Augustine of Hippo on God's Speaking and the Light in the Creation Narrative
Although Augustine of Hippo had a keen interest in the creation narrative because of its high density of theological themes, he was also curious about the historical creation act itself. He contended that the creation act is hard to grasp in human terms and that Scripture therefore uses metaphors to...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Peeters
2022
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| In: |
Augustiniana
Year: 2022, Volume: 72, Issue: 1, Pages: 133-151 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Although Augustine of Hippo had a keen interest in the creation narrative because of its high density of theological themes, he was also curious about the historical creation act itself. He contended that the creation act is hard to grasp in human terms and that Scripture therefore uses metaphors to make the abstract somewhat understandable. Metaphors lie at the heart of Augustine’s exegesis of Genesis, but he initially struggled to harmonize them with the historical narrative. This article deals with Augustine’s view on metaphors in two of his key commentaries on the creation narrative: De Genesi contra Manichaeos (DGCM) and De Genesi ad litteram (DGL), focusing on the light created and the speaking of God in Gen. 1:3. In DGCM Augustine uses a figurative interpretation in which he considers the creation as a foreshadowing of later events, but neglects the historical aspect of the creation narrative. In DGL Augustine develops a new approach, which is historical – addressing how the world was created – and at the same time considers the metaphysical character of the creation act. |
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| ISSN: | 2295-6093 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Augustiniana
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/AUG.72.1.3290928 |