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Chapter 3: An “Authorial Intent” Model
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Table 5a. Jerome’s Dialogue, Homily 86, ll. 110–24 (1) Citation of biblical text (2) Jer. to rich man (3) Jer. as rich man (4) Jer. to audience 1 “Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water.” 2 “Send Lazarus.” 3 You are mistaken, miserable man; Abraham cannot send, but he can receive. 4 “To dip the tip of his finger in water.” 5 Recall your lifetime, rich man; you did not condescend to see Lazarus and now you are longing for the tip of his finger. 6 “Send Lazarus.” 7 You should have done that for him while he lived. 8 “To dip the tip of his finger in water.” 9 See the conscience of the sinner; he does not dare ask for the whole finger. 10 “Cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” 11 Cool my tongue, for it has uttered many a proud word. 12 Where there is sin, there is also the penalty for sin. 13 “To cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” 14 How evil the tongue can be, James has told us in his letter: “The tongue also is a little member, but it boasts mightily.” The more it has sinned, the more it is tortured. 15 You long for water, who formerly were so fastidious at the mere sight of smeary and spattered dishes. Table 5b. Jerome’s Dialogue, Homily 86, ll. 110–14, a contemporary version (1) Citation of (2) Jer. to rich man (3) Jer. as rich man (4) Jer. to audience biblical text 1 “Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water.” 2 “Send Lazarus.” 3 Send Lazarus? Like pearls before swine, that would be like sending Mother Theresa to help youname -it-selfdestructing -celebrity improve his or her image! 4 “To dip the tip of his finger in water.” 5 You want relief from pain? You should have shared your wealth with your family members when they got in over their heads on a home mortgage loan. You should have supported the local food bank when it made an appeal for contributions. You should have been more just with the salaries you paid to your workers. [54.166.234.171] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 07:22 GMT) A “Distanciation” Model 117 is all the more reason for joy! To Jerome, since his own experience in the afterlife and that of his audience will be that of Lazarus and Abraham , there is no reason not to anticipate what that will be like by imagining himself and them in Lazarus’s place in the story.57 There is something troubling about the feeling of satisfaction the homily conjures up in reference to the suffering of the rich man. “Our joy and happiness multiply your torments; your torments augment our happiness.”58 This goes back to the earlier discussion about justice; how often it is that we find ourselves joyful at the punishment of a person at the hand of whom we have been victimized. For example, not only is it the case that we desire a criminal to be in jail, but we also want him or her to suffer while in jail. We do not want him or her to have access to television, libraries, exercise gyms, continuing education, and so on. We want the person who harmed us to feel the pain of knowing that we are enjoying freedom while he or she has lost it. We want him or her to suffer not only physically (e.g., confinement in jail), but also emotionally or even spiritually. This is the dark side of vengeance to which few will admit, but this homily does not hide it as a fact in the audience’s soul. In fact, the homily celebrates it. Exposing the problem is helpful, but the homily nowhere suggests what Christian social thought should rather do in our context, which is to explain the danger such vengeance and bitterness poses to our own souls. Returning to the chasm metaphor, the homily continues to use it in a play with the biblical text. For many churches in our context, the chasm metaphor is a prooftext for the existence of a literal eternal hell. Once in hell, there is no possibility of redemption, so the best course of action is to align oneself with God in the present life. This homily plays with the metaphor in much the same way. Consider, for example, that whereas...