Seeing by the Light

Illumination In Augustine's And Barth's Readings Of John

Ike Miller

• Publisher: Apollos
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781789741674
• eBook ISBN: 9781789741681
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

How can we understand God's revelation to us?Throughout the church's history, theologians have often answered this question by appealing to a doctrine of illumination whereby the Holy Spirit shapes our knowledge and understanding of Scripture. Without denying the role of the Holy Spirit or the cognitive role of illumination, Ike Miller casts a broader vision of divine illumination and its role in the Christian life. In his constructive approach, Miller argues for a fully trinitarian view of illumination that forms not just our intellect, but also appeals to the affections and encourages our ethical action.In order to develop this theology of illumination, Miller explores both Augustine's and Karl Barth's readings of the Gospel and Epistles of John, including Barth's previously untranslated lectures on the Gospel of John. In the light of his careful study of both the Johannine literature and the theologies of two giants from Christian history, Miller contends for a doctrine of illumination whereby we are enabled to know God and participate in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Part One

Augustine’s Reading of John and Doctrine of Illumination

TWO

Augustine’s Method of Theological Interpretation

The following three chapters are an “excavation” of Augustine’s homilies on John. As themes of light, illumination, and enlightenment abound in Augustine’s homilies, his text provides a rich resource for clarifying the doctrine of illumination implicit in John’s Gospel and letters. In order to properly interpret Augustine’s thoughts on illumination here, we must begin with the proper tools. These proper tools include a thorough knowledge and understanding of Augustine’s interpretive method. How does he go about making exegetical decisions? What contributes to his understanding of the biblical text itself? Given Augustine’s considerable premodern influence on the practice of the theological interpretation of Scripture and his contribution to the doctrine of illumination, it follows that we would clarify his method and its implications for illumination.1 Furthermore, as a project that attempts to envision systematic theology as a discipline dependent on the conclusions of other theological tasks (biblical interpretation and theology, church history and historical theology, and philosophy), this chapter is a first step in the interdisciplinary tasks of constructing a dogmatic account of illumination.

Augustine’s Theory of Representation

Interestingly enough, the language of the Fourth Gospel is foundational to Augustine’s theory of signs—a theory that is essential to Augustine’s theological hermeneutic. In particular, the Word’s descent into the flesh is the preeminent model for God’s condescension to humanity.2 Augustine finds this model paradigmatic for God’s condescension to humanity in the inspiration of Scripture also. With this in mind, this chapter lays open both the contribution of John’s Gospel to Augustine’s interpretive method and the application of his interpretive method to the Gospel and letters of John as demonstrated in his homilies.

Augustine’s homilies may be best conceived of as a complex tapestry. It is a tapestry that weaves together Old and New Testament typology, figurative reading, intertextuality, philosophical reflection, theological and doctrinal exposition, and refutation of heresy. As Pamela Bright indicates, attempting to understand Augustine’s method for teaching on Scripture is not so much the work of articulating a systematized process as it is ordering Augustine’s “pattern of thought directed toward the contemplation of the Incarnate Word.”3 Augustine’s hermeneutical approach to the Gospel and letters of John is no exception. The most well-known aspects of Augustine’s interpretive method have been thoroughly discussed: the purpose of Scripture is the increase of charity and destruction of cupidity; Scripture interprets Scripture; read of all Scripture; read different translations; and be knowledgeable of the languages (Hebrew and Greek) and images used by Scripture.4 The task here is to understand these aspects as Augustine applies them to the Johannine writings.5 Thus this chapter seeks to understand Augustine’s interpretive method for the Gospel and letters of John by considering the interpretive practices demonstrated in these texts themselves.6 Understanding Augustine’s method in exegeting these texts will require engaging his theology of Scripture, the history and development of his interpretive method, the relationship of history and allegory, his work of exegesis and combating heresy, and finally the relationship of the Gospel to the letters in his homilies. All of this will be treated here and then brought to bear in the next chapter on those passages pertinent to Augustine’s doctrine of illumination.

The Inspiration of Scripture, the Communication of Illumination

Coming to grips with how Augustine makes use of Scripture inevitably involves understanding what kind of text Augustine considers the Bible to be. Augustine develops his compelling vision for the inspiration of Scripture at the very outset of his homilies on John. His theology of inspiration confronts us with a most eloquent vision of the interplay of divine discourse, human witness, and biblical record.7 For Augustine, the prologue of John is from beginning to end a deeply rich theological introduction to God’s revelation in Christ—the Word made flesh.8 John Norris writes, “In the incarnation, the Word accommodates himself to humanity’s capacity for knowledge, dwelling beneath the cover of flesh so that humanity can progress from a knowledge of Christ in the flesh to a knowledge of the Word in the beginning.”9 As with the incarnation of the Word, the inscripturation of the Word is a movement of God toward humanity, aimed at humanity’s understanding and thus its healing and restoration.10

In this way, the inspiration of Scripture is bound up with its ministry. The ministry of Scripture is its communication of the salvation accomplished in Christ. Augustine illustrates his doctrine of inspiration using the imagery of Psalm 72:3. In Augustine’s vision the mountain—the Evangelist—is illuminated with the message of peace in order that the hills—the readers of his text—may receive justice.11 The justice we “hills” receive is, of course, our justification.12 Augustine insists the Evangelist speaks because he is given a word, he is a lamp lit by another light.13 In view of Augustine’s theory of signs, the incarnation is paradigmatic for God’s condescension to humanity in the inspiration of Scripture. Signum—“signs,” which in the case of Scripture are words—are God’s adaptation to humanity’s cognitive limitations in communicating the res—the thing or reality—of God’s being and actions.14 As the Evangelist is illuminated by wisdom itself, he shines a light apart from which we could never imagine such lofty ideas as “in the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”15 In this sense, the inspiration of Scripture is a tension that works in opposing directions. On the one hand, our hope is the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, not the mountains. On the other hand, apart from these “mountains,” we could not see the one from whom our hope comes.16

Augustine’s theological convictions regarding the text are indispensable to his hermeneutical method. The nature of God’s communicative action and presence, in and with the Word, is indivisible from Augustine’s method for reading the text. Both Augustine’s theory of signs and his understanding of the ministry of the text reinforce the way in which inspiration is not first and foremost an abstract theory. Rather, inspiration is ultimately about the communication of salvation.

Augustine’s Priorities in Interpretation

A profitable means of organizing Augustine’s interpretive method in John is to speak of his interpretive “priorities.” The pastoral context of Augustine’s reflections on John suggests that his priorities are the intellectual, moral, and spiritual exhortation of his church. Augustine is concerned about their right thinking, right disposition, and right practice.17 It is readily apparent that Augustine’s intellectual concerns include combating heresy, defending the theological consistency and accuracy of the Bible, and demonstrating the intellectual feast that the Scriptures afford the learned mind. The moral dimensions of Augustine’s interpretation pertain primarily to our human disposition toward the text—namely, humility and love.18 That is to say, pride regarding one’s own interpretation and the love of one’s own opinion are inimical to interpreting the text well.19 Finally, his spiritual priorities in interpreting the text pertain to understanding the way of life that leads to right thinking and right disposition. Though ostensibly circular, the core of Augustine’s thinking on this is his distinction of the uti and the frui. Clarity of mind and proper disposition of humility to the text are the products of properly ordered love for things of use and love for things of enjoyment. To love for the sake of pleasure what was intended for use is tantamount to the fiancée who forsakes her paramour for the ring he gave her.20 Although an interpretation that builds up the twofold love of God and neighbor is not necessarily proof of accuracy in interpretation,21 a way of life that is enamored with creation for its own sake and not for the sake of the one who created it is certainly indicative of some distortion.22 The disorder of one’s interpretation is demonstrated in the disorder of one’s loves and vice versa.

History and Spiritual Interpretation

A challenging component of Augustine’s hermeneutical method is accounting for what seem to be arbitrary exegetical conclusions. Such arbitrary decisions include the conclusion that the “sixth hour” when Jesus takes a rest by the well in Samaria signifies the sixth age of history which is enacted in the incarnation, or that the Samaritan woman’s previous five husbands refer to the five senses (touch, taste, smell, hear, see). Such readings present challenges to constructing a systematic Augustinian methodology for arriving at the divinely intended meaning of the text.

However, the arbitrariness of his conclusions ought not surprise us. Rather, his conclusions are coherent when considered in the sphere of his exegetical practices. To this point, we make the case that Augustine’s methodology is to exegete Scripture in light of three histories. The first literal-historical meaning, that is, clarifying what is in the text. The literal-historical conclusions are informed by Augustine’s understanding of history, science, philosophy, and philology, and accounts for his Platonist bent when matters turn toward philosophical reflection. The second salvation-historical meaning, which locates the text within the history of redemption and discerns its implications for our understanding of God’s redemptive work in the world. This includes understanding its location within the canon and is disciplined by the regula fidei. It gives credence for the kinds of typological and figurative work that Augustine performs, both intertextually between Old and New Testaments, and in locating ecclesial realities within the text itself (i.e., Augustine’s identification of the woman at the well as figurative of the church). The most “arbitrary” conclusions, however, arise out of the third history that Augustine considers, which is the rhetorical-historical meaning. This level of reading interprets the text in light of the historical situation to which Augustine himself is speaking. These are the conclusions that cannot be systematized into predictable categories simply because the variety of rhetorical audiences and contexts are infinite and never-ending. This does not justify every arbitrary rhetorical-historical conclusion but gives intelligibility to the occurrence of all seemingly arbitrary exegetical conclusions.

With these th...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• ONE
• Part One
• TWO
• THREE
• FOUR
• Part Two
• FIVE
• SIX
• SEVEN
• Part Three
• EIGHT
• NINE
• TEN
• Bibliography
• Search items for authors
• Search items for subjects
• Search items for Scripture references
• Notes