Morals on the Book of Job, Volume 3, Part 1 by Pope Gregory I

Of the six parts of the Moralia, part / volume 3 is closest to the oral version transcribed by notaries during conferences he gave to monks and clerics in Constantinople. Gregory offers timeless insights into life, but in a dense, theological style that requires repeated readings. This book brings maximum profits when read slowly and patiently. Besides of course being of interest to patristic scholars and exegetes of the book of Job, it has utility for the reader who practices lectio divina, the holistic and prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture.

Volume 3 is similar to Volumes 1 and 2, which I reviewed on May 9, 2016. The reader used to strict literalness will have to adjust to Gregory’s creative use of the Scripture that mirrored the rabbinic as well as Christian expository style of this period. The method of exposition is obviously much different than styles used today, but for the serious reader it is a goldmine of reflections on life, primarily from a moral perspective.Įssentially Gregory takes each line of the book of Job and reads it in the context of other biblical texts, often citing them, and explains what the verse means, using contemporary applications.

This work is obviously a labor of love.Īlong with Gregory’s other famous works, “Pastoral Care” and the Dialogues (which recount the lives and miracles of Italian saints of the patristic period), the Moralia has retained interest down through the ages. The translator is Brother Brian Kerns, who has lived primarily at the Abbey at Gethsemani in Kentucky, and at the Abbey of the Genesee in New York. Cistercian Press continues their unearthing of a spiritual classic with the publication in 2016 of Volume 3 of Gregory the Great’s “Moral Reflections on the Book of Job.”

Morals on the Book of Job, Volume 3, Part 1 by Pope Gregory I