Haec sunt spectacula Christiana(Enarr. In Ps.39,16): Martirio e testimonianza alla comunità neiCommenti ai salmidi Agostino

Abstract

In his Enarrationes in Psalmos, Augustine repeatedly points to the testimony of martyrdom as essential to the history of Christianity. Martyrdom is a display of Christianity in which an authentic image of the experience of every believer is shown forth to the world; it is an experience of the human person brought through suffering to the total transformation of his or her being. The world’s contempt for the martyr recalls to all believers the constant struggle against the hostile powers of the world. In his reference to martyrdom, Augustine emphasizes the relationship between the History of Christianity and everyday experience. God’s assistance is continually manifested in the lives of the martyrs, and the glory of martyrdom is an authentic image of future Christian existence.