Defining Ecclesia
Augustine of Hippo’ s Anti-Donatist use of John 19:23-24 (on Christ ’s ‘Seamless Tunic’)
This article seeks to contextualize Augustine of Hippo’s interpretation of two verses of the Johannine Passion, John 19:23-24, within the North African legacy of biblical reception. In particular, it evaluates appearances of the verse in dialogue with Donatist positions on the nature of the Church, its relation to Christ, and its role in the present world. The principal research include: 1) how does the tunic of Christ serve as inspiration for symbolic interpretation among Latin authors; and 2) how does such a typological reading of John 19:23-24—and its antecedent in the text of Psalm 21:19—occur within the broader field of Augustine’s anti-Donatist polemic? In presenting relevant evidence, I discuss various references to the tunica desuper texta chronologically, found principally in his popular sermons and Tractates on John. Augustine’s essential approach to the image of Christ’s tunic never radically departs from his earliest readings, however differences of emphasis later emerge. A leading concern, therefore, remains the impact of per totum, in John 19:23, upon Augustine’s developed understanding of Christ’s redemption, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the extent of the Church throughout the world (toto terrarum orbe diffusam). In this light, although one may begin to suspect that Augustine advocates a form of universalism, his catholicity is a more fair and accurate description of this effort to surmount Donatist exclusivism. Between these two extremes, Augustine’s catholicism may be detected even within the limited horizon of this pair of verses and their relationship to the Church in North Africa.
