Hong Kong Baptist University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5766-6266
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.
