We follow St Augustine's commentary on the Biblical History from Samuel and David through to the end of the Prophets.
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The City of God
By St Augustine of Hippo
Session 11, Book XVI: From Moses to Christ
The gods of the nations are demons. (Ps 95)
Glorious things are said of thee, o City of God! (Ps
86)
Note on
schedule: We are now in the final portion of the book, in which St Augustine
will make a commentary on the whole of Scripture moving through the Bible much
more quickly than he has until now. We will meet every Tuesday in October and
November, focusing for one month on the commentary on Scripture found in Books
XV-XVIII and the second month on the discussion of the Last Things found in
Books XIX-XXII.
Old
Testament Timeline: Abraham 2100-1991 BC, Israelites go to Egypt 1800 BC, Moses
and Exodus 1500 BC, King David 1000 BC, The Kingdom is divided 931 BC, Elijah taken
to Heaven 851 BC, Assyrian Invasion of Israel 732 BC, Babylonian Invasion of
Judah 597 BC, Return from Captivity 537 BC, Temple rebuilt 515 BC.
I. Overview
of the Biblical History from Moses to Samuel
A. Review
of Exodus (the story of Moses and the Exodus), Leviticus (containing many of
the ceremonial precepts, laws and rituals), Numbers (beginning with the numbers
of Jews who left Egypt), Deuteronomy (the second telling of the story).
B. Events
which point to Christ: The Passover, the Manna, the Bronze Serpent, the Rock,
Joshua leading the people to the Promised Land.
C. Review
of Joshua (conquest of the Land), Judges (time of formation of the Nation),
Ruth (the line of David). Question: How
can we justify the wars of the Old Testament, and especially “the ban” by which
an enemy was totally annihilated?
II. Overview
of the Biblical History of Saul, David, Solomon, and the Divided Kingdom
A. Overview
of the History of 1 Samuel (Saul), 2 Samuel (David), 1 Kings (Solomon, Elijah),
2 Kings (Elisha and up to Babylonian Captivity), 1 and 2 Chronicles (retelling
of the story)
B.
Discussion of the Psalms: The Book of Prayer for Jews and Christians, and
Christ’s own prayer. Consideration of
the use of the Psalms in the Breviary, how they prophecy of Christ’s life.
III. Overview
of the Prophetic Age, Assyrian Invasion and Babylonian Captivity
A. The
chronology of the Prophets (according to St Augustine, Book XVIII, 28-35)
Before
the Assyrian Invasion: Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Jonah, Joel
Others
for whom we do not have a definite date: Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk
After
Babylonian Invasion: Jeremiah (Lamentations, Baruch), Zephaniah
During
the Babylonian Captivity: Daniel, Ezekiel
After the
Return from Exile: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (aka Ezra)
B. That
prophecies of the Old Testament may refer only to past events (the Earthly
Jerusalem), or only to future events (the Heavenly Jerusalem), or to both. However, the prophetic utterances are not
wholly fulfilled except by Christ.
IV. Overview
of the Rebuilding of the Temple, and the time of the Maccabees
St
Augustine stresses that there was no prophecy among the Chosen People from the
rebuilding of the Temple until the time of John the Baptist – this shows that
the Second Temple did not fulfill the prophecies of old.
VII.
Recommended reading for Books XIX-XXII
A. Book XIX,
Chapters 4-20, 24-27
B. Book
XX, Chapters 1-30
C. Book
XXI, Chapters 1-3, 10-27
D. Book
XXII, Chapters 1-7, 12-24, 29-30
V.
Recommended listening on LibriVox for Books XIX-XXII
Book XIX,
Chapters 5-12, 13-21, 22-28
Book XX,
All Chapters
Book XXI,
All Chapters
Book
XXII, All Chapters
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