Tractates on the Gospel of John, 28-54 (review)

This volume is the third installment in Rettig's ongoing translation of Augustine's 124 sermons on the gospel of John for the Fathers of the Church Series (vol. 78 contains translations of sermons 1-10 on Jn. 1.1-2.21, and vol. 79 contains sermons 11-27 on Jn. 2.23-6.72). In the sermons translated in this volume, Augustine treats the gospel of John from 7.13 to 12.50. Rettig's translation is based on the critical text edited by R. Willems, found in volume 36 of the Latin series of the Corpus Christianorum.

While each volume contains a bibliography (basically the same in all three volumes) and two indices (of general terms and scripture references), only the first volume contains Rettig's full introduction (there is also a much briefer introduction to the second volume). The main introduction addresses the following topics: the setting in which the sermons were delivered, their literary style, allegorical exegesis, christology, christological and trinitarian heresies, the dates of the sermons, the term "tractate," and the critical text of the sermons. Aimed at a broad audience ranging from the religiously interested layperson to the scholar of Augustine, Rettig's introduction alternates between homily-like summaries of Augustine's theological views and more technical discussions of scholarly issues such as the problem of dating the sermons. By means of his own homiletical tone and style, Rettig seems to be trying to prepare lay readers to attend to and appreciate the highly rhetorical style of the sermons they are about to read.

Rettig contends that "Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, is the major theme that runs through all these Tractates" (vol. 78, p. 13). He observes further that Augustine's sermons on John were intended to counter the influence of various heresies. He notes in particular that Manichaeism (which, he adds, was really another religion, though heavily "christianized" in North Africa) was not a grave danger for Augustine, given the evidence of the tractates. Rettig offers a fairly lengthy discussion of Donatism, though he does not tie it to the tractates in any specific way. He also notes Augustine's concern with Pelagianism. As for Arianism, Rettig observes that Augustine wrote de Trinitate during the period in which he delivered the sermons on John, but suggests that Arianism was a modest threat at best, and that Augustine's treatment in the tractates is only occasional and rather academic. Arianism was not the live threat that the other three movements were.

Rettig offers a detailed and lengthy discussion of the dating of the sermons. He notes that the Maurist Benedictine edition places the 124 tractates (and 10 tractates on the Epistles) in or shortly after 416. He then describes in considerable detail a new proposal for dating that splits the 124 tractates into two groups. Sermons 1-54 (with 10 tractates on the Epistles intervening between 12 and 13) were delivered before Augustine's congregation in Hippo Regius. Debates continue regarding the dating and character of sermons 55-124. Rettig offers a lengthy and detailed summary of these debates. Surprisingly, he does not offer the reader his own conclusions or explain what important differences the various dating options would make for the interpretation and analysis of the sermons.

Rettig acknowledges the difficulty of translating the highly rhetorical language of Augustine's sermons into English: " . . . Augustine created a new homiletic style of high aesthetic impact. The translator is not altogether confident that his translation even adequately captures the alluring beauty of Augustinian Latinity" (vol. 78, p. 8). He empathizes with the 1913 lament of E. Pope (vol. 78, p. 8, n.25): "Many . . . find it impossible to read these Tractates in the original, but if they are obliged to make use of a translation, they lose much of the beauty and force of the original. For Augustine's power and charm lie...