Sant' Agostino, La Genesi 1 (Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana 9/1 ; Rome, 1988) LX1-LXXX.
General Introduction 21 controlling allegorism of On Genesis: A Refutation of the Manichees to the literal exegesis of the monumental commentary on Genesis lets us see him maturing intellectually and shows the effort he made constantly to improve his exegetical tools.41
The methodological reflections that are woven into the exegesis at many points document in an impressive way Augustine's understanding of the respon sibility of a theologian as a man who must constantly account to himself for the presentation of his results: "l have discussed the text and written down as best I could in eleven books what seemed certain to me, and have affirmed and defended it; and about its many uncertainties I have inquired, hesitated, balanced different opinions, not to prescribe to anyone what they should think about obscure points, but rather to show how we have been willing to be instructed whenever we have been in doubt about the meaning, and to discourage the reader from the making of rash assertions where we have been unable to establish solid grounds for a definite decision."42
Augustine's interpretations ofGenesis were groundbreaking not only in their method but in their content as well. The relationship of time to eternity and of body to soul, the image of God in human beings, the fall, divine providence, and the origin ofevil were not only given a thorough analysis in the various interpre tations of the account ofcreation, but were thought through in a way that inspired the subsequent history of theology. Because Augustine the exegete did not stop at an interpretation of the text but, using the first chapters of the Bible, drafted a theology of the origins of the world and humanity, he succeeded in shedding light on the structure of being in general and formulating the fundamental coor dinates of all creaturely existence.
Augustine's meditations and reflections on the biblical Hexaemeron had deep roots in his own life and specifically in his experience of conversion. Consequently, his primary objective was to bring out the existential aspect of the mystery of creation and to show, in keeping with his personal experience in the history of his own conversio, that creation by its very nature involved relations. Therefore the true greatness of human beings does not consist in the supposed autonomy of an individual who makes himself the ultimate norm. As an inter preter of Genesis, Augustine showed that human beings become greater the more they grow in their capacity to hear the deeper message of creation, the message of the creator himself. He was convinced that harmony with creation, the divine wisdom of which becomes our standard, does not mean a limitation of our freedom but is the expression of our understanding and our dignity. Only by
41. See Revisions 1, 18 (CCL 57, 54). See Vannier, "Creatio, " 89-94; A. Penna, 1ntroduction to Sant' Agostino, La Genesi 1 (Nuova Biblioteca Agostiniana 9/1 ; Rome, 1988) LX1-LXXX. 42. The Literal Meaning of Genesis X11, 1,1.