The intermingling of all three styles was very prevalent throughout
St. Augustine’s sermon on forgiveness. I’m assuming he is giving this sermon to
a congregation of regular people, so the intermingling of the three styles
really help to cover all the listeners. But then again wouldn’t this sermon
have been given in Latin? Were the people even able to understand Latin? If
this sermon was pronounced to group of priests, who could all understand Latin,
but also already have a deep understanding of scripture and doctrine- why wasn’t
it more intricate? There are several places in St. Augustine’s sermon where he
is very clearly using low style for teaching, but I feel the things being
taught are pretty fundamental. I don’t know if the low style was intended for
the common person who couldn’t understand it, or for the priest who didn’t need
it, but I don’t think it was well executed here.
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| Kaunas Cathedral, Lithuania |
St. Augustine’s views on scriptural interpretation really
shone through in this Sermon. The whole thing was focused on loving your brother
and forgiving him of his trespasses. St. Augustine really hammers this point
throughout his sermon. I would have liked to have seen him take a scripture
which appears to be in conflict with loving one’s brother and then reasoning it
through like he instructed to do in book four of On Christian Doctrine.
I did like how the Author ran through scenarios and
explained how one should conduct themselves. I think that this is an example of
grand style. He is going methodically through some of the major obstacles of
asking or giving forgiveness in a personal matter. Tailoring different scenes
to fit different people’s situation is very powerful and motivating. No doubt people’s
ears perked up when they heard something which described their situation coming
from the pulpit.
Great post! I especially liked your last paragraph. I like the image of people "waking up" when they hear about something that they have experienced, that applies to them.
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