ONLINE FIRST
published on December 17, 2024
Giulio Malavasi, Anthony Dupont

https://doi.org/10.5840/augstudies2024121692
In Whose Sight? Jerome and Augustine between Pelagian and Origenist Interpretations of Ps. 142:2
Since the early Christian era, Psalm 142:2b, which declares the impossibility of anyone being justified before God, has elicited diverse interpretations from theologians. In this article, we examine the exegesis of Ps. 142:2 by two prominent theologians of the late fourth and early fifth centuries, Jerome and Augustine. We show that their interpretations of this verse were heavily influenced by their respective theological backgrounds and the controversies they were facing at the time. Jerome¡¯s anti-Origenist exegesis explains his rejection of the Pelagian perspective on Ps. 142:2, and Augustine¡¯s interpretation was mainly shaped by his (early) anti-Pelagian insistence on rejecting the possibility of living without sin. This article illustrates the complex interplay between theological controversies and scriptural interpretation in the early Christian Church.