MY BELOVED IS MINE AND I AM HIS: SELF-KNOWLEDGE IN THE ...

direct links between the two. 52 It is perhaps for this reason that a systematic study of
Augustine’s influence on the Cistercian has not been undertaken, though some efforts
have been made to trace Bernard’s use of Augustine on particular theological topics. 53 As
regards Bernard’s indebtedness to Augustine on the subject of self-knowledge, we can
derive some initial indications from two remarks of Augustine’s that Bernard explicitly
quotes and makes essential principles of his doctrine.
The first is Augustine’s definition of superbia or pride as amor propriae
excellentiae, or the love of one’s own superiority – a definition Bernard deploys to great
effect in his On the Steps of Humility and Pride. 54 If indeed Bernard is quoting this
definition directly from the writings of Augustine, and not simply as a well-known phrase
abstracted from its original context, he may have drawn it either from On the Literal
Meaning of Genesis or Sermon 354. In Book XI of the former, Augustine is engaged in a
study of Genesis 3, and in the midst of reflecting on the primordial sins of Satan, Adam
and Eve, writes, “pride is the love of one’s own superiority.” 55 Even a cursory glance at
the surrounding context makes it immediately clear that Bernard is greatly indebted to
Augustine’s discussion here, both in his Steps and in his doctrine of self-knowledge more
broadly, in ways that extend far beyond the simple use of Augustine’s definition of pride.
Songs, 47.
52 Casey, Athirst for God: Spiritual Desire in Bernard of Clairvaux’s Sermons on the Song of
53 See, for example, Aage Rydstrøm-Poulsen, “The Augustinian Bernard of Clairvaux: A Reading
of De Gratia et libero arbitrio,” in Truth as Gift: Studies in Medieval Cistercian History in Honor of John
R. Sommerfeldt, eds. Marsha L. Dutton, Daniel M. La Corte, and Paul Lockey, Cistercian Studies 204
(Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2004), 301-319; Daniel G. Griggs, “Augustine’s Influence on
Bernard of Clairvaux’s Teaching on Memory,” Cistercian Studies Quarterly 32:4 (1997): 475-485.
54 Bernard quotes Augustine’s definition in Hum 14 (III, 27). He offers a similar definition,
superbia est appetitus propriae excellentiae, in Mor 19 (VII, 115).
55 De Genesi ad litteram X.14.18 (CSEL 28.1:346): “superbia sit amor excellentiae propriae.”
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