On Fri, 11 Jul 1997 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> Also, memorizing is not a proof of understanding. If I had to choose between
> Dante and Augustine as careful readers of the Bible, I'd pick Dante.
> Augustine on Psalms, for example, says we are being told that people are
> smarter than birds--that this is what the Psalmist is telling us. I can't
> for the life of me see how he got that reading. Looks to me like the
> Psalmist is saying that birds are a worthy role model for humans beings,
> because they sing songs of praise to their creator.
This is the venerable allegorical tradition. All the Fathers of the
Church used it, from Justin Martyr and Origen onward. This is exactly
what I had in mind in my initial response to your post. You are reading
literally, like most modern folk do. Before you draw conclusions based on
your initial reading, you should do some lateral exploring in patristic
exegesis. Augustine's _De Doctrina Christiana_ is his classic statement
on his approach; Henri de Lubac, _Exegese medievale_ and Erich Auerbach,
_Mimesis_ are also helpful; Gerald Bruns has a book whose title escapes
me; the list could go on and on--other list members can add their
favorites.
In other words, Psalms
> is very positive about birds, not--as Augustine seems to believe--very
> negative. Granted, he seems to have a different translation of Ps. 74.9,
> with the turtledove left out. But even so.
Augustine used the Vetus Latina, not the Vulgate (which is close to the
Authorized/KJV in English and closer to even the RSV than either of these
English translations would be to the Vetus Latina)
>
> Anyway, I was really interested in the medieval clergy as a whole, not in any
> particular clergman. The Church admits, at the Council of Trent, a need to
> better educate its clergy. Not clear to me what the educational level was
> among the clergy at the time. Anybody know?
The examples you cite have little to do with lack of education. No one
could dispute the fact that Augustine and Bernard enjoyed good educations,
commensurate with their times. Friedrich Oediger, _Ueber die Bildung der
Geistlichen im spaeten Mittelalter_ (leiden, 1953) deals with the
Continent, especially Germany and the Low Countries; others on the list
can cite more recent literature, I'm sure. Leonard Boyle's studies on the
topic (mostly late medieval) are collected in a Variorum Collected Studies
volume, _Pastoral Care, Clerical Education, and Canon Law, 1200-1400_
(London, 1981). Pierre Riche has a good book on education in general in
the early Middle Ages whose exact title escapes me; it includes a section
on clerical education.
Dennis Martin
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