ON GENESIS
TWO BOOKS ON GENESIS AGAINST THE MANICHEES
and
ON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS:
AN UNFINISHED BOOK
Translated by
Roland J. Teske, S.J.
Marquette University
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS
Washington, D.C.
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
First short-run reprint 2001
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo.
[De Genesi contra Manichaeos. English]
On Genesis against the Manichees; and, On the Literal
Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book / Saint Augustine; translated by Roland J. Teske.
p. cm.—(The Fathers of the Church; v. 84)
Translation of: De Genesis contra Manichaeos and De Genesi ad litteram imperfectus liber.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
I. Bible. O. T. Genesis—Commentaries—Early works to 1800.
i. Teske, Roland J., 1934–. ii. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. De Genesi ad litteram imperfectus liber. English. 1990. iii. Title: On Genesis against the Manichees. iv. Title: On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book. v. Series.
bs1235.a8413 1990
222'.1106—dc20 90-39711
isbn 0-8132-0084-9
isbn 0-8132-1088-7 (pbk.)
THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Thomas P. Halton
The Catholic University of America
Editorial Director
M. Josephine Brennan, I.H.M. Marywood College Elizabeth Clark Duke University Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M. Quincy College Robert B. Eno, S.S. The Catholic University of America Frank A. C. Mantello The Catholic University of America | Kathleen McVey Princeton Theological Seminary Robert D. Sider Dickinson College Michael Slusser Duquesne University David J. McGonagle Director The Catholic University of America Press |
FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS
Ludwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles, Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M.
Cynthia Kahn
Staff Editor
John, Robert, Charles, and Paul
Appendix: St. Augustine, the Retractations
Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees
On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book
Periodicals and Reference Works
ACW Ancient Christian Writers. New York, New York/Mahwah, New Jersey: Newman Press, 1946–.
AM Augustinus Magister. Congrès international augustinien. Paris, September 21–24, 1954. Vols. 1 and 2: Communications. Vol. 3: Actes.
AS Augustinian Studies
BA Bibliothèque augustinienne. Oeuvres de saint Augustin. Paris, 1936–.
BAC Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos. Madrid, 1946–.
CCL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina. Turnhout, 1953–.
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Vienna, 1966–.
DS Enchiridion Symbolorum. Ed. H. Denzinger-A. Schönmetzer. Rome: Herder, 1976.
DTC Dictionnaire de théologie catholique. Ed. A. Vacant, E. Mangenot, and E. Amann. Paris, 1935.
EP Enchiridion Patristicum. Ed. M. J. Rouët de Journal. 24th ed. Rome, 1969....
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About Saint Augustine: On Genesis: Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees; and, on the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished BookAugustine’s Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees and On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book represent the first two of five explanations of the beginning of the Book of Genesis that he undertook between 388 and 418. In the first, a commentary on Genesis 1–3, Augustine counters the ignorant and impious attacks against Scripture by the Manichees, with whom he was a “hearer” for nine years. The second would have been a hexaemeron, a commentary on the six days of creation, but, as Augustine admits, his inexperience in scriptural exegesis collapsed under the weight of the burden, “and before I finished one book, I gave up the labor that I could not sustain.” Although Augustine agrees that many things in Scripture may seem absurd to the unlearned, he holds that they can produce great pleasures once they have been explained. It was this tenet, realized in his spiritual rather than corporeal interpretation of Scripture, that led him to counter the impious attacks the Manichees used to attract those who sought a more intellectual understanding of God over and against an anthropomorphic view. Augustine’s brilliant assimilation of Christian revelation and the intellectual faith of the Neoplatonic circle around Ambrose in Milan gave rise to his “spiritual” interpretation of Genesis 1–3 in the Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees. In On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book, Augustine succeeds in presenting an ad litteram interpretation for 25 verses before arriving at the difficult verse on man’s having been made to God’s image and likeness. At this point he breaks off because, in the words of John O’Meara, “it either tended to blasphemy or could not be reconciled with the Catholic faith.” Perhaps because he later writes that he considers his literal attempt to interpret Genesis a failure, the texts herein translated have become today, in light of modern scriptural studies, fascinating and invaluable examples of Augustine’s developing thought on significant philosophical and theological issues in the interpretation of Genesis. |
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