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Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII: Expositions on...

Nicene and Post-Nicene FathersPsalms CommentarySt. Augustine

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This is a patristic sermon or homily — specifically an exegesis of Psalm 87 (numbered LXXXVII) in the tradition of early Christian biblical commentary, almost certainly by Augustine of Hippo based on its style, numbering conventions, and theological vocabulary. The work interprets the psalm's references to Sion and the city of God as pointing not to earthly Jerusalem but to the heavenly city — the universal Church composed of all believers across all nations. Its central argument is that the "foundations upon holy hills" refers to the Apostles and Prophets as the structural pillars of this spiritual city, with Christ simultaneously as cornerstone, foundation of foundations, shepherd, and gate — roles reconciled through the logic that Christ is present "in" and "through" all his members. A distinctive move is the numerological reading of the twelve gates and twelve thrones as symbols of universality: four directions of the globe multiplied by the Trinity yields twelve, explaining why the Church's call extends to all peoples. The commentary also makes an inclusionary claim remarkable for its tradition: Rahab, Babylon, the Philistines, Tyre, and Ethiopians are all named as inhabitants of the heavenly city, meaning salvation explicitly extends beyond the Jewish people to all nations. Someone deciding whether to read the full text should expect dense allegorical theology with sustained architectural metaphor, aimed at an audience already immersed in Pauline epistle references and early Church ecclesiology.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII: Expositions on...

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