Jerome's Dream and Studying Classics

  • Thread starter Thread starter MysticMissMisty
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MysticMissMisty

Guest
Salvete, omnes!

As a classicist myself, when I first started reading the Fathers on New Advent, a certain dream of St. Jerome’s scared me.

In this letter to a group of virgins (Letter 22, I believe Also, sorry for the lack of context. For this is all I know of it at present!), Jerome admonishes these virgins not to be over-concerned with eloquence and not to involve themselves in poetic pursuits, among other things. He quotes the verse from 1 Corinthians wherein Paul rhetorically asks what commonality light has with darkness. Jerome goes on to ask, for instance, what commonality does the Roman poet Horace have with the psalter and what commonality Cicero has with the Apostle (presumably, Paul). Jerome states that he had a difficult time giving up the library of classical literature he had accumulated, though he had given up so many other things for his present spiritual life. In this letter, Jerome indeed seems to consider the reading of secular classical literature such as Cicero and Plautus as utterly contrary to at least his form of the Christian life. He indeed seems to suggest that he looked down on sacred works as more “rude” in style.

Jerome then proceeds to describe the dream which, he says, occurred after he had fallen ill with a fever. Indeed, he seems very strongly to imply that both his fever and the dream he will describe are divinely sent. Though he describes his experience as a dream, he also says that he was “caught up in the spirit”. In the dream, he is brought before the Judgment Seat of Christ and is admonished for being “a follower of Cicero, not of Christ” and the verse is quoted to him about “where you treasure is, there is your heart”. He is then flogged quite severely until he swears off all reading of all the “works of the Gentiles”, as those standing around him in that dream suggest that he do. Jerome indeed says that he “denies Christ” if he should ever again read or even possess worldy works. He claims that this dream was nor ordinary as he felt the pain of the lashing long after he awoke. He even suggests that his shoulders were black and blue, though it isn’t entirely clear whether he means in the dream or afterwards. (You can find an English translation of this work here: newadvent.org/fathers/3001022.htm see sections 29-30 Not sure where you can find the Latin original online.)

As I understand it, this dream has been a common theme throughout Catholic thought, even appearing in at least one painting, yet the Catholic Church seems to have no problem with its people reading classical literature.

I would’ve interpreted this dream as the angel referring to the fact that Jerome seemed to put his reading of secular literature above his devotion to God in prayer and other service. However, he doesn’t just agrree to make God his priority in response to this dream. He swears off all classical literature altogether and that is the only thing that seems to release him from his dream. So, it would seem that thsi was the proper response that God wanted, if we are to take his dram as divinely inspired.

Still, the dream may have been meant to be more particular than universal in that what was right for Jerome may have, in fact, been to give up classical literature altogether as, if he kept reading it, it may still have presented a problem for him in prioritizing his spiritual life.

Interestingly, in a later “Apology” aimed against an opponent by the name of Rufinus, his addressee claims that Jerome still quoted classical literature in his writings. Jerome seems pretty much to discount his dream, mentioning that dreams are liable to be just that, dreams. He even cites a verse of Scripture to back up this claim. He also seems to say that he was not entirely conscious of what he was saying/vowing in that dream, so he may not have been fully in his “right mind” in his dream when he vowed what he did (simply because it was a dream and the mind doesn’t always work logically in dreams). (At least, this is what I get out of what he says here. This letter can actually be a little confusing, I think.) In seeming to say that he was not in his right mind at the time, Jerome might even be saying that even his vow was not one he would’ve made were he fully conscious. He, in fact, seems to argue that his dream was NOT divinely given by saying how completely counter to reality many other dreams can be. One might dream, for instance, that he is committing adultery while he would never do so in real life. One might dream that he receives the martyr’s crown while he is obviously not dead in real life. Implicitly, Jerome seems to be saying that the judgment that he saw may simply be a strangeness in a dream rather than anything in reality divinely sent or otherwise significant. I believe he even states that he may have exaggerated to some degree (interesting, since he seems to downplay rhetoric in the previous letter) because he was trying to make a point to some virgins. (An English translation of this may be found here: newadvent.org/fathers/27101.htm ) Perhaps Jerome is here downplaying his dream because he honestly sees nothing wrong with reading the classics so long as it is done in a Christian way in, for instance, not putting such reading above spiritual development.
 
(cont)

It may also be noted that his dream did occur when he was under the influence of a grave fever, and it has often been noted that so-called “fever dreams” can indeed appear quite vivid/real. However, one might counter by saying that God might not have permitted Jerome to have such a dream (of divine judgment) had He not wished to send a message by that dream.

While Jerome does consciously seem to have struggled with his priorities and this may have to whatever degree influenced his dream, whether it was divinely inspired or not seems to be a question. Indeed, it may simply have been his own subconscious mind working out the previous issues/questions/problems he had with reading classical literature. Does the Church have any official position on the inspiration and/or the meaning of this dream of Jerome? If not, what do you think about this dream? Is it inherently evil to read classical literature? If not inherently, is it wrong to read classical literature with this or that qualification? Why or why not? Please elaborate on your answers.

I, personally, have obviously never found anything inherently wrong with reading, learning from and even enjoying classical literature as long as all of this is done in a Christian manner. While I obviously do not support pagan ideas found therein and I do not support some of the behavior spoken of or even promoted in some cases, I do enjoy both its beauty and what it can teach us in the way of morality (again, as long as it is filtered through a Christian lens). I also enjoy learning about classical civilizations of both Greece and Rome through reading this literature. Furthermore, it serves to some extent to inform my understanding of the early and even later Christian “culture” that sprang up during the time at which much of it was composed.

As I alluded to above, the Church has certainly enjoyed secular/pagan classical literature to the extent that monks spent much time meticulously copying it down! Also, there were certainly other Christians, both earlier, within Jerome’s time and later who read classical literature for various reasons.

Also, if we are to take Jerome’s dream and his vow as literally applicable in every sense to our lives, we all would have to give up all secular literature (and possibly movies, music, etc.) and focus entirely on sacred things since what we now call “classical” literature was indeed the common literature ofthe day and Jerome associates it generally with the literature of “the Gentiles” and “the world”.

Any other thoughts on this?
 
Certainly be circumspect on what one reads etc - not everything is something to read or watch…and one ought to “seek first the Kingdom of God”…

But one can draw various goods from the “classics” - (as have Christians down through the ages --including Popes)… as well as the goods of modern culture…while of course making Scripture etc at the center of ones life…following Jesus of Nazareth who is the Logos.
 
Bookcat said:
w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20071107.html

w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20071114.html

Pope Benedict XVI
Click to expand...
Interesting that, according to this account, Jerome did, in fact, teach classical as well as Christian ltierature, apparently after his experience with is dream(?).

So, do you (and/or others) consider this dream of Jerome’s as legitimately sent by God? Why or why not? If so, what do you think it actually meant for him? What do you think, if anything, it means for us? In regard to classical literature, or any secular literature/movies/music/etc.? This may, indeed, reflect on his later discounting/playing down of the dream. If he taught classical literature after this dream, would this mean that he still kept the vow he made in this dream and, indeed, at the writing of the “Apology” still seemed to be trying to keep? If he was still trying to keep the vow at the writing of the “Apology”, weven though he seems to discount his dream there, was he doing so because of the warnings against going against vows or for some other reason?

And, what of the Scriptures Jerome quotes prior to the description of the dream? Do you think he (apparently?) properly applied them by giving up classical/secular literature entirely? Or, was that even what he intended to indicate when he quoted these Scriptures?

It is also to be noted that Aquinas himself often quoted Aristotle (and other classical writers) quite liberally in the Summa.

N.B.: The term “classics”, if you don’t already know, is a technical term describing the literatures of Ancient Greece and Rome. (Wasn’t sure if you were making that distinction, as you put the term in quotes earlier.)
 
Hmm, I was just thinking…

Was Jerome’s experience just a dream or actually something more, like a (divinely sent?) vision? Or, was it some fever-induced halucination?

In Letter 22, he introduces the experience by saying he was “caught in the spirit”, but, then, on its conclusion, he states that he “woke up” (if the translation I’m reading is doing the text justice). I was always under the impression that something more than a dream was being described when you say you were “caught up in the spirit” as did John in his Apocalypse. Could a dream, though, indeed also be described in this way? Why, then, in the same letter, does Jerome say he “woke up” after the experience, if he (apparently?) experienced it as some kind of being taken up in the spirit?

Because he was in a deep fever, it could’ve been something between a hallucination and a dream brought on possibly by both Lent and his apparently prior concerns about his attraction to the secular classics. If we do not wish to accept this as some divinely-sent experience, this would likely best suit his description in Letter 22, especially the part where he describes both the bruises on his shoulders (if he is describing seeing them after the experience supposedly ended) and the pain he experienced “long after he had awaekend”. However, one might have expected the bruises to go away rather quickly if this was a mere hallucination.

With all this in mind, why, then, would Jerome so discount it in his “Apology”? I’m indeed wondering how far apart these documents were written. Could he have forgotten all the details of the intensity of the experience between time? I believe he does admit to some exaggeration in thsi second document, so, maybe he still does have a memory of much of what he wrote in the previous letter.

As I understand it, has the Church not considered the experience a “dream” rather than a vision of something even more superior to it? How has she, then come ot that conclusion?

If this was something divinely sent, again, how are we to apply it to our lives, especially those of us who make a career of or take interest in the classics? Jerome clearly vowed to give up reading of even possessing such works and was freed from the beatings. Could we argue that, perhaps, God would’ve accepted a lesser response, so long as Jerome had his priorities properly in order but, since Jerome vowed what he did, even though it was a more extreme response, it was acceptable to God? The problem with this undestanding is, specially if the dream/vision/whatever was divinely sent, that the bystanders said that Jerome may still endure torture if Jerome ever again read the works ofthe Gentiles. So, maybe God did desire Jerome never again to read them, period. Why, then, does Jerome apparently end up teaching the classics after he had this dream, unless he had by this time sufficiently discounted it as not divinely sent? Also, the bystanders’ use of the word “might” (if the translation is correct) is interesting; if the dream was divinely sent, one might expect that they would’ve been more definite as to convey God’s precise wishes to Jerome (“he will not stop torturing you until you give up reading the works of the Gentiles”).

What, indeed, are we to do with all this? The Church seems never to have banned outright the reading and study of the classics or, certainly, of secular literature generally. How does the Church understand Jerome’s experience here and how does she interpret it in regard to the rest of our lives?

Is there anything within Church teaching that would consider reading of the classics as inherently sinful? Is there anything within Church teaching that would consider it sinful with this or that qualification? Is there anything within this teaching that would outright contradict any consideration of reading the classics as inherently or otherwise sinful? I guess one could cite Pauls statement that, to the pure, all things are pure when they are done with thanksgiving, though even Jerome cites this but seems to counter it with the staement that there is no more giving thanks in hell, though I might counter that such a statement only encourages caution rather than directly prohibits an action like this.
 
I was just thinking, furthermore…

God would have known that Jerome would eventually downplay the significance of his dream. If He knew this, and if Jerome was doing this sincerely, why would God have sent him the dream/vision/whatever in the first place?

Also, would not Thomas Aquinas have been familiar with Jerome’s dream by the time he was writing such works as the Summa wherein he frequently quotes writers like Aristotle and, indeed, even Cicero? I wonder how he would’ve then understood Jerome’s dream. Might he have, at some point, also forgone any reading of the classics but simply retained them in memory as Jerome claims he did even in his “Apology”?

I hope you can tell that this is really bothering me, guys. I have made and do make a career and a life out of studying the classics, so I want to know whether for any reason I should give this up completely. It is a huge decision, so, please, I ask that you help me with it. Though it will be difficult, I am willing to give it up, if I must. Furthermore, I am nervous about making a career/life of something that God may explicitly condemn. I have no desire for God to punish me for doing such and, indeed, I would want Him to bless it and use it in any way He sees fit, not to curse it. I want my life in this area to mean something as any other part of my life, whether more or less religious. Not only might I face eternal judgment (though some degree of ignorance might get me off), but, actually more importantly to me, much of my life would’ve been wasted in the sense that God would not at all bless an activity that made up so much of it!
 
I am also wondering why the Church has never taken more of an issue with studying the classics, since Jerome’s Dream seems to have loomed large in Catholic consciousness for many years. The Church has to have understood this dream in some way favorable to studying classics, right, since it never outright banned it and sometimes even encouraged it for various reasons?

Early on, however, even independent of Jerome, some authors did have issues with studying the classics, though they took varying approaches to whether it should be done, but, later on, any such resistance virtually faded. Even the other early authors seem(?) not to have know or at least acknowledged Jerome’s Dream.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top