Meditations of the Heart: The Psalms in Early Christian Thought and Practice: Essays in Honour of Andrew Louth

306 Pages·2011·1.83 MB·English

by  A. Casiday

Studia traditioniS
theologiae
explorations in early and Medieval theology
theology continually engages with its past: the people, expe-
rience, Scriptures, liturgy, learning and customs of Christians.
the past is preserved, rejected, modified; but the legacy steadily
evolves as Christians are never indifferent to history. even when
engaging the future, theology looks backwards: the next genera-
tion’s training includes inheriting a canon of Scripture, doctrine,
and controversy; while adapting the past is central in every con-
frontation with a modernity.
this is the dynamic realm of tradition, and this series’ focus.
Whether examining people, texts, or periods, its volumes are
concerned with how the past evolved in the past, and the inter-
play of theology, culture, and tradition.
Studia traditioniS theologiae
explorations in early and Medieval theology
8
Series editor: thomas o’loughlin,
Professor of historical theology
in the university of nottingham
editorial board
Director
Prof. thomas o’loughlin
Board Members
dr andreas andreopoulos dr augustine Casiday
dr Mary b. Cunningham dr Johannes hoff dr Jonathan Wooding
dr Juliette day dr Patricia rumsey dr Paul Middleton
dr Simon oliver Prof. andrew Prescott
MeditationS of the
heart: the PSalMS
in early ChriStian
thought and PraCtiCe
essays in honour of andrew louth
Edited by
Andreas Andreopoulos
Augustine Casiday
Carol Harrison
H
F
Cover illustration: Tabula Peutingeriana © Önb Vienna: Cod. 324,
Segm. Viii + iX
© 2011, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
d/20110/0095/85
iSbn 978-2-503-53433-6
fr andrew louth, durham 2010.

ContentS
john behr, andrew louth ix
richard price, the Voice of Christ in the Psalms 1
rowan williams, Christological exegesis of Psalm 45 17
sarah coakley, on the fearfulness of forgiveness: Psalm
130:4 and its theological implications 33
kallistos ware, ‘forgive us … as we forgive’: forgiveness in
the Psalms and the lord’s Prayer 53
adam g. cooper, Sex and transmission of Sin: Patristic exegesis
of Psalm 50:5 (lXX) 77
john a. mcguckin, origen’s use of the Psalms in the treatise
On First Principles 97
mihail neamtu, Psalmody, Confession, and temporality 119
robert hayward, Saint Jerome, Jewish learning, and the
Symbolism of the number eight 141
gillian clark, Psallite sapienter: augustine on Psalmody 161
pauline allen & bronwen neil, discourses on the
Poor in the Psalms: augustine’s Ennarationes in Psalmos 181
carol harrison, enchanting the Soul: the Music of the Psalms 205
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MeditationS of the heart
augustine casiday, ‘the sweetest music that falls upon the ear’:
translating and interpreting the Psalter in Christian andalucia 225
norman russell, the ‘gods’ of Psalm 81 (82) in the
hesychast debates 243
carolinne white, allegory and rhetoric in erasmus’
expositions on the Psalms 257
dimitri conomos, elder aimilianos on the Psalter and the
revival of Melodious Psalmody at Simonopetra 277
index 299
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john behr
andreW louth
the first time andrew louth served as a priest in the chapel of St
Vladimir’s Seminary happened to be on the Sunday commemorat-
ing the fathers of the first ecumenical Council. he cut a somewhat
incongruous figure, last in priestly line, in borrowed vestments, not
entirely sure of his place in the ritual. Standing alone to give the ser-
mon, he was small but composed, in a slightly lopsided phelonion.
his voice was quintessentially british, light, precise, and measured.
he spoke softly, without notes, directly to the people, who in turn
strained to hear him. yet his years of scholarly research, teaching and
mentoring, and pastoral and priestly work, made him not only an
eminent theologian, but a persuasive preacher: when he reaffirmed
that god is love, he convinced.
andrew was born in louth, lincolnshire, on 11 november 1944, the
son of a Church army evangelist. after various moves, the family set-
tled in Wakefield, where his father began a new career as a prison chap-
lain and where andrew went to Queen elizabeth grammar School,
having won a West riding County Scholarship. after the death of
andrew’s mother (May 1959), his father took a new position at Walton
prison in liverpool, and they moved to great Crosby, where andrew
and his brother Peter attended Waterloo grammar School. When his
father moved again, this time to leeds, andrew stayed as a house-guest
of his maths teacher, so that he could complete his studies at Waterloo
grammar and sit the entrance examinations for Cambridge univer-
sity, which he did with great success.
andrew went to Cambridge to read mathematics, and after taking
a first in part one, he changed to theology, also gaining a first (1966).
after a Masters in edinburgh (with a thesis on Karl barth), andrew
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MeditationS of the heart
was ordained as a curate at bristol Cathedral in 1968, serving a parish
in Southmead, bristol, for a couple of years. Pastoral experience was
not the only thing that andrew acquired during this time: george’s,
the renowned bookstore on Park Street, told him of “an old book” that
they had and which, being in greek, they thought might be of interest
to him. the “old book” in question turned out to be a first edition of
the Philokalia (the only two other copies in the uK being those in the
british library and in the library of Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware]).
andrew began his distinguished academic career in 1970 when
he was appointed as fellow and tutor in theology, and Chaplain,
at Worcester College, oxford. he also began driving a Citroen 2CV,
his fondness for which is keenly remembered by his brothers (though
according to roger, andrew has since grown up by developing a taste
for Jaguars). in 1985 he began a decade of teaching at goldsmiths’
College, london, as Senior lecturer (1985-9) and reader in Cultural
Studies (1989-91), and then as Professor of Cultural history (1992-95).
finally, in 1996 he moved to durham university to assume a post
that matched his primary interest and research area, Patristics. initially
appointed as a reader in Patristics, he was made Professor of Patristic
and byzantine Studies in 1998, in which position he served until his
retirement in 2010.
this journey through the fields of higher education, punctuated
with numerous publications, paralleled another journey, both intellec-
tual and spiritual. it is evidenced already in his first book, The Origins
of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys (1981). andrew
was surprised at the reception this book had within orthodox cir-
cles: on a visit to the brotherhood of St John the baptist at tolleshunt
Knights, essex, he found himself invited to sit next to archimand-
rite Sophrony during the meal, for the widely respected spiritual elder
was interested in getting to know the author of this book. his next
volume, Discerning the Mystery: An Essay on the Nature of Theology
(1983), besides now being a textbook for many undergraduates hoping
to understand the hermeneutics of gadamer, shows andrew drawing
ever closer to orthodoxy. its reflections on the role of tradition and
the value of allegory might have been out of step with much academic
theology of the period, but now seems to be rather avant garde, presag-
ing not only andrew’s own conversion but also many of the directions
which are being pursued (or rediscovered) in contemporary theology.
this journey culminated in 1989, when andrew was received into the
orthodox Church by Metropolitan Kallistos. this was, in fact, the first
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