ST. AUGUSTINE

THE LORD’S

SERMON ON THE MOUNT

[DE SERMONE DOMINI IN MONTE]

translated

by

The Very Reverend

JOHN J. JEPSON, S. S., Ph. D.

Vice-Rector of Theological College

Catholic University of America

Washington, D. C.

WITH

AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY THE EDITORS

PAULIST PRESS

New York/Mahwah, N.J.

Nihil Obstat:

Johannes Quasten, S. T. D.

Censor Deputatus

Imprimatur:

Patricius A. O’Boyle, D.D.

Archiepiscopus Washingtonensis

die 2 Aprilis 1948

COPYRIGHT 1948

BY

REV. JOSEPH PLUMPE

AND

REV. JOHANNES QUASTEN

Library of Congress

Catalog Card Number: 78-62451

ISBN: 0-8091-0246-3

Published by Paulist Press

997 Macarthur Boulevard

Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

Ancient Christian Writers

THE WORKS OF THE FATHERS IN TRANSLATION

edited by
JOHANNES QUASTEN, S. T. D. Professor of Ancient Church History and Christian Archaeology	JOSEPH C. PLUMPE, Ph. D. Associate Professor of New Testament Greek and Ecclesiastical Latin

The Catholic University of America

Washington, D. C.

No. 5

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

By J. Quasten

TEXT

By J. J. Jepson

Book One

Book Two

INDEX

ST. AUGUSTINE

THE LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT

INTRODUCTION

Among the sermons of the Lord found in the New Testament there is none of such importance as the Sermon on the Mount, that is, the sermon which the Lord addressed to His disciples and the crowds near Capharnaum in the mountainous region north of Lake Genesareth.1 It is small wonder that St. Augustine should dedicate a special treatise to this sermon in order to assist those who sought an authentic interpretation of its challenging content. The intimate relationship between ethics and religion as it appears in this sermon had a special appeal for St. Augustine, and the importance of the leading idea, that God is our Father and we are His children, prevailed upon him to analyze its contents thoroughly. He who had investigated all philosophical systems of his times in the search of truth, found here a complete rule of life, the best philosophy of life. He wrote his work during the years 393 to 396 when he served as a priest at Hippo. It is possible that the care for the souls entrusted to him was one of the reasons why Augustine became especially interested in the Sermon on the Mount, containing as it does the solution of all problems of human life. Later, during the years 426 and 427, he reviewed the treatise and set down a very considerable number of criticisms and corrections in his Retractationes (1. 19).

The New Testament has two versions of the Sermon on the Mount which differ considerably from each other as regards length and extent.2 St. Matthew offers the text in chapters 5–7, St. Luke in chapter 6, verses 20–49. Augustine uses the version of St. Matthew as the basis of his treatise which comprises two books.

In the first book he answers the question of the true meaning of the Sermon on the Mount. This question has remained an object of lively discussion up to our own times. It was asked: Is it humanly possible to put the Sermon on the Mount into ...