Colloquia Maruliana ..., Vol. 3 , 1994.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Generic Traits of Marko Marulić's Sermon on Christ's Last Judgement
Bratislav Lučin
Sažetak
Marulić was a writer of conspicuous moral and didactic affinities. That the art of preaching was familiar to him and that he found it appealing, we may infer from some of his works (for eg. the Quinquaginta parabolae were written with the scope of providing material for sermons). Besides, his library - as far as we know from his testamentary list of its titles - contained eight books of sermons by different authors. Marulić, however, wrote only one sermon, the De ultimo Christi iudicio Marci Maruli sermo. The scope of the present article is to test this Marulić's works against the generic model of the so called thematic sermon and to find out in what way it fits into the context of the transitive forms between the thematic and the so called epideictic sermons based upon the humanistic adaptation of the classical oratory model to Christian purpose.
The article reviews, in general lines, the medieval history of sermon, which falls into two major periods: prevailing in the first period, which lasted up to the 12th century, was the so called homily, characterized by the absence of any strict patterning, and the avoidance of ornate, rhetorically elaborate expression; starting with the 12th century, the sermon was given strict formal organization, adopting the classical and the medieval vehicles of the ornatus. This new type is called thematic sermon, because it always develć’sops from the obligatory quotation from Scripture, which is known as the “theme” and is placed at the beginning of the sermon. From the theme the preacher singles out three key words, explains their meaning and, for each of them, finds new quotations from the Bible. Each of these quotations becomes the starting point for a new subdivision, and so on. Among themselves, the quotations must concord. The preacher allegorically explains the chosen point; he illustrates his statements with examples, additionally strengthening their veritableness by different arguments. This expanding of the central theme of the sermon is called amplificatio or dilatatio. The manner in which the theme is to be developed is prescribed by numerous treatises dealing with the structuring of thematic sermons, known as the artes praedicandi.
Marulić's sermon opens with a quotation from Scripture (Matthew 25, 31), which could be called the theme, although he does not treat it in the described, scholastic, dialectic way, but rather freely. The whole text is divided into three parts: in the first he speaks about the events that will precede the Judgement, in the second he describes the arrival of the Judge and the Judgement and in the third the events that will follow the Judge‚s decisions. A closer analysis will show that Marulić carefully organizes the mateć’srial within each of the parts, but he never acts strictly schematically.
The first part is subdivided into two sections: in the first Maruli treats the signs of the Last Judgement, in the second the proves that the end of the world will be in Fire. Here, three particular signs are treated in detail: the persecution of the Christians by the Infidels, the predicament that lawlessness will spread and men‚s love for one another grow cold and the appearance of Antichrist. The persecution of the Christians is shown on the contemporary plan (with the Turks as the persecutors) as well as on the historical plan (the persecutions from the days of Nero till those of Julian the Apostate and later). Even the situation that lawlessness will spread and men‚s love grow cold, is treated in double prospective: the present and the future. The appearance of Antichrist is divided into the birth, the acts and the ruin. Considerable space is dedicated to the discussion on millennialism, in which Marulić takes the side of St. Jerome. That the end of the world will be in Fire, he proves quoting three groups of sources: the prophets, the pagan authors from classical antiquity, biblical visions and revelations.
The second part of the sermon is divided into three sections, treating the Resurrection, the coming of the Judge and the mode of Judgement. Speaking about the Resurrection, Marulić confutes those who deny resurrection, quoting not only the Bible, but also the opinion of the “pagan researchers of the truth”. In the section about the coming of the Judge, the opening quotation of the sermon gets explained and concorded (Matthew 25, 31). In the section on the mode of Judgement quotations from Daniel (Dan. 7, 9-10) are accompanied by accurate allegorical interpretation, after which Marulić works out in detail Matthew 25, 35-36 and its variations (Matthew 25, 38-39; 25, 42-43; 25, 44), demonstrating how those who are charitable to their neighbors win the kingdom of Heaven.
The third part of the sermon is also subdivided into three sections: on Hell and on the punishment of the condemned, on the glory of the blessed and the position of saints (or, on Paradise) and on what will happen to the world after the Judgement. The first two sections are organized in a similar way; first is contemplated the exact place of Hell and of Paradise, then their names and, in the end, the types of punishment and blessedness. The world after the Judgement is shown, in short, as the place in which the original vividness is restored to the elements, while the Heavenly Jerusalem shows up in the sky.
The third part ends with the final prayer, which, at the same time, summarizes the whole text and represents its affective climax.
Marulić's generic competence is evident in some other proceedings characteristic of the thematic sermon, as well. He frequently raises questions and offers answers to theoretic questions (like the nature of Fire in which the world will end). His choice of the biblical books for quotations is in complete accordance with the lists recommended by various artes praedicandi (Gospels, Psalms, Pauline epistles, the Book of Solomon), to which, taking into consideration the nature of his sermon, he added The Prophets and the Revelation. The use of the quotations from the pagan authors with the purpose of proving certain natural truths is another feature characteristic of the thematic sermon. Marulić quotes Heraclitus, Plato, Seneca, Pliny the Elder, Diogenes Laertius and Theopompus.
The comparison between Marulić's structure and that of the classical oration is possible only conditionally and in general terms. Marulić's text partly departs from the thematic model. Yet, it displays few elements of the humanistic, epideictic sermon. The epideictic elements appear mainly in the chapter on the glory of the blessed, in the application of the so called quanto magis formula and in the elaborate style of the sermon, in which Marulić proved his masterly command of the art of classical elocutio and medieval dilatatio, as well as his wish to impress the reader.
It may be concluded that the Sermon on Christ's Last Judgement is a work in which Marulić shows that he is initiated into the demanding, tradition-ridden an complex art of preaching. On one hand, the text shows signals of thematic sermon, pointing to the author‚s undoubted generic awareness. On the other hand, Marulić abandons the rigid scheme of medieval composition. Even if he does not adopt - save in some details - the new model of humanistic sermon, with his departure from the thematic structure he shows a tendency towards modern, Christian humanistic principles, yet avoiding an abrupt break with the medieval heritage. Using the most frequent form of the sermon of his day — the so’called compromise or mixed form — he displays paced synchronicity with the habitual procedures of the time. The fact that on the scale of transitive forms between the fully thematic and the fully epideictic sermon Marulić appears closer to the former kind, comes from his general attitude, which, in other literary genres, makes him more prone to accept the more conservative solutions that are offered in the range of possibilities to his contemporaries and himself.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
9835
URI
Datum izdavanja:
22.4.1994.
Posjeta: 1.778 *