Works Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Confessiones

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2. Er fleht zu Gott um das Verständnis der Heiligen Schrift.

Wann aber werde ich völlig imstande sein, mit der Sprache meiner Feder aufzuzeichnen alle deine Mahnungen, Drohungen, Tröstungen und Führungen, durch die du mich veranlaßt hast, deinem Volke dein Wort zu predigen und dein Sakrament auszuspenden? Und selbst wenn ich alles ordnungsgemäß aufzuzählen vermöchte, so sind mir doch die Augenblicke zu kostbar dazu. Auch brenne ich längst danach, dein Gesetz zu betrachten und dir dabei zu bekennen, was ich weiß und was ich nicht weiß, die Anfänge deiner Erleuchtung und die Reste meiner Finsternis, bis meine Schwäche von deiner Stärke verschlungen wird. Auf nichts anderes sollen meine Stunden verwandt werden, soweit sie nicht durch notwendige körperliche Erholung oder geistige Arbeit oder die Liebesdienste, die wir pflichtgemäß oder freiwillig anderen erweisen, ausgefüllt werden.

O Herr, mein Gott, neige dein Ohr meinem Gebete, und dein Erbarmen erhöre mein Sehnen; nicht für mich allein schlägt heiß mein Herz, sondern in Liebe will es auch den Brüdern dienen. Und du weißt, daß mein Herz es so meint. Deinem Dienste möchte ich Gedanken und Sprache weihen; gib, was ich dir darbringen kann. Denn „elend bin ich und arm“1, „du aber bist reich für alle, die dich anrufen“ 2; selbst frei von Sorgen, trägst du Vatersorge für uns. Reinige von aller Vermessenheit und aller Lüge das Sinnen meines Herzens und die Lippen meines Mundes. Deine Schrift sei meine keusche Wonne; möge sie mich nicht in die Irre führen, noch ich S. 272 andere durch sie. Herr, achte auf mich und erbarme dich meiner, Herr mein Gott, du Licht der Blinden und Stärke der Starken: habe acht auf meine Seele und erhöre die Stimme des Rufenden aus der Tiefe. Denn wenn dein Ohr nicht auch in die Tiefe sich neigte, wohin sollen wir dann gehen, wohin unser Rufen richten? „Dein ist der Tag, und dein ist die Nacht“3, und auf deinen Wink fliegen die Augenblicke vorüber. So gib du mir Zeit, die Geheimnisse deines Gesetzes zu betrachten und verschließe es nicht denen, die anklopfen. Nicht umsonst hast du ja gewollt, daß auf so vielen Blättern so dunkle Geheimnisse verzeichnet wurden. Oder haben nicht auch die Wälder ihre Hirsche, die sich in sie zurückziehen, sich dort erquicken und ergehen, darin weiden, ruhen und wiederkäuen? O Herr, vollende dein Werk in mir und enthülle sie mir. Siehe, deine Stimme ist meine Freude, deine Stimme geht mir über alle Lust. Gib, was ich liebe; denn ich empfinde Liebe, und auch das ist dein Geschenk. Laß deine Geschenke nicht verloren gehen und verachte nicht dein dürstendes Pflänzlein. Ich will dir bekennen, was ich in deinen Büchern finde, und „ich will hören die Stimme deines Lobes “4, in dir meinen Durst stillen und die Geheimnisse deines Gesetzes betrachten von dem Anfange an, in dem du Himmel und Erde geschaffen, bis zu dem Reiche deiner heiligen Stadt, das ewig mit dir währt.

O Herr, erbarme dich meiner und erhöre mein Sehnen. Denn es erstreckt sich nicht, so glaube ich fest, auf Irdisches, nicht auf Gold, Silber, Edelsteine und prächtige Gewänder, nicht auf Ehre, Macht und fleischliche Lüste oder auf das, was wir für den Körper und die Dauer unserer Pilgerfahrt bedürfen; dies „alles wird uns ja zugegeben, wenn wir nach deinem Reiche und deiner Gerechtigkeit“5 trachten. Sieh, o Herr, wonach mein Verlangen steht! „Erzählt haben mir die Gottlosen von Freuden, aber sie waren nicht nach deinem Gesetze, o Herr.“ 6 Sieh, wonach mein Verlangen steht. Sieh, S. 273 o Vater, und schaue auf mich, sieh es an und billige es. Deine Gnade lasse mich Barmherzigkeit vor deinem Angesichte finden, daß sich mir, wenn ich anklopfe, die Geheimnisse deiner Worte erschließen. Ich beschwöre dich durch unsern Herrn Jesus Christus, deinen Sohn, „den Held deiner Rechten, den Menschensohn, den du eingesetzt hast“7 zum Mittler zwischen dir und uns, durch den du uns gesucht, als wir dich nicht suchten; du aber hast uns gesucht, auf daß wir dich suchten, dein Wort, durch das du alles gemacht, darunter auch mich, deinen Eingeborenen, durch den du das gläubige Volk zur Kindschaft berufen hast und darunter wiederum mich; ich beschwöre dich bei dem, der „zu deiner Rechten sitzet und für uns bei dir fürbittet“8 und „in dem alle Schätze der Weisheit und Wissenschaft verborgen sind“9. „Nach ihnen suche ich in deinen Schriften. Moses hat von ihm geschrieben“10; so sagt er selbst, so sagt es die Wahrheit.

  1. Ps. 85,1. ↩

  2. Röm. 10,12. ↩

  3. Ps. 73,16. ↩

  4. Ps. 25,7. ↩

  5. Matth. 6,33. ↩

  6. Ps. 118,85. ↩

  7. Ps. 79,18. ↩

  8. Röm. 8,34. ↩

  9. Kol. 2,3. ↩

  10. Vgl. Joh. 5,46. ↩

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The Confessions of St. Augustin In Thirteen Books

Chapter II.--He Begs of God that Through the Holy Scriptures He May Be Led to Truth.

2. But when shall I suffice with the tongue of my pen to express all Thy exhortations, and all Thy terrors, and comforts, and guidances, whereby Thou hast led me to preach Thy Word and to dispense Thy Sacrament 1 unto Thy people? And if I suffice to utter these things in order, the drops 2 of time are dear to me. Long time have I burned to meditate in Thy law, and in it to confess to Thee my knowledge and ignorance, the beginning of Thine enlightening, and the remains of my darkness, until infirmity be swallowed up by strength. And I would not that to aught else those hours should flow away, which I find free from the necessities of refreshing my body, and the care of my mind, and of the service which we owe to men, and which, though we owe not, even yet we pay. 3

3. O Lord my God, hear my prayer, and let Thy mercy regard my longing, since it bums not for myself alone, but because it desires to benefit brotherly charity; and Thou seest into my heart, that so it is. I would sacrifice to Thee the service of my thought and tongue; and do Thou give what I may offer unto Thee. For "I am poor and needy," 4 Thou rich unto all that call upon Thee, 5 who free from care carest for us. Circumcise from all rashness and from all lying my inward and outward lips. 6 Let Thy Scriptures be my chaste delights. Neither let me be deceived in them, nor deceive out of them. 7 Lord, hear and pity, O Lord my God, light of the blind, and strength of the weak; even also light of those that see, and strength of the strong, hearken unto my soul, and hear it crying "out of the depths." 8 For unless Thine ears be present in the depths also, whither shall we go? whither shall we cry? "The day is Thine, and the night also is Thine." 9 At Thy nod the moments flee by. Grant thereof space for our meditations amongst the hidden things of Thy law, nor close it against us who knock. For not in vain hast Thou willed that the obscure secret of so many pages should be written. Nor is it that those forests have not their harts, 10 betaking themselves therein, and ranging, and walking, and feeding, lying down, and ruminating. Perfect me, O Lord, and reveal them unto me. Behold, Thy voice is my joy, Thy voice surpasseth the abundance of pleasures. Give that which I love, for I do love; and this hast Thou given. Abandon not Thine own gifts, nor despise Thy grass that thirsteth. Let me confess unto Thee whatsoever I shall have found in Thy books, and let me hear the voice of praise, and let me imbibe Thee, and reflect on the wonderful things of Thy law; 11 even from the beginning, wherein Thou madest the heaven and the earth, unto the everlasting kingdom of Thy holy city that is with Thee.

4. Lord, have mercy on me and hear my desire. For I think that it is not of the earth, nor of gold and silver, and precious stones, nor gorgeous apparel, nor honours and powers, nor the pleasures of the flesh, nor necessaries for the body, and this life of our pilgrimage; all which are added to those that seek Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness. 12 Behold, O Lord my God, whence is my desire. The unrighteous have told me of delights, but not such as Thy law, O Lord. 13 Behold whence is my desire. Behold, Father, look and see, and approve; and let it be pleasing in the sight of Thy mercy, that I may find grace before Thee, that the secret things of Thy Word may be opened unto me when I knock. 14 I beseech, by our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, "the Man of Thy right hand, the Son of man, whom Thou madest strong for Thyself," 15 as Thy Mediator and ours, through whom Thou hast sought us, although not seeking Thee, but didst seek us that we might seek Thee, 16 --Thy Word through whom Thou hast made all things, 17 and amongst them me also, Thy Only-begotten, through whom Thou hast called to adoption the believing people, and therein me also. I beseech Thee through Him, who sitteth at Thy right hand, and "maketh intercession for us," 18 "in whom are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 19 Him 20 do I seek in Thy books. Of Him did Moses write; 21 this saith Himself; this saith the Truth.

  1. He very touchingly alludes in Serm. ccclv. 2 to the way in which he was forced against his will (as was frequently the custom in those days), first, to become a presbyter (A.D. 391), and, four years later, coadjutor to Valerius, Bishop of Hippo (Ep. xxxi. 4, and Ep. ccxiii. 4), whom on his death he succeeded. His own wish was to establish a monastery, and to this end he sold his patrimony, "which consisted of only a few small fields" (Ep. cxxvi. 7). He absolutely dreaded to become a bishop, and as he knew his name was highly esteemed in the Church, he avoided cities in which the see was vacant. His former backsliding had made him humble; and he tells us in the sermon above referred to, "Cavebam hoc, et agebam quantam poteram, ut in loco humili salvarer ne in alto periclitarer." Augustin also alludes to his ordination in Ep. xxi., addressed to Bishop Valerius. ↩

  2. "He alludes to the hour-glasses of his time, which went by water, as ours do now by sand."--W. W. ↩

  3. Augustin, in common with other bishops, had his time much invaded by those who sought his arbitration or judicial decision in secular matters, and in his De Op. Monach. sec. 37, he says, what many who have much mental toil will readily appreciate, that he would rather have spent the time not occupied in prayer and the study of the Scriptures in working with his hands, as did the monks, than have to bear these tumultuosissimas perplexitates. In the year 426 we find him (Ep. ccxiii) designating Eraclius, in public assembly, as his successor in the see, and to relieve him (though, meanwhile, remaining a presbyter) of these anxious duties. See vi. sec. 15, and note 1, above; and also ibid. sec. 3. ↩

  4. Ps. lxxxvi. 1. ↩

  5. Rom. x. 12. ↩

  6. Ex. vi. 12. ↩

  7. Augustin is always careful to distinguish between the certain truths of faith and doctrine which all may know, and the mysteries of Scripture which all have not the ability equally to apprehend. "Among the things," he says (De Doctr. Christ. ii. 14), "that are plainly laid down in Scripture, are to be found all matters that concern faith, and the manner of life." As to the Scriptures that are obscure, he is slow to come to conclusions, lest he should "be deceived in them or deceive out of them." In his De Gen. ad Lit. i. 37, he gives a useful warning against forcing our own meaning on Scripture in doubtful questions, and, ibid. viii. 5, we have the memorable words: "Melius est dubitare de rebus occultis, quam litigare de incertis." For examples of how careful he is in such matters not to go beyond what is written, see his answer to the question raised by Evodius,--a question which reminds us of certain modern speculations (see The Unseen Universe, arts. 61, 201, etc.),--whether the soul on departing from the body has not still a body of some kind, and at least some of the senses proper to a body; and also (Ep. clxiv.) his endeavours to unravel Evodius' difficulties as to Christ's preaching to the spirits in prison (1 Pet. iii. 18-21). Similarly, he says, as to the Antichrist of 2 Thess. ii. 1-7 (De Civ. Dei, xx. 19): "I frankly confess I know not what he means. I will, nevertheless, mention such conjectures as I have heard or read." See notes, pp. 64 and 92, above. ↩

  8. Ps. cxxx. 1. ↩

  9. Ps. lxxiv. 16. ↩

  10. Ps. xxix. 9. In his comment on this place as given in the Old Version, "vox Domini perficientis cervos," he makes the forest with its thick darkness to symbolize the mysteries of Scripture, where the harts ruminating thereon represent the pious Christian meditating on those mysteries (see vi. sec. 3, note, above). In this same passage he speaks of those who are thus being perfected as overcoming the poisoned tongues. This is an allusion to the fabled power the stags had of enticing serpents from their holes by their breath, and then destroying them. Augustin is very fond of this kind of fable from natural history. In his Enarr. in Ps. cxxix. and cxli., we have similar allusions to the supposed habits of stags; and, ibid. ci., we have the well-known fable of the pelican in its charity reviving its young, and feeding them with its own blood. This use of fables was very common with the mediaeval writers, and those familiar with the writings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries will recall many illustrations of it amongst the preachers of those days. ↩

  11. Ps. xxvi. 7. ↩

  12. Matt. vi. 33. ↩

  13. Ps. cxix. 85. ↩

  14. See p. 48, note 5, above. ↩

  15. Ps. lxxx. 17. ↩

  16. See note 9, p. 74, above. ↩

  17. John i. 3. ↩

  18. Rom. viii. 34. ↩

  19. Col. ii. 3. ↩

  20. Many mss., however, read ipsos, and not ipsum. ↩

  21. John v. 4-6. ↩

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The Confessions of St. Augustin In Thirteen Books
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Einleitung in die Confessiones
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The Opinion of St. Augustin Concerning His Confessions, as Embodied in His Retractations, II. 6
Translator's Preface - Confessions

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