Addition to the essay “Two Books of Gospel Questions.” Book 2

In the work of Bl. Aurelius Augustine's Two Books of Gospel Questions (c. 400) explains a number of difficult passages in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The work is written in the form of questions and answers. The first book contains an interpretation of 47 selected passages from the Gospel of Matthew. The second book is an interpretation of 52 selected passages from the Gospel of Luke. The conversations and parables of Jesus Christ are mainly analyzed. Blzh. Augustine uses the tropological method of interpretation (monastic or moral exegesis). The author also interprets the numbers 1 to 10, some 2-digit numbers, and the numbers 10,000 and 20,000 allegorically. See also: Two Books of Gospel Questions Question I (Luc. cap. I, V. 13,20) As for what Zechariah, praying for the people, heard from the angel: Thy prayer is heard; Behold, Elizabeth, your wife will conceive and bear a son, and you will call his name John; draws attention to itself as implausible, firstly, that he, being an old man, having an old wife, leaving public prayers, prayed for sons, when he made sacrifices for the sins of people or for salvation, or for atonement, and at the same time the people were waiting for him. Particularly [it is implausible] because no one begs to receive something that he despairs of getting. And he despaired to such an extent that he did not believe the angel promising this. Therefore, what was said to him, “your prayer is heard,” one must understand what [the prayer] is for the people. Because through Christ there will be salvation and redemption and forgiveness of sins. For this reason, the birth of a son is announced to Zechariah, that this son was predestined by the Forerunner of Christ. And what is said to him, who does not believe the angel, is said by the same angel: and now you will remain silent until this is fulfilled in due time. We must understand that this means that the prophecy up to John seemed to fall silent with a clearly discernible sound, because it remained incomprehensible until it was fulfilled in the Lord. Question II (Luc. cap. V, 3–11) The fact that the Lord teaches the crowds [of people] from the boat signifies the time when the Lord instructs the pagans from the authority of the Church. And the fact that the Lord, having entered the boat that was Peter, asks him to sail a little from the earth, means either the need for moderate use of the word to the nations [pagans], so that the word does not diminish from earthly things when deeply immersed in the Sacraments, since they do not understand it deeply. Or denotes what should first be preached in the nearest regions of the pagans, so that also what He says to Peter: lead [the ship] into the deep and lower your nets into the fishery, would be relevant for the distant pagans to whom it was later preached; just as Isaiah says: lift up a sign for the Gentiles, for those who are near and for those who are far away (Isaiah 62:10) 1. And just as the fact that the nets were also torn from the large catch of fish, and the boats were so filled that they sank, may mean that the number of carnal people will be so great in the Church that even due to the rupture of the [church] world, when heresies and schisms come out of there, it will remain the same [as before]. And such will be the loss of faith and good morals in it that it seems that such a Church will say to Christ: Depart from Me, for I am a sinful man, as if it, filled with a crowd of carnal [people] and practically drowned by their morals, thus repels from itself the rule of [people] spiritual, among whom the Person of Christ is most exalted. After all, people do not say this with the voice of the tongue to the pious servants of God in order to drive them away from themselves, but they convince them to renounce with the voice of morals and actions, so that they are not ruled by the pious. And the more ardently [they persuade them to abandon them], the [more strongly] they present them with honor, and, however, by their actions they encourage them to withdraw from themselves. So their reverence was expressed by Peter, who fell at the feet of the Lord, and their morals are reflected in the fact that he said: Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. However, the Lord did not do this. After all, He did not retreat from them, but led them to the shore, pulling the boats ashore. [This] means that they should not have such a will that, outraged by the sins of the excited crowd, they would leave church services in order to live safely and calmly. So, the fact that, having pulled the boats onto dry land and left everything, Peter, James and John followed Him, may mean the end of the time in which those who have clung to Christ will be completely removed from the sea [troubles] of this world. Question III (Luc. cap. V, 14) Regarding what the Lord says to the leper whom He cleansed: Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer a sacrifice for your cleansing, as Moses commanded as a witness to them, it seems that He approves of the sacrifice that was prescribed through Moses, although it was not accepted by the Church. That He commanded this can be accepted because the sacrifice had not yet been brought [into] the Holy of Holies, which is His body. After all, He has not yet made His Sacrifice in the Passion. After this Sacrifice was established among the believing nations, the church itself was destroyed, where those sacrifices were usually made. This very thing happened according to the prophet Daniel (Dan. 9:27). For the representative sacrifices should not have been rejected before that which was foretold by the testimony of the proclaiming apostles and the hope of the believing nations had been confirmed. Question IV (Luc. cap. V, 18–25) About the paralytic: here it can be understood that the soul, deprived of members, that is, righteous deeds, seeks Christ, that is, the will of the Word of God, but is hindered by the crowds, unless it opens the roof, that is, the hiding places of Scripture, in order through this to come to acquaintance with Christ, that is, to descend to His humility with the help of pious faith. Those who move it can mean good teachers (doctores) 2 of the Church. However, the fact that it is brought on a bed means that the person still in this flesh must recognize Christ. However, later, when he had already been healed, he was ordered to carry this bed and go to his home - this is understood in such a way that [carrying this bed] restores the body [from sins and passions], so that the fragile soul would not rest in carnal pleasures, as if on a bed, but so that it would more closely retain carnal experiences within itself and strive for the peace of the recesses of its heart. Question V (Luc. cap. III, 23) The question does not seem absurd how Joseph could have two fathers. After all, Matthew calls this one born of him who was called Jacob (Matthew 1:16). Luke says that [he] is the son of one who was called Elijah. And not [only] in this place could it be said that one man appeared, called by two names, so that not only by gender, but also in the Jewish way this would happen. Indeed, in this place it is impossible to say that one person had two names, just as, obviously, happened not only among the pagans, but also among the Jews. After all, whoever thinks this way about another chain of generations of ancestors is easily exposed as a lie. After all, what can he [the one who thinks so] be able to say about grandfathers, great-grandfathers, great-great-grandfathers and other ancestors, whose various names the evangelists, each separately in their narrative, mention? What, finally, can he say about the very number of these ancestors? After all, while Luke lists forty-three generations from the Lord down to David, Matthew lists twenty-eight or twenty-seven [generations] from David up to the Lord. Indeed, for the sake of the exact fulfillment of the sacrament up to the migration and also from the migration itself, [Matthew] numbered one twice. So, it requires investigation how Joseph could have two fathers. And at this moment at least three reasons seem to me, any of which the evangelist could follow. Or one was Joseph’s natural father, and the other adopted him. Or, according to the custom of the Jews, when one died without sons, the closest relative accepted his wife. If a son was born, he was considered the son of a deceased relative, since Joseph was born from one to the other. Therefore, it was said that he had two fathers. Or one evangelist called the father of the one from whom he was born, while the other named either the maternal grandfather, or some of the older close relatives, for whom, due to consanguinity, it is reasonable that Joseph is placed instead of the son. So from here [from Joseph] all the way down to David it does not constitute the same order of generations that Matthew calculates. Of these two arguments, the one that we put in second place seems refutable, since each of the Jews, after the death of a brother or relative, accepts a descendant from his wife; the one who is born usually takes the name of the deceased. Consequently, either adoption resolves this issue, or the origin of the ancestors, or some other reason that is not revealed to us at the moment. Therefore, the madness of those who easily slide into accusing one of the evangelists of lying is so great, rather than looking for the reason why each [of the evangelists] separately mentioned different names of the fathers. Therefore, it is rash to assert that there are two separate reasons why this could actually happen, while to solve the problem it is enough to find one. Question VI (Luc. cap. III, 23–38) Anyone can investigate what it means that there are seventy-seven persons according to the generations that Luke followed. After all, the Lord mentioned this number when Peter asked Him about the remission of his brother’s sins. For he says that one should not let go seven times, but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:22). How exactly is it understood that by mentioning this number He commanded the remission of all sins, since [the Lord] Himself, through Whom all sins were forgiven, in the seventy-seventh generation deigned to come to people in human form, according to the testimony of the mentioned evangelist. What is most consistent with this is that while there is another series of generations that Matthew explains, this series [of generations] was retained by the one who lists the seventy-seven generations in reverse order after the Lord was baptized. After all, in this way the return to God, to Whom we ascend after the forgiveness of sins, is expressed, and as if the ascent to God is expressed by the fact that the ascent occurs in reverse order through these generations. And be that as it may, it is through Baptism that the remission of all sins that are designated by this number occurs. After all, at the Baptism of the Lord, sins were not forgiven to the Lord Himself, but there [was] the very remission of all sins, which was granted to people by His mercy and power. Through this Baptism of the Lord and through this number of generations was sanctified and designated [the remission of all sins]. After all, the Lord did not come by chance or in vain after seventy-seven generations, if not because in this number something is hidden that has to do with the designation of all sins, in order to forgive all sins. This very [number] should be understood as septenary, containing eleven units. These numbers, multiplied together, make up such a number. After all, eleven times seven or seven times eleven is seventy-seven. For eleven signifies the transition from ten, and if the perfection of the Beatitudes is expressed in ten, whence comes it that everyone hired into the vineyard is rewarded with a denarius [ten] (Matt. 20:2–10), what happens when the sevenfold Creation [of the world] is combined with the Trinity of the Creator. It is obvious that the transfer of a denarius [transition from ten] denotes the sin of the one who wants to have something more due to pride and [on the other hand, denotes] the integrity and perfection of the giver. After all, this is said seven times in order to show that this transition occurs through the passion (motu) of a person. After all, the number three denotes the incorporeal part of a person, hence the fact that we are commanded to love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37). The four designates the body, because in many ways the four-part nature of the body is revealed. Consequently, a person consisting of a combination of three and four is, quite logically, designated by the number seven. Movement [in numbers] is not expressed when we say “one,” “two,” “three,” “four,” etc. But when we say “once,” “twice,” “thrice,” “four times.” Therefore, as I said, not “seven” and “eleven,” but seven times eleven denote the transition [crime] that is committed by the passion of a person who sins, that is, passing over the constancy of his perfection due to the passion of possessing something more. What was said much later by God through the prophet to the soul: did you hope that if you left Me, you would have something more? From this vice of pride [superiority] all sins abound, but they are remitted when we are admonished to forgive seven times seventy times (Matt. 18:22), so that we understand that no sin is excluded which is not forgiven to him who repents and asks forgiveness through the Church, which Peter represents. Question VII (Luc. cap. VI, 9) About what the Lord said to the Jews about the one who had a withered right hand: I will ask you whether it is possible to do good or evil on the Sabbath, to save a soul or to destroy it. We need to find out when He healed the body, why He asked: to save the soul or destroy it. Or because he performed these miracles as a result of faith, from where the salvation of the soul comes. Or because the very healing of the right hand signified the salvation of the soul, which, if it deviates from good deeds, is as if it somehow had a withered right hand. Or He laid down his soul for a person, as they usually say: “There were so many souls there.” Question VIII (Luc. cap. VI, 38) About what the Lord says: give and it will be given to you, good measure, compact and shaken together, and running over [to those to whom they give... the saints will give] into your bosom (Luke 6:38). From this statement it can be understood that He says in another place that they [the saints] themselves should receive you into eternal abodes (Luke 16:9), since it seems that this was prescribed to the people, what was said: give, and it will be given to you. According to this statement, the apostle says: He who is announced by the word (catechizatur verbo), let him have fellowship with him who announces him in all good things (Gal. 6:6). After all, He would not have said: they will give into your bosom, unless it is because through the merits of those to whom they give a cup of cold water in the name of the disciple, they will be worthy to receive a heavenly reward. Question IX (Luc. cap. VI, 39) What the Lord says: can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they both fall into the pit? Perhaps this is connected in this way so that they do not hope that they will receive from the Levites that measure about which he said: they will give into your bosom, because they themselves were given tithes. He calls them blind because they do not follow the Gospel, so that the people would soon begin to hope for this reward through the disciples of the Lord. Wanting to show them as His imitators, he also adds: there is no student higher than the Teacher. Question X (Luc. cap. VI, 47:48) About what the Lord says: everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and does them, I will reveal to you who he is like. Looks like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on stone. Digging, He said, means scooping out everything earthly from your heart with Christian humility, so as not to honor God because of something like that [earthly]. Digging into the depths until you reach the stone means following Christ freely and honoring Him freely to such an extent that you come to understand that God should be worshiped not at all for the sake of wealth, but not even for the sake of those things that seem necessary for this life, however [these necessary things] are temporary and earthly. And something that any righteous person can have and use without any guilt. Question XI (Luc. cap. VII, 32,35) About the children sitting in the square and calling to each other, He answered the proposed [question] in the reverse order. After all, what He says: we grieved, but you did not cry - this concerns John, whose abstinence from bread and wine signified crying of repentance. And what He says: we played the pipes, but you did not dance, refers to the Lord Himself, Who, by eating food and wine with others, signified the rejoicing of the Kingdom. But they did not want to humble themselves with John or rejoice with Christ, saying that He had a demon, and this [Christ] was a voracious drunkard and a friend of fornicators and sinners. What He adds: and wisdom is justified by all her sons means that the sons of wisdom understand that justice is found not in abstinence and not in gluttony, but in peace of mind when enduring need and in abstaining from the temptations of abundance, and in the ability to take or not take those [things], not the use of which, but the lust [of which] should be condemned. After all, it does not matter at all what kind of food you will consume to satisfy the needs of the body, as long as you are in agreement with the types of food with which you must [sustain] life. And it doesn’t matter at all how much you eat when we see that other [people’s] stomachs are filled faster and, however, they greedily open their mouths at those who are content with little. Others, however, are filled with a little more, but endure the need more patiently. And even at food placed in front of the mouth, if it is necessary or necessary, they calmly look at it and do not touch it. Consequently, what matters more is not what or how much food someone consumes in accordance with human needs, or in accordance with individual needs, or to maintain his health, but with what ease and with what serenity of soul he suffers deprivation [of food], when he should or even needs to endure deprivation. So that what the apostle says will be fulfilled in the Christian soul: I know how to have less, I know how to abound, I know how to be filled and to go hungry, and to abound and to endure lack. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Phil. 4:12–13), and then: and even if we eat, we will not abound, and if we do not eat, we will not have need (1 Cor. 8:8), and then: For the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy. And since people are in the habit of rejoicing a lot about carnal pleasures, [the apostle] added - in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Consequently, wisdom is justified by all her sons, who understand that the right time should be for the use of earthly things, and the ease of deprivation [of earthly goods] and the love of enjoying eternal [goods] should not change in time, but should be eternally maintained. Question XII (Luc. cap. VIII, 16) About what the Lord says: no one who lights a candle hides it with a vessel, or puts it under the bed, but puts it on a candlestick so that those who enter can see the light - the one who hides the Word of God out of fear of bodily hardships, but in fact prefers the flesh itself to the manifestation of the truth. And it seems to cover her [flesh] with the Word, being afraid to preach [the truth]. And so He called it [the flesh] by the name of the vessel and the bed under which the one who does this puts a candle, as He says. Question XIII (Luc. cap. VIII, 26–39) The fact that in the country of Gergesin the Lord healed one in whom there was a legion of demons signifies the pagans who served many demons. The fact that he was [possessed] without clothes [means] that he had no faith, etc. The fact that he did not live in a dwelling means that he did not rest in his consciousness. The fact that he was in the tombs means that he enjoyed dead deeds, that is, sins. And the fact that he was bound with iron shackles and chains means the heavy and harsh laws of the pagans, according to which sins are punished in their state. And the fact that after he broke such heavy shackles, the demon led him into the desert, means that he, having violated even these very laws, was led by a passion for such crimes that went beyond the generally accepted institutions. And the fact that demons were allowed to enter the grazing pigs in the mountains signifies unclean and proud people over whom demons dominate through the cult of idolatry. And the fact that they were cast into the lake means that those who did not want to believe in Christ, drowning in blind and bottomless curiosity, after the Church had already been glorified and the pagan people were freed from the domination of demons, they continue to conduct their wicked rituals in secret. And the fact that the fleeing pig herders told about this means that some of the first of the wicked, although they may avoid the Christian law, still proclaim its power among the nations, numb and amazed. The fact that the Gergesinians go to see what happened and find a man dressed and of sound mind sitting at the feet of Christ, and, having learned what happened, ask Jesus, struck with fear, to leave them - this means that the crowd is satisfied with their former life. At least he respects, but does not want to tolerate the Christian law, since they say that they cannot fulfill it yet, however, marveling at the believing people, healed from their former destructive life. And the fact that he wants to be with Christ, but he was told: return to your home and tell us how much God has done for you, from this statement of the apostle can be clearly understood when he says: to be resolved and to be with Christ is much better, to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you (Phil. 1:23). So that everyone understands that after the remission of sins [he] must return to a clear conscience and serve the Gospel for the salvation of others also, in order to then rest in peace with Christ. And let him not neglect the ministry of preaching, suitable for the redemption of the brothers, if he wants to be too hasty with Christ. Question XIV (Luc. cap. X, 1) About seventy-two disciples. Just as the globe rotates in twenty-four hours and is illuminated by the Sun, so the sacrament of the sanctification of the world through the Gospel of the Trinity is proclaimed in the seventy-two disciples. After all, we put three times twenty-four in seventy-two. And the fact that He sends them two by two is a sacrament of love, either because there are two instructions in love, or because all love cannot take place less than between two. Question XV (Luc. cap. XI, 35) If the light that is in you is darkness, how much greater is the darkness itself? (Luke 11:35) and (Matthew 6:23). He calls light the good aspiration of the mind by which we act. He calls the deeds themselves darkness, or because they are unknown to others, with what thought we do them. Or because even we ourselves don’t know the outcome of these cases. That is, how they [things] happen and happen, which we ourselves carry out with our best intentions. For the most part, our good deeds are damaged by bad use, those that we show with merciful good-natured desire. Question XVI (Luc. cap. XI, 39) Now you Pharisees are cleansing the outside of the cups and dishes. From here onwards He speaks to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, that is, what He had previously said, [and thus] strengthened [to go] to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), so that he could openly tell them their vices and sins. Question XVII (Luc. cap. XI, 20) Due to the distribution of the gifts that are given in Him to each individual, either to people or to angels, it is therefore said that the Holy Spirit is the finger of God. After all, none of our members can show division more than in the fingers. 1. Bible. Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, in the Russian Synodal translation with appendices. Brussels: Life with God, 1983. 2. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia / Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1977. 3. Biblia Sacra Vulgata / Translation of the Holy Scriptures into Latin. Edition ed. R. Gryson, F. Fischer, H. Fred, H. Sparks, W. Thiele / German BO, 1983. XLIII, 1980 p. 4. Sancti Aurelii Augustini. Confessiones – Sancti Aurelii Augustini. 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Instruction by Question and Answer: The Case of Late Antique and Byzantine Erotapokriseis // Greek Literature in Late Antiquity: Dynamism, Didactism, Classicism / Ed. by S. F. Johnson. Hampshire, 2006, pp. 91–105. 27. Rivers (1994) – Rivers I. Classical and Christian Ideas in English Renaissance Poetry. London; N. Y. 1994. 28. Zamagni (2004) – Zamagni C. Existetil une terminologie technique dans les questions D`Eusèbe de Césarée? // Erotapokriseis: Early Christian Question-and-answer Literature in Context / Ed. by Volgers A., Zamagni C. 2004. Apparently, blzh. Augustine quotes in this place the New Testament according to Italia, since in the Greek translation XXL, the Vulgate we read: Pass on, pass through the gates, prepare the way for the people! Level, level the road, remove the stones, raise the banner for the nations! (Isa. 62:10). Also, perhaps quoting from memory, he combines the previous verse with a verse from the book of the prophet Isaiah: I will fulfill the word: peace, peace to him that is far and to him, says the Lord, and I will heal him (Is. 57:19). In the Middle Ages, a doctor was primarily a teacher of theology. Moreover, the four teachers of theology (quattor Doctores), which by the way corresponds to the four friends of the paralytic according to the Evangelist Mark (Mark 2:3), were called St. Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory I and Blessed. Hieronymus: quattuor Doctores – Ambrosius, Augustinus, Gregorius I et Hieronymus. see: Dvoretsky I. Kh. Latin-Russian dictionary. M.: Russian language, 1976. P. 344.