Jerome and Zwingli: Two Enthusiasts for the Word of God
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25788/vidbor.v4i0.306Keywords:
Jerome, allegoria, ascetic life, biblical scholar, Christian sense, Hebrew text, Hebraica veritas, higher sense, literal sense (littera), prophets, rhetoric, translator, Vulgate, Huldrych ZwingliAbstract
The article – originally a lecture – is about the church father Jerome (347–420) and his love for the Holy Scriptures. It is initiated by a fictional conversation with Jerome and Huldrych Zwingli, the Zurich reformer (1484–1531). The work of both was devoted to the Bible. In their dedication to its translation and explanation they were alike. A first descriptive section deals with the origin and training of Jerome. He loved rhetoric, but turned his interest more and more to the Holy Scriptures. His devotion to the ascetic life is also briefly spoken of. Then his personal characteristics and his work as a translator and commentator of the Bible are outlined. Often he had to defend his work, e.g. against Augustine.
Jerome’s interpretation is twofolded: The Hebrew text (Hebraica veritas) is the starting point (littera, historia), the basis for the deeper or hidden sense (allegoria). The littera – the literal sense – forms the basis for the deeper, Christian sense, the allegoria, which for Jerome is based in the New Testament and in the church. Finally the conversation with Jerome and Zwingli is resumed.
