Naming God: Exodus 3:14-15 in Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos

Abstract

Abstract Augustine discusses Exodus 3:14-15 on 49 different occasions in his written corpus, 14 of which are found in his Enarrationes in Psalmos. Scholars have been quick to note the importance of God’s self-disclosure as I AM in verse 14 for Augustine’s conception of the divine as esse. However, far less attention has been paid to the place of verse 15 in Augustine’s thought, despite his claim that this verse reveals God’s “other name” (aliud nomen): the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In this article, I discuss four key passages from his Enarrationes in Psalmos – two from the redemptive-historical psalms and two from the psalms of ascent – where Augustine addresses the relationship between the two divine names God reveals to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15. In these four passages, I suggest, Augustine presents temporality and materiality as ongoing necessities for the knowledge of God, despite what he appears to suggest elsewhere.