COME THEN, AND BE GRAFTED: THE MYSTERY OF FAITH AND DIVINE REVELATION IN AUGUSTINE’S HERMENEUTIC OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

Abstract

This thesis argues that Augustine’s theology of faith is constitutive to his hermeneutic of the Old Testament, because faith is the necessary predisposition to perceive the mystery of God revealed in Scripture and encounter the grace that effects transformation in the soul. In reading the Old and New Testament as a mutually interpreting dialectic that clarifies the mystery of God revealed in Scripture, the content of Scripture provides categories for further interpretation. Augustine’s understanding of Scripture as the locus for God’s gracious action in the soul suggests that Scripture should be understood as part of God’s larger design to heal the soul of pride and concupiscence. Thus, through a faithful reading of Scripture, the believer participates in Christ’s righteousness and therefore fulfills the Law in grace and truth. Given the formal and theological likeness between Augustine and Paul’s reading of Scripture, this thesis concludes with reflections on how Augustine exemplifies an imagination profoundly converted by Paul’s texts, and in turn provides insight into reading Paul’s own texts anew.