Download Lecture 1 Introducti..

Dr. Ann T. Orlando
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Course Structure and Requirements
Meaning of word ‘priest’ in antiquity
St. Augustine
Sacrifice in City of God and The Trinity
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Objective: explore how the Church Fathers
understood the meaning of ‘priest’
Requirements
◦ Class attendance
◦ Participation in weekly discussions MANDITORY (50% of
grade)
◦ Papers submitted weekly (the other 50%)
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No ‘big’ paper
◦ Although I would be very happy for you to submit one
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No final
NB This is a work in progress. I reserve the right
to amend the syllabus as our study progresses
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Focus on primary readings
Select specific theme
Graded based on
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Theme
Research (careful reading of primary sources)
Discussion (insightful analysis)
Composition
Due on discussion day
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Morning hour
◦ Class discussion of texts read previous week
◦ Discussions should be based on short papers
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Afternoon hour
◦ Lecture
◦ Background on texts for coming week
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What is the sacrifice that is offered
Who and how is one authorized to be a priest
What is relation of priest to society
Categories of priesthood
◦ Jesus Christ
◦ Old Testament and its relation to Jesus Christ
◦ Bishops and those ordained, and their relation to
Jesus Christ
◦ Baptized faithful, and their relation to Jesus Christ
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Built on model of ‘beard of Aaron’
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Priesthood of Christ
Apostles
Ordained ministers
Laity
From Psalm 133:2 (LXX 132), reflecting on
Leviticus 8:22
◦ It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
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Deeper appreciation of Church Fathers use of
Scripture
Deeper understanding of the priesthood
A robust bibliography
Understanding Informed by your insights
A personal (spiritual) awareness of connection
between my priesthood and suffering
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Deeper study of one Patristic author or
period?
Reading specific text
Pastoral application?
???
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Bible, preferably LXX for Old Testament
Augustine selections primarily from New City
Press translations
Most others from Fathers of Church (CUA)
translations
Most are internet-accessible texts though BC
Please bring a Bible to class each week
◦ Greek NT and LXX if you have it
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Idiosyncratic
Selected Texts were NOT part of Introduction
to Patristics
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I Clement
Didache
Ignatius of Antioch
Tertullian
John Chrysostom, On Priesthood
A selection from Augustine will be included
each week
◦ Not from Confessions
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‘Priest’ etymologically from German via
◦ Latin, presbyter, via
◦ Greek, presbyteros
◦ Ancient Latin and Greek have basic meaning of
elder, or a community leader, which may or may not
have a religious connotation
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Our use of ‘priest’ includes more precisely
the liturgical connotations of
◦ Latin, sacerdos
◦ Greek, hiereus
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Greek word for ‘priest’ or one who is associated
with a temple and religious rituals
In Stoicism a priest was a wise man whose
sacrifice was his study of the cosmos
In the LXX:
◦ Genesis first (only) used at 14:18 in reference to
Melchizedek; only other references are in Ch 47
concerning the Egyptian priests
◦ First used in Exodus 2:16 describing Jethro as a priest
of Midian;
 Who are the elders (presbyteros) and who are the priests
(hiereus) in Exodus 19…read Ex 18 and 19
 Aaron and his sons commissioned as priests Ex 28
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In Philo of Alexandria, priest and Word (logos) are one
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In NT
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High priest (Archiereus)
◦ See On Drunkenness (Ebr 126-128)
◦ Fusing of Stoic ‘priest’ with Levitical priest
◦ In Gospels, ‘priest’ refers exclusively to Levitical (Temple)
priesthood; not to Jesus or His followers
◦ Hebrews is the primary study of Jesus as priest
◦ 1 Peter 2 refers to followers of Jesus as being a priesthood
(hierateuma)
◦ Book of Revelation is only place where followers of Jesus (martyrs)
are called hiereus
◦ First mentioned in Lev 4:3 and Joshua 22:13
◦ Figures prominently in I and II Maccabees as well as New
Testament
 Associated with political ruler and appointed by king
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Means elder
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In Exodus, Moses calls the 70 leaders from each
tribe the elders
◦ But can also mean the president of a college
◦ Oversee sacrifice of passover lamb for each family (Ex
12:21)
◦ Representatives from all the people, in distinction to
Levitical (inherited) priesthood
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In Gospels refers to elders of Jews (Pharisees??)
In Acts, Epistles and Revelation associated with
followers of apostles as leaders of Christian
communities (1 Peter 5:1, Peter refers to himself
as a fellow elder)
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Literally means overseer, protector, watcher,
patron
◦ Greek gods were sometimes said to be ‘episkopos’ when
they were acting as protectors and patrons to humans
◦ In Cynic philosophy, an episkopos was a wondering
preacher calling men to judgment for their sins
◦ Also used as a title for a municipal office of a magistrate
(judge)
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In LXX
◦ God is referred to as episkopos as a judge of men (see
Job 20:29, Wis. 1:6)
◦ Philo describes Moses as episkopos
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Christ is called episkopos in 1 Pt 2:25.
Presbyters (elders) as episkopoi in Act 20:28
and 1 Pt 5:2
Episkopos as a distinct office in 1 Tim 3:1
◦ See role of presbyters in 1 Tim 5 as teachers and
preachers
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Hierov, or temple, the place where (pagan)
priest offers sacrifice.
Prior to 2nd C BC (Maccabees), heieron, not
used in LXX.
◦ Rather God resides in ark, tabernacle
◦ Solomon builds a house of God (regardless of how
it may be translated in English)
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Josephus frequently refers to Herod’s
construction as the Temple
New Testament frequently refers to Temple in
Jerusalem
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Sacer: someone or something given to the
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Sacerdos: literally, one who does a sacred act
gods
◦ No hereditary Roman priesthood
◦ All Roman citizens are priests in so far as they
preside over their domestic household cult
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Sacramentum: Something given in bond or
oath to the gods which makes the giver sacer
◦ Related to consecration
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Pontifex: priest of high ranking college of
priests in Rome
◦ Responsible for Roman calendar
◦ Responsible for family ‘civil’ law such as adoptions
and inheritance
◦ Recording events (births, deaths)
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Pontifex Maximus: Leader of the pontifex
college of priests
◦ Elected office
◦ With Julius Caesar, also becomes a political office
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Basic definition: A priest is a person
authorized to perform religious rituals
Most important religious ritual: offering
sacrifice
This is true in pagan antiquity, ancient
Judaism, Christianity
Greek, thysia
Latin, sacrificium
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First mentioned in Genesis 4; Cain and Abel
Extensive description in Leviticus
In Paul and Hebrews, Christ as the sacrifice
◦ In I Cor 10:14-22 Eucharist as sacrifice
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Related word: holokautoma (burnt offering)
◦ See for example, Genesis 22 and the ‘sacrifice’ of
Isaac
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Literally means work of the gods
◦ NB Liturgy literally means work of the people
Becomes important concept for Porphyry in 3rd C AD
Theurgy is the Neoplatonic fusing of philosophy
about the One and virtue with pagan cultic notions of
liturgy
◦ Recommends performing rituals to purify the intellect and
soul
◦ A way to ‘redirect’ common sacrificial practices to selfimprovement through meditation on the One
◦ Material sacrifice is a way to connect to love of the One
◦ Prayers to the One are important part of sacrifice
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Julian the Apostate attempts to replace Christianity
with pagan theurgy
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Fall of Rome in 410 to Alaric had an
enormous, devastating psychological impact
The Goths sacking Rome were Arian
Christians
“My voice sticks in my throat, and as I
dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City
which had taken the whole world, was itself
taken.” St. Jerome
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Augustine wrote City of God to explain how
this could happen
Traces the history of Roman Empire to show
that without Christ Roman Empire was great
only in eyes of man; human societies are
destined to rise and fall
Only true society is society of pilgrim Church
moving toward heavenly Jerusalem
◦ But even pilgrim Church is a mixtures of wheat and
tares
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Takes up many of themes of Confessions, plus
Pelagian Controversy, plus theory of history
and society, plus, plus, plus…
Systematic work analyzing all of these issues
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Marcus Dods, Modern Library (1886)
Henry Bettenson, Penguin (1943)
R. W. Dyson, Cambridge (1998)
William Babcock, New City Press, 2 vol. (2013)
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Augustine presents his arguments in 22 Books
◦ Gives directions as to their relationship
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Book I: Immediate historical circumstance
◦ Destruction, individual and civic unhappiness
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Part I: Books II – X, Happiness is from the true God
◦ Rome’s gods (civic theology) do not give happiness in this
life (Books II-V)
◦ Philosophy’s god (natural theology) do not give happiness
in the life (though it does better than the civic gods) (Books
VI-X)
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Part II: Books XI-XII, Opposing cities of man and God
◦ Their different developments in history (Books XI-XVIII)
◦ Their different destinies (Books XIX-XXII)
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Review of desire for happiness and relation of
happiness to worship of God X.1
◦ Note Augustine’s ‘word work’ with Greek and Latin
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What the Platonist teach (X.2-X.3)
True Christian sacrifice (X.4-X.6)
Angels worship and obey God (X.7-X.8)
Arguments against Porphyry (X.9-X.11)
Miracles (X.12-X.19)
Need for visible sacrifice (X.19-X.22)
Against Porphyry’s concept of God, especially
Christology (X.23-X.31)
Conclusion (X.32)
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Written between 389 and 421
◦ See “Letter 11 to Nebridius”
◦ Support of Nicene Creed against Arians and
Platonists
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Outline
◦ Book I-IV: Biblical Foundations and Exegesis
◦ Books V – VII: Analysis and rebuttal of Christological
heresies
◦ Books VII-XV: Lingual and philosophical analysis of
Trinity;
 The image of Trinity in man: memory, knowledge, will
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And what priest could there be as just and holy
as the only Son of God…
Now there are four things to be considered in
every sacrifice:
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Whom it is offered to
Whom it is offered by
What it is that is offered
Whom it is offered for
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Would remain one with Him to whom He offered it
And make one in Himself those for whom He offered it
And be Himself who offered it
One and the same as what was offered
And this one true mediator, in reconciling us to
God by His sacrifice of peace
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Read CoG Book X, especially X.1-8, 19-22, 32
(NCP available online at BC)
◦ civ. Dei
 PL (Patrologia Latina, Migne) 41,
 CSEL (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesianticorum Latinorum) 40,
 CCL (Corpus Christianorum Latina) 47-48
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Read De Trinitate IV.13-24 (NCP available online
at BC as well as CUA FC 45 available online at BC)
◦ Trin.
 PL 42,
 CCL 50
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Prepare paper #1