History of Interpretation
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History of Interpretation
Introduction
Biblical interpretation has been one of the primary focus for most of the theologians well known in the history of Christianity. Most of the biblical verses were written by servants of God who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and so, most people at times fail to understand the verses and so, misinterpretation of these biblical verses. One of the most known verses is 1 John 4:8, which states that “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” People have heard their own interpretation of the verse. The paper seeks to explain how two theologians are: St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas explains the verse and uses an outside theologian to show the difference between the two.
St. Augustine Commentary on 1 John 4:8
The Saint himself is considered one of the most influential theologians in the history of churches. Most of his interpretations have been used by preachers all over the world to teach about God’s Love. He was one of the first theologians in the first millennium of the western churches. He fought several battles on his work, and some of the most famous ones are against Pelagius to whom they differed on how people can get salvation (Teske, 2008). He had compelling commentaries on Love, and one message that is clear in his commentary on the verse is that the Love we have for material things is a sign of our Love for God and so, only the people who do not love anything does not know God as the verse states.
In his commentaries, Augustine states that he was never really in Love even though he was in Love with Love. That never really seems to make sense, like how a person can be in Love with something he does not have a good understanding. In his very own words, Augustine states that “I was not yet in love, but I was in love with love, and from the very depth of my need hated myself for not more keenly feeling the need.” (Teske, 2008). Many people would ask why the Saint would go the extra mile of hating himself for something he never really understands in the first place. The Saint had very articulate points about Love, which he contradicted in his further works. Having made that controversial statement about 1 John 4:8, he proceeds with his sermon talking about friendship. He also made one compelling commentary about friendship that seems to be relating Love with lust. In his statement, he states that “Thus I polluted the stream of friendship with the filth of unclean desire and sullied its limpidity with the hell of lust.” (Teske, 2008).
In the statement, the Saint is clearly talking about the unclean desires and states that he wants to be courtly and clean. From the Saint’s above sentiments, he seemed to be thinking of Love in a different way from the normal definition, which is the sincere care for someone. According to his sermons, the Saint seems to be convinced that in one way or another, we humans love something, and so, by loving these things, we love God because it is God who created them. In a quote, he states that “If material things please you then praise God for them but turn back your love upon Him who made them.” (Teske, 2008). In line with the verse, Augustine states that we should love God because he created the world, and without Him, we would not even have something to love. Hence, he meant that the Love we have for material things is owed to God, the creator. After this powerful sermon, Augustine states that sinners must return to their hearts and abide by God, and this statement suggests that God never really created evil, and so, why loving anything means one knows God? Questions have been raised about his interpretation even though that is one of the significant flaws in his interpretation.
St. Thomas Commentary on 1 John 4:8
St. Thomas offered some of the unique commentaries on the Gospel by St. John. He demonstrated deep thinking as he interpreted the work by these apostle John. His writings bring the forefathers insight into the understanding of biblical interpretations, which is especially used in the current world where there are a few philosophers with such deep thinking as St. Thomas (Aquinas, 2005). Alongside many other interpreters of the same verse, they have different opinions that are alienable, and one could only agree with one and make his conclusions on the verses. From the scriptures, we humans know that God loves us, and according to the verse, 1 John 4:8, God himself is Love and based on God’s picture built by Aquinas, he introduces Love in God as something relating to His Will.
The scripture states that “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Aquinas states that the more a man’s affection is removed or rather withdrawn from the material things, the more they come closer to God and probably be in their rightful mind. Hence, this portrays a difference from Augustine’s teaching, which clearly states something different, as discussed. Aquinas says that the invitation towards God turns humanity away from the material things since this sets their minds free for the Love of God. By loving God, fulfilling God’s will, and contemplating God are all that is meant by perfection according to his sermon (Aquinas, 2005). Hence, according to Aquinas, knowing God starts by attaching less value to the material things in this world and emulating the spiritual things.
Aquinas talks about the three levels of Love that humans can offer to know God. The level states that no creature can love infinitely but only God. His Love is supreme, and this is probably why the reading states that God is the Love. It then means that having God is having the Love that we humans must yearn for in our lives. The second level is that creatures in heaven are the ones that perfectly Love God. This is because all their attention is with God and nothing else. Lastly, the third level of Love is that on Earth, humans must balance between their material things and God (Aquinas, 2005). He states that Humans utterly love God when we give ourselves wholeheartedly to God. The sermon by Aquinas hence advocates for humans being closer to God than they are to their material things. Humans must not attach more value to their material things than they do for God since God is destiny.
St. Mathew Henry Commentary on 1 John 4:8
According to Mathew Henry’s commentary, God’s Love shines in the world day and night, and that which we saw in our everyday life is the God’s Love. The mercy, the wisdom, the knowledge, the harmony, and peace we enjoy in the world every minute is because of the gracious love of God almighty (Henry, 1993). Humans must hence lift their heads high and daily as they mule their prayer, talk of the powerful Love of God that keeps everything in place, and so, we always live to see another day. The verse states that “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” According to Mathew, God’s knowledge is not found in the human soul but in God himself who must shine upon the human soul for them to understand God himself, and through that, they will have God the Love.
Mathew seems to share a bit of knowledge with Aquinas since they both talk about Love that originates from God. Mathew says that we must perceive the presence of the Lord in our souls, and through that, we are able to understand, and once we understand him, we shall have got Love because God is Love. Nature and well, the essence of God is Love. The will and the work of the Lord are Love. Through all the definitions and good words we can use, the Lord God is the light and is the Love we got on Earth. Based on his direct sentiments, Mathew states that “God is principally love to himself, and he has such perfections as arise from the necessary love he must bear to his necessary existence, excellence, and glory; but love is natural and essential to the divine Majesty: God is love (Henry, 1993).”
In a clear demonstration of his sentiments, he states that we should love God’s children since whoever fails to do so not know God, and he or she does not Love God, the father of these children. This is a perception borrowed from Augustine, who states that loving God’s creation is all we need to know God, and so is Love. Mathew states that one must never pretend to love God and fail to love his children. The Love of God begins from loving his children, and through that, humans get to know God, who is Love, and so, the humans would have the Love. He again seemingly borrows from Augustine again by claiming we must love God’s creation before loving since loving is knowing God, and the only way of knowing him is to love his creations (Henry, 1993). Hence, Mathew is coming up with a hybrid school of thought with a blend of what St. Thomas claims about 1 John 4:8 and what St. Augustine is seemingly talking about when he discusses the same verse. It is irrefutable that the composition of the two schools of thought seems to make more meaning than the two separate, and so, Mathew seems to ideally get it all right in his commentary on the verse.
Conclusion
It can hence be concluded that biblical verses have different interpretations from Saints and pastors, and what matters is that a clear message on God being the destiny is passed. According to Augustine, one must first love God’s creation, and through that, he shall have understood him, and since he is Love, they will have Love. On the other hand, Thomas claims that Love is when we attach more value to God than our worldly things. Mathew lastly comes up with a hybrid of the two, forming a more convincing ground on the biblical verse.
References
Aquinas, T. (2005). Sermon-Conferences of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Apostles’ Creed. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Henry, M. (1993). John. Matthew Henry” s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Electronic Database, 1993-2000.
Teske, R. J. (2008). Augustine’s Inversion of 1 John 4: 8. Augustinian Studies, 39(1), 49-60.