Cassian's hermeneutic: Part 1

I want to post here some thoughts related to a project I did while in a class in Seminary on the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. The father with whom I chose to engage was John Cassian. While he is not the most popular among the contributors to the Christian faith in the early centuries, his historical legacy reaches farther than his name is known. Where Cassian's impact is far-reaching include: his dispute with Augustine on grace and freedom in Conference 13, in which Cassian is termed a "semi-Pelagian" (this dispute is interesting to me, but that would be for another thread); his refutation of Nestorius' Christology; his influence on Benedictine monasticism’s usage of the Psalter; his emphasis on discretion and avoiding excesses as is brought out in his successor, St. Columban; and the spreading of Cassian’s spirituality into the Church by Gregory the Great.

While the project I did for the class was more than just about his approach to and interpretation of Scripture, I want to focus there because the themes that came up there have been dwelling in my mind recently. This one central idea will run throughout what follows: there is an inseparable link between obedience and interpretation...and this is a notion that is ignored or rejected by many "modern" commentators who solely employ the historical-critical (i.e., purely scientific) method. For Cassian, it will be seen, the purpose of reading and interpreting Scripture is not for more cognition but aids us in the pursuit of perfection (understood not as static, but dynamic growth), which he often calls 'purity of heart.' The more that is revealed to us calls us deeper into holiness, and the more we obey, the more God will reveal so that we can continue to grow into the image of Christ. Cassian's hermeneutical discussion is located in Conference 14, so most of the discussion will be focused there except when I address how his hermeneutic can be useful today. To set the context: Cassian and a man named Germanus are students learning the way of the desert fathers and the one they are interviewing here is Nesteros.

A significant portion of this conference is located around the discussion of the different senses of scripture. For Cassian, there are two aspects of ‘spiritual knowledge’: the practical, which deals with the correcting of moral actions and is manifest in the diverse professions and disciplines[1]; and the contemplative, which is where the different senses, of which there are four, of scripture come in to play.

In the context of the practical, we find a mentality somewhat unique to the Conferences: an appreciation of the value of community and external action. Citing the example of Macarius, a manager of a charitable guest-house in Alexandria, Cassian commended the brotherly action of caring for ‘the other’ in practices of hospitality, visiting the sick, giving to the needy. These practices are located within the personal struggle of perfection and as serving to aid the monk in the “contemplation of God.”[2] Weaver noted that the reference to Macarius and Antony (whose attainment of virtue was more in solitude and silence) revealed that the pursuit of ‘purity in heart’ can be in the context of community or solitude, in service to others or in silence.[3] By connecting these mystics to the biblical examples of Elijah & Elisha (Antony) and Abraham & Lot (Macarius), Nesteros invited Germanus and Cassian into an understanding of scripture in which they could embody the scriptures by following the examples of the mystics who had gone before them.

Furthermore, within the practical portion of spiritual knowledge is the importance of being able to identify one’s own passions and struggles and to control them before trying to rid oneself of them.[4] This is a process that includes a transformation of the mind (Romans 12:2) and renunciation of the self (cf. Mark 8:34ff.). In order for renunciation (i.e., repentance) to take place in the heart and will of a person, one must know what the attachments were of the old self so as to be able to discard them and make room for the corresponding virtues to take their place in the ‘heart.’ Therefore, humility (being related to self-knowledge and renunciation) was to be a “lifelong accompaniment of scriptural interpretation.”[5]

Here we poignantly see ‘purity of heart’ and its necessity for engagement with scriptural texts. The purification of the heart in preparation of reading the scriptures renders the heart “receptive to the searching light of grace” and allows us to understand that interpretation is the “interaction between the sacred text and the sanctified heart.”[6] Much like what was said about prayer by Origen, the art of scriptural interpretation is one that engages the entire life of the Christian. Thus, this interaction that takes place between ‘sacred text and sanctified heart’ can be seen as part of the ongoing life of prayer. Nesteros’ response to the frustration of Cassian and Germanus not being able to understand scripture was not located in a particular methodology, but in a “way of life.”[7] This strongly links the hermeneutical task with the ongoing pursuit of perfection in the livelihood of the Christian.

References:
[1] Cassian, Conferences, 14.2-7.
[2] Chadwick, John Cassian, 105.
[3] Weaver, “Access to Scripture,” Interpretation 52 no.4: 368.
[4] Levko, “Temptation,” Diakonia 29 no.2 91. Cf. Conferences, 14.3.
[5] Weaver, “Access to Scripture,” 371.
[6] Ibid., 367.
[7] Ibid., 368.