released 6/27/2025

On April 25, 2022, moral philosopher Oliver O’Donovan gave that year’s Saint Augustine Lecture at Villanova University. In this lecture, O’Donovan offers a close reading of St. Augustine’s treatment of the “great psalm,” Psalm 119 (Psalm 118 in the Septuagint) — a psalm great both in terms of its length and its theological complexity. O’Donovan compares Augustine’s interpretation of the psalm with that of others, particularly Origen and Ambrose, revealing Augustine’s more nuanced understanding of the complexities of the life of faith that the psalmist explores. The title of the lecture is “Augustine’s Treatment of the Great Psalm.”

This lecture is provided courtesy of Villanova University. A video of this lecture, which includes the question-and-answer session following the talk, is available here.

64 minutes

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