Abstract
This eclectic collection of essays seeks, in the words of editor Paul Kolbet, to ‘enable readers to locate and read the early Christian sources for themselves and to introduce them to the various’ approaches being employed in ‘the study of early Christian psalm saying’ (p.2). The work aims to explore how early Christians experienced their faith through the ‘transformative power’ of personal prayer in light of the Psalter. As such it moves beyond discussions on Patristic exegesis, dogmatic controversy and political polemics to explore the burgeoning field of early Christian psalmody. Though many of the essays have been previously published, some well over a decade ago, the book itself serves as an invaluable companion to the student of early Christianity given the prominence of the psalms in the life, worship, and thought of the faithful. The most prominent of the contributions are outlined below.
The first and broadest essay, Daly’s ‘Finding the Right Key’ considers the Psalter, the ‘daily bread’ of private and public prayer, in fourth-century Christian thought. Daly provides a cursory overview of how the Psalter was treated by thinkers such as Diodore of Tarsus, Athanasius, Hilary, and Augustine. Several presumptions undergird these diverse readers, namely God is ultimate reality, scripture provides one overarching story of salvation, passages contain more than one meaning, and interpretation finds its ultimate meaning in the lives of contemporary audiences. Further, the Psalter is seen as a mysterious text, masking many secrets which the ‘key of David’ can unlock. Given their training in classical literature these writers, in very different ways, employ strategies to judge and interpret these poems as one would secular verse. Above all, Daly points out, the task of psalm exegesis was therapeutic. These psalms reverberated within the depths of the human heart. As the music of God, they, in turn, provide the faithful with a language to speak back to heaven.
‘King David and the Psalms of Imprecation,’ by Gary Anderson juxtaposes premodern and modern treatment of imprecatory psalms. While Anderson deals almost exclusively with Psalms 56–58 (LXX) and their interpretation by Gregory of Nyssa and his rabbinic contemporaries, he captures the tendency of Patristic interpretation of difficult passages. Instead of providing an historical and contextual rationale for them or simply eschewing these psalms altogether, premodern readings tie them into the life of David. They speak of genuine rage penetrating the heart of David, which, in turn, is calmed by Holy Spirit. Thus the desire to imitate (mimesis) imprecatory Psalms like 56–58 can be maintained by Christians in as much as they serve to temper vengeance—just as David stayed his hand against Saul (1 Sam 24).
The following three essays each focus on one particular Patristic writer. Kolbert considers Athanasius’s interpretation of the psalms, which sought to unite both urban and rural Christians within an overarching ascetic program. The respective works of Roland Heine and Luke Dysinger, delve into seminal writers whose extant corpuses are fragmentary. Heine considers Origen’s prologue to his Caesarean Psalter commentary arguing that Origen employed a nine-point topical outline for his commentary—a modification of the conventional philosophical commentary prologue of his time. Dysinger explores Evargrius’s Scholia on Psalms. These marginal notes differ from other Patristic psalm commentaries in targeting contemplative exegetes (gnostikos). Dysinger points out that Evargrius’s pastoral methodology and exegesis intersect: the Psalms not only reveal the drama of divine redemption from the Fall, Incarnation, and eschaton, but also the individual’s own spiritual progress.
Psalm 45 serves as the common subject for the three following essays. Nonna Harrison examines how allegorical interpretation allowed Basil of Caesarea to expand the vision of gender roles—particularly with respect to what constitutes masculinity. David Hunter argues that Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine each read Ps 45 in efforts to bolster their respective vision of social order. The entry by Ronald Cox provides an intriguing juxtaposition between Cyril of Alexandria and Theodore of Mopsuestia. These representatives of the Alexandrian and Antiochene ‘schools’ of interpretation both agree Psalm 45 speaks of Christ but provide vastly different rationales in reaching their conclusions.
The volume concludes with essays on Augustine and Maximus the Confessor. Michael Cameron and Michael McCarthy read the Enarrationes with specific attention to Augustine’s Christological interpretation of the Psalter. Cameron argues that the theme of the ‘whole Christ’ (totus Christus) enabled Augustine to view Christ speaking the in the Psalms as himself, as Adam, and as the church; this in turned allowed readers see themselves in the text in light of their participation in the paschal mystery. McCarthy’s contribution elaborates on this concept, connecting the interpretation of a given psalm to its ecclesial context. Augustine’s reading of the Psalms offers a vision of the church participating in the travail, pain, and life of Christ, extended throughout time.
Like any edited book with multiple authors, the connection between entries is often tenuously held together. For readers approaching the subject of Patristic psalm commentary Daly’s entry provides the broadest, and perhaps most insightful, assessment. That being said, each essay successfully provides illuminating discussion on various facets of Patristic psalm interpretation.