On Christian Doctrine

Chapter 1

Book IV: The Christian Orator

Introduction to On Christian Doctrine By Augustine of Hippo Translated by J.F. Shaw (from the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series, Vol. 2) -- 2 of 192 -- Augustine of Hippo (354–430) stands among the most enduring vo

Chapter 2

1. THERE are certain rules for the interpretation of Scripture which I

think might with great advantage be taught to earnest students of the word, that they may profit not only from reading the works of others who have laid open the secrets of the sacred writings, but also from themselves o

Chapter 3

2. There are some, then, likely to object to this work of mine, because

they have failed to understand the rules here laid down. Others, again, will think that I have spent my labor to no purpose, because, though they understand the rules, yet in their attempts to apply them and to interpret

Chapter 4

3. To reply briefly to all these. To those who do not understand what

is here set down, my answer is, that I am not to be blamed for their want of understanding. It is just as if they were anxious to see the new or the old moon, or some very obscure star, and I should point it out with my

Chapter 5

4. But now as to those who talk vauntingly of Divine Grace, and boast

that they understand and can explain Scripture without the aid of such directions as those I now propose to lay down, and who think, therefore, that what I have undertaken to write is entirely superfluous. I would such p

Chapter 6

5. But if any one thinks that these stories are false, I do not strongly

insist on them. For, as I am dealing with Christians who profess to understand the Scriptures without any directions from man (and if the fact be so, they boast of a real advantage, and one of no ordinary kind), they mus

Chapter 7

6. Let us beware of such dangerous temptations of pride, and let us

rather consider the fact that the Apostle Paul himself, although stricken down and admonished by the voice of God from heaven, was yet sent to a man to receive the sacraments and be admitted into the Church;(2) and that

Chapter 8

7. And we know that the eunuch who was reading Isaiah the prophet,

and did not understand what he read, was not sent by the apostle to an angel, nor was it an angel who explained to him what he did not understand, nor was he inwardly illuminated by the grace of God -- 7 of 192 -- with

Chapter 9

8. In the last place, every one who boasts that he, through divine

illumination, understands the obscurities of Scripture, though not instructed in any rules of interpretation, at the same time believes, and rightly believes, that this power is not his own, in the sense of originating w

Chapter 10

9. He who reads to an audience pronounces aloud the words he sees

before him: he who teaches reading, does it that others may be able to read for themselves. Each, however, communicates to others what he has learnt himself. Just so, the man who explains to an audience the passages of S

Chapter 11

BOOK I

Fundamentals of Christian Doctrine – Things and Signs CONTAINING A GENERAL VIEW OF THE SUBJECTS TREATED IN HOLY SCRIPTURE. CHAP. 1.--THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE DEPENDS ON THE DISCOVERY AND ENUNCIATION OF THE MEANING

Chapter 12

1. THERE are two things on which all interpretation of Scripture

depends: the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning, and the mode of making known the meaning when it is ascertained. We shall treat first of the mode of ascertaining, next of the mode of making known, the meaning;--a g

Chapter 13

2. All instruction is either about things or about signs; but things are

learnt by means of signs. I now use the word "thing" in a strict sense, to signify that which is never employed as a sign of anything else: for example, wood, stone, cattle, and other things of that kind. Not, however, t

Chapter 14

3. There are some things, then, which are to be enjoyed, others which

are to be used, others still which enjoy and use. Those things which are objects of enjoyment make us happy. Those things which are objects of use assist, and (so to speak) support us in our efforts after happiness, so t

Chapter 15

4. For to enjoy a thing is to rest with satisfaction in it for its own

sake. To use, on the other hand, is to employ whatever means are at one's disposal to obtain what one desires, if it is a proper object of desire; for an unlawful use ought rather to be called an abuse. Suppose, then, we

Chapter 16

5. The true objects of enjoyment, then, are the Father and the Son

and the Holy Spirit, who are at the same time the Trinity, one Being, supreme above all, and common to all who enjoy Him, if He is an object, and not rather the cause of all objects, or indeed even if He is the cause of

Chapter 17

6. Have I spoken of God, or uttered His praise, in any worthy way?

Nay, I feel that I have done nothing more than desire to speak; and if I have said anything, it is not what I desired to say. How do I know this, except from the fact that God is unspeakable? But what I have said, if it

Chapter 18

7. For when the one supreme God of gods is thought of, even by those

who believe that there are other gods, and who call them by that name, and worship them as gods, their thought takes the form of an endeavor to reach the conception of a nature, than which nothing more excellent or more

Chapter 19

8. And since all who think about God think of Him as living, they

only can form any conception of Him that is not absurd and unworthy who think of Him as life itself; and, whatever may be the bodily form that has suggested itself to them, recognize that it is by life it lives or does n

Chapter 20

9. Now, no one is so egregiously silly as to ask, "How do you know

that a life of unchangeable wisdom is preferable to one of change?" For that very truth about which he asks, how I know it? is unchangeably fixed in the minds of all men, and presented to their common contemplation. And

Chapter 21

10. Wherefore, since it is our duty fully to enjoy the truth which lives

unchangeably, and since the triune God takes counsel in this truth for the things which He has made, the soul must be purified that it may have power to perceive that light, and to rest in it when it is perceived. And le

Chapter 22

11. But of this we should have been wholly incapable, had not

Wisdom condescended to adapt Himself to our weakness, and to show us a pattern of holy life in the form of our own humanity. Yet, since we when we come to Him do wisely, He when He came to us was considered by proud men

Chapter 23

12. Not then in the sense of traversing space, but because He

appeared to mortal men in the form of mortal flesh, He is said to have come to us. For He came to a place where He had always been, seeing that "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him." But, because men, who

Chapter 24

13. Moreover, as the use of remedies is the way to health, so this

remedy took up sinners to heal and restore them. And just as surgeons, when they bind up wounds, do it not in a slovenly way, but carefully, that there may be a certain degree of neatness in the binding, in addition to i

Chapter 25

14. The belief of the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, and of

His ascension into heaven, has strengthened our faith by adding a great buttress of hope. For it clearly shows how freely He laid down His life for us when He had it in His power thus to take it up again. With what assur

Chapter 26

15. For the Church is His body, as the apostle's teaching shows us;(2)

and it is even called His spouse.(3) His body, then, which has many members, and all performing different functions, He holds together in the bond of unity and love, which is its true health. Moreover He exercises it in

Chapter 27

16. Further, when we are on the way, and that not a way that lies

through space, but through a change of affections, and one which the guilt of our past sins like a hedge of thorns barred against us, what could He, who was willing to lay Himself down as the way by which we should retur

Chapter 28

17. He has given, therefore, the keys to His Church, that whatsoever

it should bind on earth might be bound in heaven, and whatsoever it should loose on earth might be, loosed in heaven;(1) that is to say, that whosoever in the Church should not believe that his sins are remitted, they sh

Chapter 29

18. Furthermore, as there is a kind of death of the soul, which

consists in the putting away of former habits and former ways of life, and which comes through repentance, so also the death of the body consists in the dissolution of the former principle of life. And just as the soul,

Chapter 30

19. Now he whose soul does not die to this world and begin here to be

conformed to the truth, falls when the body dies into a more terrible death, and shall revive, not to change his earthly for a heavenly habitation, but to endure the penalty of his sin. CHAP. 21.--NEITHER BODY NOR SOUL E

Chapter 31

20. Among all these things, then, those only are the true objects of

enjoyment which we have spoken of as eternal and unchangeable. The rest are for use, that we may be able to arrive at the full enjoyment of the former. We, however, who enjoy and use other things are things ourselves. Fo

Chapter 32

21. Neither ought any one to have joy in himself, if you look at the

matter clearly, because no one ought to love even himself for his own sake, but for the sake of Him who is the true object of enjoyment. For a man is never in so good a state as when his whole life is a journey towards t

Chapter 33

22. Those things which are objects of use are not all, however, to be

loved, but those only which are either united with us in a common relation to God, such as a man or an angel, or are so related to us as to need the goodness of God through our instrumentality, such as the body. For assu

Chapter 34

23. Morever, it thinks it has attained something very great if it is able

to lord it over its companions, that is, other men. For it is inherent in the sinful soul to desire above all things, and to claim as due to itself, that which is properly due to God only. Now such love of itself is more

Chapter 35

24. No man, then, hates himself. On this point, indeed, no question

was ever raised by any sect. But neither does any man hate his own body. For the apostle says truly, "No man ever yet hated his own flesh."(3) And when some people say that they would rather be without a body altogether,

Chapter 36

25. Those, on the other hand, who do this in a perverse spirit, make

war upon their own body as if it were a natural enemy. And in this matter they are led astray by a mistaken interpretation of what they read: "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and t

Chapter 37

26. Man, therefore, ought to be taught the due measure of loving,

that is, in what measure he may love himself so as to be of service to himself. For that he does love himself, and does desire to do good to himself, nobody but a fool would doubt. He is to be taught, too, in what measur

Chapter 38

27. Seeing, then, that there is no need of a command that every man

should love himself and his own body,--seeing, that is, that we love ourselves, and what is beneath us but connected with us, through a -- 27 of 192 -- law of nature which has never been violated, and which is common t

Chapter 39

28. Now he is a man of just and holy life who forms an unprejudiced

estimate of things, and keeps his affections also under strict control, so that he neither loves what he ought not to love, nor fails to love what he ought to love, nor loves that more which ought to be loved less, nor l

Chapter 40

29. Further, all men are to be loved equally. But since you cannot do

good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you. For, suppose that you had a great deal of some commodity, and fel

Chapter 41

30. Now of all who can with us enjoy God, we love partly those to

whom we render services, partly those who render services to us, partly those who both help us in our need and in turn are helped by us, partly those upon whom we confer no advantage and from whom we look for none. We ou

Chapter 42

31. There arises further in this connection a question about angels.

For they are happy in the enjoyment of Him whom we long to enjoy; and the more we enjoy Him in this life as through a glass darkly, the more easy do we find it to bear our pilgrimage, and the more eagerly do we long for

Chapter 43

32. And so also the Apostle Paul teaches when he says: "For this,

Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely

Chapter 44

33. But now, if every one to whom we ought to show, or who ought to

show to us, the offices of mercy is by right called a neighbor, it is manifest that the command to love our neighbor embraces the holy angels also, seeing that so great offices of mercy have been performed by them on our

Chapter 45

34. And on this ground, when we say that we enjoy only that which

we love for its own sake, and that nothing is a true object of enjoyment except that which makes us happy, and that all other things are for use, there seems still to be something that requires explanation. For God loves

Chapter 46

35. But neither does He use after our fashion of using. For when we

use objects, we do so with a view to the full enjoyment of the goodness of God. God, however, in His use of us, has reference to His own goodness. For it is because He is good we exist; and so far as we truly exist we ar

Chapter 47

36. For if we find our happiness complete in one another, we stop

short upon the road, and place our hope of happiness in man or angel. Now the proud man and the proud angel arrogate this to themselves, and are glad to have the hope of others fixed upon them. But, on the contrary, the

Chapter 48

37. But when you have joy of a man in God, it is God rather than man

that you enjoy. For you enjoy Him by whom you are made happy, and you rejoice to have come to Him in whose presence you place your hope of joy. And accordingly, Paul says to Philemon, "Yea, brother, let me have joy of th

Chapter 49

38. And mark that even when He who is Himself the Truth and the

Word, by whom all things were made, had been made flesh that He might dwell among us, the apostle yet says: "Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more."(5) For Christ, desir

Chapter 50

39. Of all, then, that has been said since we entered upon the

discussion about things, this is the sam: that we should clearly understand that the fulfillment and the end of the Law, and of all Holy Scripture, is the love of an object which is to be enjoyed, and the love of an obje

Chapter 51

40. Whoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures,

or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as he ought. If, on the other hand, a man draws a meanin

Chapter 52

41. Whoever takes another meaning out of Scripture than the writer

intended, goes astray, but not through any falsehood in Scripture. Nevertheless, as I was going to say, if his mistaken interpretation tends to build up love, which is the end of the commandment, he goes astray in much t

Chapter 53

42. But sight shall displace faith; and hope shall be swallowed up in

that perfect bliss to which we shall come: love, on the other hand, shall wax greater when these others fail. For if we love by faith that which as yet we see not, how much more shall we love it when we begin to see! And

Chapter 54

43. And thus a man who is resting upon faith, hope and love, and

who keeps a firm hold upon these, does not need the Scriptures except for the purpose of instructing others. Accordingly, many live without copies of the Scriptures, even in solitude, on the strength of these three grace

Chapter 55

44. And, therefore, if a man fully understands that "the end of the

commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned,"(3) and is bent upon making all his understanding of Scripture to bear upon these three graces, he -- 39 of 192 -- may come

Chapter 56

1. As when I was writing about things, I introduced the subject with a

warning against attending to anything but what they are in themselves,(1) even though they are signs of something else, so now, -- 40 of 192 -- when I come in its turn to discuss the subject of signs, I lay down this d

Chapter 57

2. Now some signs are natural, others conventional. Natural signs

are those which, apart from any intention or desire of using them as signs, do yet lead to the knowledge of something else, as, for example, smoke when it indicates fire. For it is not from any intention of making it a s

Chapter 58

3. Conventional signs, on the other hand, are those which living

beings mutually exchange for the purpose of showing, as well as they can, the feelings of their minds, or their perceptions, or their thoughts. Nor is there any reason for giving a sign except the desire of drawing forth

Chapter 59

4. Of the signs, then, by which men communicate their thoughts to

one another, some relate to the sense of sight, some to that of hearing, a very few to the other senses. For, when we nod, we give no sign except to the eyes of the man to whom we wish by this sign to impart our desire.

Chapter 60

5. But because words pass away as soon as they strike upon the air,

and last no longer than their sound, men have by means of letters formed signs of words. Thus the sounds of the voice are made visible to the eye, not of course as sounds, but by means of certain signs. It has been found

Chapter 61

6. And hence it happened that even Holy Scripture, which brings a

remedy for the terrible diseases of the human will, being at first set forth in one language, by means of which it could at the fit season be disseminated through the whole world, was interpreted into various tongues, an

Chapter 62

7. But hasty and careless readers are led astray by many and

manifold obscurities and ambiguities, substituting one meaning for another; and in some places they cannot hit upon even a fair interpretation. Some of the expressions are so obscure as to shroud the meaning in the thick

Chapter 63

8. But why I view them with greater delight under that aspect than if

no such figure were drawn from the sacred books, though the fact would remain the same and the knowledge the same, is another question, and one very difficult to answer. Nobody, however, has any doubt about the facts, bo

Chapter 64

9. First of all, then, it is necessary that we should be led by the fear of

God to seek the knowledge of His will, what He commands us to desire and what to avoid. Now this fear will of necessity excite in us the thought of our mortality and of the death that is before us, and crucify all the mo

Chapter 65

10. After these two steps of fear and piety, we come to the third step,

knowledge, of which I have now undertaken to treat. For in this every earnest student of the Holy Scriptures exercises himself, to find nothing else in them but that God is to be loved for His own sake, and our neighbor

Chapter 66

11. And when, to the extent of his power, he has gazed upon this

object shining from afar, and has felt that owing to the weakness of his sight he cannot endure that matchless light, then in the fifth step- -that is, in the counsel of compassion(4)--he cleanses his soul, which is viol

Chapter 67

12. But let us now go back to consider the third step here mentioned,

for it is about it that I have set myself to speak and reason as the Lord shall grant me wisdom. The most skillful interpreter of the sacred writings, then, will be he who in the first place has read them all and retaine

Chapter 68

13. Now the whole canon of Scripture on which we say this judgment

is to be exercised, is contained in the following books:--Five books of Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; one book of Joshua the son of Nun; one of Judges; one short book called Ruth, whic

Chapter 69

14. In all these books those who fear God and are of a meek and

pious disposition seek the will of God. And in pursuing this search the first rule to be observed is, as I said, to know these books, if not yet with the understanding, still to read them so as to commit them to memory,

Chapter 70

15. Now there are two causes which prevent what is written from

being understood: its being vailed either under unknown, or under ambiguous signs. Signs are either proper or figurative. They are called proper when they are used to point out the objects they were designed to point out

Chapter 71

16. The great remedy for ignorance of proper signs is knowledge of

languages. And men who speak the Latin tongue, of whom are those I have undertaken to instruct, need two other languages for the knowledge of Scripture, Hebrew and Greek, that they may have recourse to the original texts

Chapter 72

17. And this circumstance would assist rather than hinder the

understanding of Scripture, if only readers were not careless. For the examination of a number of texts has often thrown light upon some of the more obscure passages; for example, in that passage of the prophet Isaiah,(1

Chapter 73

18. And very often a translator, to whom the meaning is not well

known, is deceived by an ambiguity in the original language, and puts upon the passage a construction that is wholly alien to the sense of the writer. As for example, some texts read: "Their feet are sharp to shed blood;

Chapter 74

19. But since we do not clearly see what the actual thought is which

the several translators endeavor to express, each according to his own ability and judgment, unless we examine it in the language which they translate; and since the translator, if he be not a very learned man, often dep

Chapter 75

20. And men are easily offended in a matter of this kind, just in

proportion as they are weak; and they are weak just in proportion as they wish to seem learned, not in the knowledge of things which tend to edification, but in that of signs, by which it is hard not to be puffed up,(4)

Chapter 76

21. About ambiguous signs, however, I shall speak afterwards. I am

treating at present of unknown signs, of which, as far as the words are concerned, there are two kinds, For either a word or an idiom, of which the reader is ignorant, brings him to a stop. Now if these belong to foreign

Chapter 77

22. Now among translations themselves the Italian (Itala)(1) is to be

preferred to the others, for it keeps closer to the words without prejudice to clearness of expression. And to correct the Latin we must use the Greek versions, among which the authority of the Septuagint is pre-eminent

Chapter 78

23. In the case of figurative signs, again, if ignorance of any of them

should chance to bring the reader to a stand-still, their meaning is to be traced partly by the knowledge of languages, partly by the knowledge of things. The pool of Siloam, for example, where the man whose eyes our Lor

Chapter 79

24. Ignorance of things, too, renders figurative expressions obscure,

as when we do not know the nature of the animals, or minerals, or plants, which are frequently referred to in Scripture by way of comparison. The fact so well known about the serpent, for example, that to protect its hea

Chapter 80

25. Ignorance of numbers, too, prevents us from understanding

things that are set down in Scripture in a figurative and mystical way. A candid mind, if I may so speak, cannot but be anxious, for example, to ascertain what is meant by the fact that Moses and Elijah, and our Lord Him

Chapter 81

26. Not a few things, too, are closed against us and obscured by

ignorance of music. One man, for example, has not unskillfully explained some metaphors from the difference between the psaltery and the harp.(2) And it is a question which it is not out of place for learned men to discu

Chapter 82

27. For we must not listen to the falsities of heathen superstition,

which represent the nine Muses as daughters of Jupiter and Mercury. Varro refutes these, and I doubt whether any one can be found among them more curious or more learned in such matters. He says that a certain state (I d

Chapter 83

28. But whether the fact is as Varro has related, or is not so, still we

ought not to give up music because of the superstition of the heathen, if we can derive anything from it that is of use for the understanding of Holy Scripture; nor does it follow that we must busy ourselves with their t

Chapter 84

29. But to explain more fully this whole topic (for it is one that

cannot be omitted), there are two kinds of knowledge which are in vogue among the heathen. One is the knowledge of things instituted by men, the other of things which they have noted, either as transacted in the past or

Chapter 85

30. All the arrangements made by men for the making and

worshipping of idols are superstitious, pertaining as they do either to the worship of what is created or of some part of it as God, or to consultations and arrangements about signs and leagues with devils, such, for exa

Chapter 86

31. To these we may add thousands of the most frivolous practices,

that are to be observed if any part of the body should jump, or if, when friends are walking arm-in-arm, a stone, or a dog, or a boy, should come between them. And the kicking of a stone, as if it were a divider of frien

Chapter 87

32. Nor can we exclude from this kind of superstition those who were

called genethliaci, on account of their attention to birthdays, but are now commonly called mathematici. For these, too, although they may seek with pains for the true position of the stars at the time of our birth, and

Chapter 88

33. But to desire to predict the characters, the acts, and the fate of

those who are born from such an observation, is a great delusion and great madness. And among those at least who have any sort of acquaintance with matters of this kind (which, indeed, are only fit to be unlearnt again),

Chapter 89

34. Nor is it to the point to say that the very smallest and briefest

moment of time that separates the birth of twins, produces great effects in nature, and in the extremely rapid motion of the heavenly bodies. For, although I may grant that it does produce the greatest effects, yet the a

Chapter 90

35. For in this way it comes to pass that men who lust after evil

things are, by a secret judgment of God, delivered over to be mocked and deceived, as the just reward of their evil desires. For they are deluded and imposed on by the false angels, to whom the lowest part of the world h

Chapter 91

36. All arts of this sort, therefore, are either nullities, or are part of a

guilty superstition, springing out of a baleful fellowship between men and devils, and are to be utterly repudiated and avoided by the Christian as the covenants of a false and treacherous friendship. "Not as if the idol

Chapter 92

37. And all these omens are of force just so far as has been arranged

with the devils by that previous understanding in the mind which is, as it were, the common language, but they are all full of hurtful -- 70 of 192 -- curiosity, torturing anxiety, and deadly slavery. For it was not be

Chapter 93

38. But when all these have been cut away and rooted out of the

mind of the Christian we must then look at human institutions which are not superstitious, that is, such as are not set up in association with devils, but by men in association with one another. For all arrangements that

Chapter 94

39. But in regard to pictures and statues, and other works of this

kind, which are intended as representations of things, nobody makes a mistake, especially if they are executed by skilled artists, but every one, as soon as he sees the likenesses, recognizes the things they are likeness

Chapter 95

40. This whole class of human arrangements, which are of

convenience for the necessary intercourse of life, the Christian is not by any means to neglect, but on the contrary should pay a sufficient degree of attention to them, and keep them in memory. CHAP. 26.--WHAT HUMAN CON

Chapter 96

41. But, coming to the next point, we are not to reckon among human

institutions those things which men nave handed down to us, not as arrangements of their own, but as the result of investigation into the occurrences of the past, and into the arrangements of God's providence. And of the

Chapter 97

42. Anything, then, that we learn from history about the chronology

of past times assists us very much in understanding the Scriptures, even if it be learnt without the pale of the Church as a matter of childish instruction. For we frequently seek information about a variety of matters b

Chapter 98

43. As to the utility of history, moreover, passing over the Greeks,

what a great question our own Ambrose has set at rest! For, when the readers and admirers of Plato dared calumniously to assert that our Lord Jesus Christ learnt all those sayings of His, which they are compelled to admi

Chapter 99

44. And even when in the course of an historical narrative former

institutions of men are described, the history itself is not to be reckoned among human institutions; because things that are past and gone and cannot be undone are to be reckoned as belonging to the course of time, of w

Chapter 100

45. There is also a species of narrative resembling description, in

which not a past but an existing state of things is made known to those who are ignorant of it. To this species belongs all that has been written about the situation of places, and the nature of animals, trees, herbs, st

Chapter 101

46. The knowledge of the stars, again, is not a matter of narration,

but of description. Very few of these, however, are mentioned in Scripture. And as the course of the moon, which is regularly employed in reference to celebrating the anniversary of our Lord's passion, is known to most p

Chapter 102

47. Further, as to the remaining arts, whether those by which

something is made which, when the effort of the workman is over, remains as a result of his work, as, for example, a house, a bench, a dish, and other things of that kind; or those which, so to speak, assist God in His o

Chapter 103

48. There remain those branches of knowledge which pertain not to

the bodily senses, but to the intellect, among which the science of reasoning and that of number are the chief. The science of reasoning is of very great service in searching into and unravelling all sorts of questions t

Chapter 104

49. There are also valid processes of reasoning which lead to false

conclusions, by following out to its logical consequences the error of the man with whom one is arguing; and these conclusions are sometimes drawn by a good and learned man, with the object of making the person from whos

Chapter 105

50. And yet the validity of logical sequences is not a thing devised by

men, but is observed and noted by them that they may be able to learn and teach it; for it exists eternally in the reason of things, and has its origin with God. For as the man who narrates the order of events does not h

Chapter 106

51. In this passage, however, where the argument is about the

resurrection, both the law of the inference is valid, and the conclusion arrived at is true. But in the case of false conclusions, too, there is a validity of inference in some such way as the following. Let us suppose s

Chapter 107

52. Therefore it is one thing to know the laws of inference, and

another to know the truth of opinions. In the former case we learn what is consequent, what is inconsequent, and what is incompatible. An example of a consequent is, "If he is an orator, he is a man;" of an inconsequent,

Chapter 108

53. Again, the science of definition, of division, and of partition,

although it is frequently applied to falsities, is not itself false, nor framed by man's device, but is evolved from the reason of things. For -- 82 of 192 -- although poets have applied it to their fictions, and false

Chapter 109

54. There are also certain rules for a more copious kind of argument,

which is called eloquence, and these rules are not the less true that they can be used for persuading men of what is false; but as they can be used to enforce the truth as well, it is not the faculty itself that is to be

Chapter 110

55. This art, however, when it is learnt, is not to be used so much for

ascertaining the meaning as for setting forth the meaning when it is ascertained. But the art previously spoken of, which deals with inferences, and definitions, and divisions, is of the greatest assistance in the discov

Chapter 111

56. Coming now to the science of number, it is clear to the dullest

apprehension that this was not created by man, but was discovered by investigation. For, though Virgil could at his own pleasure make the first syllable of Italia long, while the ancients pronounced it short, it is not i

Chapter 112

numbers(1) have no half. Whether, then, numbers are considered in

themselves, or as applied to the laws of figures, or of sounds, or of other motions, they have fixed laws which were not made by man, but which the acuteness of ingenious men brought to light. 57. The man, however, who p

Chapter 113

58. Accordingly, I think that it is well to warn studious and able

young men, who fear God and are seeking for happiness of life, not to venture heedlessly upon the pursuit of the branches of learning that are in vogue beyond the pale of the Church of Christ, as if these could secure fo

Chapter 114

59. What, then, some men have done in regard to all words and

names found in Scripture, in the Hebrew, and Syriac, and Egyptian, and other tongues, taking up and interpreting separately such as were left in Scripture without interpretation; and what Eusebius has done in regard to t

Chapter 115

60. Moreover, if those who are called philosophers, and especially

the Platonists, have said aught that is true and in harmony with our faith, we are not only not to shrink from it, but to claim it for our own use from those who have unlawful possession of it. For, as the Egyptians had

Chapter 116

61. And what else have many good and faithful men among our

brethren done? Do we not see with what a quantity of gold and silver and garments Cyprian, that most per suasive teacher and most blessed martyr, was loaded when he came out of Egypt? How much Lactantius brought with him

Chapter 117

62. But when the student of the Holy Scriptures, prepared in the way

I have indicated, shall enter upon his investigations, let him constantly meditate upon that saying of the apostle's, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth."(1) For so he will feel that, whatever may be the riches

Chapter 118

63. But just as poor as the store of gold and silver and garments

which the people of Israel brought with them out of Egypt was in comparison with the riches which they afterwards attained at Jerusalem, and which reached their height in the reign of King Solomon, so poor is all the use

Chapter 119

I. The man who fears God seeks diligently in Holy Scripture for a

knowledge of His will. And when he has become meek through piety, so as to have no love of strife; when furnished also with a knowledge of languages, so as not to be stopped by unknown words and forms of speech, and with

Chapter 120

2. But when proper words make Scripture ambiguous, we must see in

the first place that there is nothing wrong in our punctuation or -- 92 of 192 -- pronunciation. Accordingly, if, when attention is given to the passage, it shall appear to be uncertain in what way it ought to be punct

Chapter 121

3. Now look at some examples. The heretical pointing,(1) "In

principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat,"(2) so as to make the next sentence run, "Verbum hoc erat in principio apud Deum ,"(3) arises out of unwillingness to confess that the Word was God. But this

Chapter 122

4. But the following ambiguity of punctuation does not go against the

faith in either way you take it, and therefore must be decided from the context. It is where the apostle says: "What I shall choose I wot not: for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with C

Chapter 123

5. Where, however, the ambiguity cannot be cleared up, either by the

rule of faith or by the context, there is nothing to hinder us to point the sentence according to any method we choose of those that suggest themselves. As is the case in that passage to the Corinthians: "Having therefor

Chapter 124

6. And all the directions that I have given about ambiguous

punctuations are to be observed likewise in the case of doubtful pronunciations. For these too, unless the fault lies in the carelessness of the reader, are corrected either by the rule of faith, or by a reference to the

Chapter 125

7. There is, again, an ambiguity arising out of the doubtful sound of

syllables; and this of course has relation to pronunciation. For example, in the passage, "My bone [os meum] was not hid from Thee, which Thou didst make in secret,"(7) it is not clear to the reader whether he should tak

Chapter 126

8. And not only these, but also those ambiguities that do not relate

either to punctuation or pronunciation, are to be examined in the same way. For example, that one in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: Propterea consolati sumus fratres in vobis.(10) Now it is doubtful whether fratres [b

Chapter 127

10. This bondage, however, in the case of the Jewish people, differed

widely from what it was in the case of the other nations; because, though the former were in bondage to temporal things, it was in such a way that in all these the One God was put before their minds. And although they pa

Chapter 128

11. Now it is not recorded that any of the Gentile churches did this,

because men who had for their gods idols made with hands had not -- 99 of 192 -- been so near to spiritual things. CHAP. 7.--THE USELESS BONDAGE OF THE GENTILES. And if ever any of them endeavored to make it out that t

Chapter 129

12. Accordingly the liberty that comes by Christ took those whom it

found under bondage to useful signs, and who were (so to speak) near to it, and, interpreting the signs to which they were in bondage, set them free by raising them to the realities of which these were signs. And out of

Chapter 130

13. Now he is in bondage to a sign who uses, or pays homage to, any

significant object without knowing what it signifies: he, on the other hand, who either uses or honors a useful sign divinely appointed, whose force and significance he understands, does not honor the sign which is seen

Chapter 131

14. But in addition to the foregoing rule, which guards us against

taking a metaphorical form of speech as if it were literal, we must also pay heed to that which tells us not to take a literal form of speech as if it were figurative. In the first place, then, we must show the way to fi

Chapter 132

15. But as men are prone to estimate sins, not by reference to their

inherent sinfulness, but rather by reference to their own customs, it frequently happens that a man will think nothing blameable except what the men of his own country and time are accustomed to condemn, and nothing wort

Chapter 133

16. I mean by charity that affection of the mind which aims at the

enjoyment of God for His own sake, and the enjoyment of one's self and one's neighbor in subordination to God; by lust I mean that affection of the mind which aims at enjoying one's self and one's neighbor, and other cor

Chapter 134

17. Every severity, therefore, and apparent cruelty, either in word or

deed, that is ascribed in Holy Scripture to God or His saints, avails to the pulling down of the dominion of lust. And if its meaning be clear, we are not to, give it some secondary reference, as if it were spoken figura

Chapter 135

18. Those things, again, whether only sayings or whether actual

deeds, which appear to the inexperienced to be sinful, and which are ascribed to God, or to men whose holiness is put before us as an example, are wholly figurative, and the hidden kernel of meaning they contain is to be

Chapter 136

19. We must, therefore, consider carefully what is suitable to times

and places and persons, and not rashly charge men with sins. For it is possible that a wise man may use the daintiest food without any sin of epicurism or gluttony, while a fool will crave for the vilest food with a most

Chapter 137

20. Now the saints of ancient times were, under the form of an

earthly kingdom, fore-shadowing and foretelling the kingdom of heaven. And on account of the necessity for a numerous offspring, the custom of one man having several wives was at that time blameless: and for the same rea

Chapter 138

21. Whatever, then, is in accordance with the habits of those with

whom we are either compelled by necessity, or undertake as a matter of duty, to spend this life, is to be turned by good and great men to some prudent or benevolent end, either directly, as is our duty, or figuratively,

Chapter 139

22. But when men unacquainted with other modes of life than their

own meet with the record of such actions, unless they are restrained by authority, they look upon them as sins, and do not consider that their own customs either in regard to marriage, or feasts, or dress, or the other n

Chapter 140

23. The tyranny of lust being thus over-thrown, charity reigns

through its supremlly just laws of love to God for His own sake, and love to one's self and one's neighbor for God's sake. Accordingly, in regard to figurative expressions, a rule such as the following will be observed,

Chapter 141

24. If the sentence is one of command, either forbidding a crime or

vice, or enjoining an act of prudence or benevolence, it is not figurative. If, however, it seems to enjoin a crime or vice, or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence, it is figurative. "Except ye eat the -- 108 of

Chapter 142

25. Again, it often happens that a man who has attained, or thinks he

has attained, to a higher grade of spiritual life, thinks that the -- 109 of 192 -- commands given to those who are still in the lower grades are figurative; for example, if he has embraced a life of celibacy and made

Chapter 143

26. We must also be on our guard against supposing that what in the

Old Testament, making allowance for the condition of those times, is not a crime or a vice even if we take it literally and not figuratively, can be transferred to the present time as a habit of life. For no one will do

Chapter 144

27. For, if it was possible for one man to use many wives with

chastity, it is possible for another to use one wife with lust. And I look with greater approval on the man who uses the fruitfulness of many wives for the sake of an ulterior object, than on the man who enjoys the body

Chapter 145

28. But those who, giving the rein to lust, either wander about

steeping themselves in a multitude of debaucheries, or even in regard to one wife not only exceed the measure necessary for the -- 111 of 192 -- procreation of children, but with the shameless licence of a sort of slav

Chapter 146

29. But these same men might say that it is not right even to honor

and praise good and holy men, because they themselves when they are honored and praised, swell with pride, becoming the more eager for the emptiest sort of distinction the more frequently and the more widely they are blo

Chapter 147

30. For if they had been under the influence of any such passion,

they could never have restrained themselves from implacable hatred towards their sons, by whom they knew that their wives and concubines were solicited and debauched. CHAP. 21.--DAVID NOT LUSTFUL, THOUGH HE FELL INTO ADU

Chapter 148

31. And with what moderation and self-restraint those men used

their wives appears chiefly in this, that when this same king, carried away by the heat of passion and by temporal prosperity, had taken unlawful possession of one woman, whose husband also he ordered to be put to death,

Chapter 149

32. Therefore, although all, or nearly all, the transactions recorded in

the Old Testament are to be taken not literally only, but figuratively -- 114 of 192 -- as well, nevertheless even in the case of those which the reader has taken literally, and which, though the authors of them are pr

Chapter 150

33. And when he reads of the sins of great men, although he may be

able to see and to trace out in them a figure of things to come, let him yet put the literal fact to this use also, to teach him not to dare to vaunt himself in his own good deeds, and in comparison with his own righteou

Chapter 151

34. The chief thing to be inquired into, therefore, in regard to any

expression that we are trying to understand is, whether it is literal or figurative. For when it is ascertained to be figurative, it is easy, by an application of the laws of things which we discussed in the first book,

Chapter 152

35. But as there are many ways in which things show a likeness to

each other, we are not to suppose there is any rule that what a thing signifies by similitude in one place it is to be taken to signify in all other places. For our Lord used leaven both in a bad sense, as when He said,

Chapter 153

36. Now the rule in regard to this variation has two forms. For things

that signify now one thing and now another, signify either things that are contrary, or things that are only different. They signify contraries, for example, when they are used metaphorically at one time in a good sense,

Chapter 154

37. And in the same way other objects are not single in their

signification, but each one of them denotes not two only but sometimes even several different things, according to the connection in which it is found. CHAP. 26.--OBSCURE PASSAGES ARE TO BE INTERPRETED BY THOSE WHICH ARE

Chapter 155

38. When, again, not some one interpretation, but two or more

interpretations are put upon the same words of Scripture, even though the meaning the writer intended remain undiscovered, there is no danger if it can be shown from other passages of Scripture that any of the interpreta

Chapter 156

39. When, however, a meaning is evolved of such a kind that what is

doubtful in it cannot be cleared up by indubitable evidence from Scripture, it remains for us to make it clear by the evidence of reason. But this is a dangerous practice. For it is far safer to walk by the light of Holy

Chapter 157

40. Moreover, I would have learned men to know that the authors of

our Scriptures use all those forms of expression which grammarians call by the Greek name tropes, and use them more freely and in greater variety than people who are unacquainted with the Scriptures, and have learnt thes

Chapter 158

41. It would be tedious to go over all the rest in this way; for the

speech of the vulgar makes use of them all, even of those more curious figures which mean the very opposite of what they say, as for example, those called irony and antiphrasis. Now in irony we indicate by the tone of vo

Chapter 159

42. One Tichonius, who, although a Donatist himself, has written

most triumphantly against the Donatists (and herein showed himself of a most inconsistent disposition, that he was unwilling to give them up altogether), wrote a book which he called the Book of Rules, because in it he l

Chapter 160

43. The author himself, however, when commending these rules,

attributes so much value to them that it would appear as if, when they were thoroughly known and duly applied, we should be able to interpret all the obscure passages in the law--that is, in the sacred books. For he thus

Chapter 161

44. The first is about the Lord His body, and it is this, that, knowing

as we do that the head and the body--that is, Christ and His Church-- are sometimes indicated to us under one person (for it is not in vain that it is said to believers, "Ye then are Abraham's seed,"(1) when there is but

Chapter 162

45. The second rule is about the twofold division of the body of the

Lord; but this indeed is not a suitable name, for that is really no part of the body of Christ which will not be with Him in eternity. We ought, therefore, to say that the rule is about the true and the mixed body of the

Chapter 163

46. The third rule relates to the promises and the law, and may be

designated in other terms as relating to the spirit and the letter, which is the name I made use of when writing a book on this subject. It may be also named, of grace and the law. This, however, seems to me to be a grea

Chapter 164

47. The fourth rule of Tichonius is about species and genus. For so he

calls it, intending that by species should be understood a part, by genus the whole of which that which he calls species is a part: as, for example, every single city is a part of the great society of nations: the -- 12

Chapter 165

48. Now the species is not always overstepped, for things are often

said of such a kind as evidently apply to it also, or perhaps even to it exclusively. But when Scripture, having up to a certain point been speaking about the species, makes a transition at that point from the species to

Chapter 166

49. This spiritual Israel, therefore, is distinguished from the carnal

Israel which is of one nation, by newness of grace, not by nobility of descent, in feeling, not in race; but the prophet, in his depth of meaning, while speaking of the carnal Israel, passes on, without indicating the tr

Chapter 167

50. The fifth rule Tichonius lays down is one he designates of times,--

a rule by which we can frequently discover or conjecture quantities of time which are not expressly mentioned in Scripture. And he says that this rule applies in two ways: either to the figure of speech called synecdoche

Chapter 168

51. In the next place, our author calls those numbers legitimate

which Holy Scriptures more highly favors such as seven, or ten, or twelve, or any of the other numbers which the diligent reader of Scripture soon comes to know. Now numbers of this sort are often means just the same as

Chapter 169

52. The sixth rule Tichonius calls the recapitulation, which, with

sufficient watchfulness, is discovered in difficult parts of Scripture. For certain occurrences are so related, that the narrative appears to be following the order of time, or the continuity of events, when it really go

Chapter 170

53. In the same book, again, when the generations of the sons of

Noah are recounted, it is said: "These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations." (4) And, again, when the sons of Shem are enumerated: "These are -- 131 o

Chapter 171

54. This recapitulation is found in a still more obscure form; as, for

example, our Lord says in the gospel: "The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which s

Chapter 172

55. The seventh rule of Tichonius and the last, is about the devil and

his body. For he is the head of the wicked, who are in a sense his body, and destined to go with him into the punishment of everlasting fire, just as Christ is the head of the Church, which is His body, destined to be wi

Chapter 173

56. Now all these rules, except the one about the promises and the

law, make one meaning to be understood where another is expressed, which is the peculiarity of figurative diction; and this kind of diction, it seems to me, is too widely spread to be comprehended in its full extent by a

Chapter 174

1. THIS work of mine, which is entitled On Christian Doctrine, was at

the commencement divided into two parts. For, after a preface, in which I answered by anticipation those who were likely to take exception to the work, I said, "There are two things on which all interpretation of Scriptu

Chapter 175

2. In the first place, then, I wish by this preamble to put a stop to the

expectations of readers who may think that I am about to lay down rules of rhetoric such as I have learnt and taught too, in the secular -- 135 of 192 -- schools, and to warn them that they need not look for any such f

Chapter 176

3. Now, the art of rhetoric being available for the enforcing either of

truth or falsehood, who will dare to say that truth in the person of its defenders is to take its stand unarmed against falsehood? For example, that those who are trying to persuade men of what is false are to know how t

Chapter 177

4. But the theories and rules on this subject (to which, when you add

a tongue thoroughly skilled by exercise and habit in the use of many -- 136 of 192 -- words and many ornaments of speech, you have what is called eloquence or oratory) may be learnt apart from these writings of mine, i

Chapter 178

5. And, therefore, as infants cannot learn to speak except by learning

words and phrases from those who do speak, why should not men become eloquent without being taught any art of speech, simply by reading and learning the speeches of eloquent men, and by imitating them as far as they can?

Chapter 179

6. It is the duty, then, of the interpreter and teacher of Holy Scripture

the defender of the true faith and the opponent of error, both to teach what is right and to refute what is wrong, and in the performance of this task to conciliate the hostile, to rouse the careless, and to tell the ign

Chapter 180

7. And all the methods I have mentioned are constantly used by

nearly every one in cases where speech is the agency employed. CHAP. 5.--WISDOM OF MORE IMPORTANCE THAN ELOQUENCE TO THE CHRIST!AN TEACHER. But as some men employ these coarsely, inelegantly, and frigidly, while others u

Chapter 181

8. Now it is especially necessary for the man who is bound to speak

wisely, even though he cannot speak eloquently, to retain in memory the words of Scripture. For the more he discerns the poverty of his own speech, the more he ought to draw on the riches of Scripture, so that what he sa

Chapter 182

9. Here, perhaps, some one inquires whether the authors whose

divinely-inspired writings constitute the canon, which carries with it a most wholesome authority, are to be considered wise only, or eloquent as well. A question which to me, and to those who think with me, is very easi

Chapter 183

10. I could, however, if I had time, show those men who cry up their

own form of language as superior to that of our authors (not because of its majesty, but because of its inflation), that all those powers and beauties of eloquence which they make their boast, are to be found in the sacr

Chapter 184

11. For who would not see what the apostle meant to say, and how

wisely he has said it, in the following passage: "We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of

Chapter 185

12. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, again, he refutes certain

false apostles who had gone out from the Jews, and had been trying to injure his character; and being compelled to speak of himself, though he ascribes this as folly to himself, how wisely and how eloquently he speaks! B

Chapter 186

13. Further stilI, the educated man observes that those sections

which the Greeks call kommata, and the clauses and periods of which I spoke a short time ago, being intermingled in the most beautiful variety, make up the whole form and features (so to speak) of that diction by which e

Chapter 187

14. It would be tedious to pursue the matter further, or to point out

the same facts in regard to other passages of Holy Scripture. Suppose i had taken the further trouble, at least in regard to the passages I have quoted from the apostle's writings, to point out figures of -- 146 of 192

Chapter 188

15. But perhaps some one is thinking that I have selected the Apostle

Paul because he is our great orator. For when he says, "Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge, (2) he seems to speak as if granting so much to his detractors, not as confessing that he recognized its truth. If

Chapter 189

16. When, then, this rustic, or quondam rustic prophet, was

denouncing the godless, the proud, the luxurious, and therefore the most neglectful of brotherly love, he called aloud, saying: "Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are heads and

Chapter 190

17. For what is there that sober ears could wish changed in this

speech? In the first place, the invective itself; with what vehemence it throws itself upon the drowsy senses to startle them into wakefulness: "Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of Samaria,

Chapter 191

18. And then the future captivity under an oppressive king is

announced as approaching, when it is added: "Ye that are set apart for the day of evil, and come near to the seat of oppression." Then are subjoined the evils of luxury: "ye that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch yours

Chapter 192

19. Next he reproaches them with their luxury in seeking pleasure for

the sense of hearing. And here, when he had said, "Ye who chant to the sound of the viol," seeing that wise men may practise music wisely, he, with wonderful skill of speech, checks the flow of his invective, and not now

Chapter 193

20. But now as to the sentence which follows all these: "and they

were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Whether this be -- 150 of 192 -- pronounced continuously as one clause, or whether with more elegance we hold the words, "and they were not grieved," suspended on the voi

Chapter 194

21. And a number of other points bearing on the laws of eloquence

could be found in this passage which I have chosen as an example. But an intelligent reader will not be so much instructed by carefully analysing it as kindled by reciting it with spirit. Nor was it composed by man's art

Chapter 195

22. But although I take some examples of eloquence from those

writings of theirs which there is no difficulty in understanding, we are not by any means to suppose that it is our duty to imitate them in those passages where, with a view to exercise and train the minds of their reade

Chapter 196

23. For there are some passages which are not understood in their

proper force, or are understood with great difficulty, at whatever -- 152 of 192 -- length, however clearly, or with whatever eloquence the speaker may expound them; and these should never be brought before the people

Chapter 197

24. Now a strong desire for clearness sometimes leads to neglect of

the more polished forms of speech, and indifference about what sounds well, compared with what dearly expresses and conveys the meaning intended. Whence a certain author, when dealing with speech of this kind, says that

Chapter 198

25. And this must be insisted on as necessary to our being

understood, not only in conversations, whether with one person or with several, but much more in the case of a speech delivered in public: for in conversation any one has the power of asking a question; but when all are

Chapter 199

26. For teaching, of course, true eloquence consists, not in making

people like what they disliked, nor in making them do what they shrank from, but in making clear what was obscure; yet if this be -- 155 of 192 -- done without grace of style, the benefit does not extend beyond the few

Chapter 200

27. Accordingly a great orator has truly said that "an eloquent man

must speak so as to teach, to delight, and to persuade." Then he adds: "To teach is a necessity, to delight is a beauty, to persuade is a triumph."(2) Now of these three, the one first mentioned, the teaching, which is a

Chapter 201

28. If, however, they do not yet know this, they must of course be

instructed before they can be moved. And perhaps the mere knowledge of their duty will have such an effect that there will be no need to move them with greater strength of eloquence. Yet when this is needful, it ought to

Chapter 202

29. But for the sake of those who are so fastidious that they do not

care for truth unless it is put in the form of a pleasing discourse, no small place has been assigned in eloquence to the art of pleasing. And yet even this is not enough for those stubborn-minded men who both understand

Chapter 203

30. And so much labor has been spent by men on the beauty of

expression here spoken of, that not only is it not our duty to do, but it is our duty to shun and abhor, many and heinous deeds of wickedness and baseness which wicked and base men have with great eloquence recommended,

Chapter 204

31. In a serious assembly, moreover, such as is spoken of when it is

said, "I will praise Thee among much people,"(4) no pleasure is derived from that species of eloquence which indeed says nothing that is false, but which buries small and unimportant truths under a frothy mass of ornamen

Chapter 205

32. And so our Christian orator, while he says what is just, and holy,

and good (and he ought never to say anything else), does all he can to be heard with intelligence, with pleasure, and with obedience; and he need and so far as he succeeds, he will succeed more by piety in prayer than by

Chapter 206

33. Now if any one says that we need not direct men how or what

they should teach, since the Holy Spirit makes them teachers, he may as well say that we need not pray, since our Lord says, "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him;"(2) or that the Apostle Pau

Chapter 207

34. He then who, in speaking, aims at enforcing what is good, should

not despise any of those three objects, either to teach, or to give pleasure, or to move, and should pray and strive, as we have said above, to be heard with intelligence, with pleasure, and with ready compliance· And wh

Chapter 208

35. Now the author I have quoted could have exemplified these three

directions, as laid down by himself, in regard to legal questions: he could not, however, have done so in regard to ecclesiastical questions,--the only ones that an address such as I wish to give shape to is concerned wi

Chapter 209

38. And yet, while our teacher ought to speak of great matters, he

ought not always to be speaking of them in a majestic tone, but in a subdued tone when he is teaching, temperately when he is giving praise or blame. When, however, something is to be done, and we are speaking to those w

Chapter 210

39. But now to come to something more definite. We have an

example of the calm, subdued style in the Apostle Paul, where he says: "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons; the one by a bond maid, the other

Chapter 211

40. In the following words of the apostle we have the temperate style:

"Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters."(2) And also in these: "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, t

Chapter 212

41. And, indeed, I must confess that our authors are very defective in

that grace of speech which consists in harmonious endings. Whether this be the fault of the translators, or whether, as I am more inclined to believe, the authors designedly avoided such ornament, I dare not affirm; for

Chapter 213

42. The majestic style of speech differs from the temperate style just

spoken of, chiefly in that it is not so much decked out with verbal ornaments as exalted into vehemence by mental emotion. It uses, indeed, nearly all the ornaments that the other does; but if they do not happen to be at

Chapter 214

43. And in the same way, writing to the Romans, he urges that the

persecutions of treats this subject with both power and beauty: "We know," he says, "that all things work together for good to them that -- 171 of 192 -- love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. F

Chapter 215

44. Again, in writing to the Galatians, although the whole epistle is

written in the subdued style, except at the end, where it rises into a temperate eloquence, yet he interposes one passage of so much feeling that, notwithstanding the absence of any ornaments such as appear in the passag

Chapter 216

45. But these writings of the apostles, though dear, are yet profound,

and are so written that one who is not content with a superficial acquaintance, but desires to know them thoroughly, must not only read and hear them, but must have an expositor. Let us, then, study these various modes o

Chapter 217

46. St. Ambrose also, though dealing with a question of very great

importance, the equality of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, employs the subdued style, because the object he has in view -- 174 of 192 -- demands, not beauty of diction, nor the swaying of the mind by the

Chapter 218

47. An example of the temperate style is the celebrated encomium on

virginity from Cyprian: "Now our discourse addresses itself to the (virgins, who, as they are the objects of higher honor, are also the objects of greater care. These are the flowers on the tree of the Church, the glory

Chapter 219

48. Ambrose also uses the temperate and ornamented style when he

is holding up before virgins who have made their profession a model for their imitation, and says: "She was a virgin not in body only, but also in mind; not mingling the purity of her affection with any dross of hypocris

Chapter 220

49. But I shah select examples of the majestic style from their

treatment of a subject which both of them have touched. Both have denounced the women who color, or rather discolor, their faces with paint. And the first, in dealing with this topic, says: "Suppose a painter should depi

Chapter 221

50. Ambrose again, inveighing against such practices, says: "Hence

arise these incentives to vice, that women, in their fear that they may not prove attractive to men, paint their faces with carefully-chosen colors, and then from stains on their features go on to stains on their chastit

Chapter 222

51. But we are not to suppose that it is against rule to mingle these

various styles: taste. For when we keep monotonously to one style, -- 179 of 192 -- we fail to retain the hearer's attention; but when we pass from one style to another, the discourse goes off more gracefully, even tho

Chapter 223

52. Now it is a matter of importance to determine what style should

be alternated with what other, and the places where it is necessary that any particular style should be used. In the majestic style, for instance, it is always, or almost always, desirable that the introduction should be

Chapter 224

53. If frequent and vehement applause follows a speaker, we are not

to suppose on that account that he is speaking in the majestic style; for this effect is often produced both by the accurate distinctions of the quiet style, and by the beauties of the temperate. The majestic style, on t

Chapter 225

54. The quiet style, too, has made a change in many; but it was to

teach them what they were ignorant of, or to persuade them of what they thought incredible, not to make them do what they knew they ought to do but were unwilling to do. To break down hardness of this sort, speech needs

Chapter 226

55. From all this we may conclude, that the end arrived at by the two

styles last mentioned is the one which it is most essential for those who aspire to speak with wisdom and eloquence to secure. On the other hand, what the temperate style properly aims at, viz., to please by beauty of ex

Chapter 227

55. Now in regard to the three conditions I laid down a little while

ago(1) as necessary to be fulfilled by any one who wishes to speak with wisdom and eloquence, viz. perspicuity, beauty of style, and persuasive power, we are not to understand that these three qualities attach themselves

Chapter 228

57. Eloquence of the temperate style, also, must, in the case of the

Christian orator, be neither altogether without ornament, nor unsuitably adorned, nor is it to make the giving of pleasure its sole aim, which is all it professes to accomplish in the hands of others; but in its encomium

Chapter 229

58. Again, when it becomes necessary to stir and sway the hearers

mind by the maestic style (and this is always necessary when he admits that what you say is both true and agreeable, and yet is unwilling to act accordingly), you must, of course, speak in the majestic style. but who can

Chapter 230

59. But whatever may be the majesty of the style, the life of the

speaker will count for more in securing the hearer's compliance. The man who speaks wisely and eloquently, but lives wickedly, may, it is true, instruct many who are anxious to learn; though, as it is written, he "is unp

Chapter 231

60. Now these men do good to many by preaching what they

themselves do not perform; but they would do good to very many more if they lived as they preach. For there are numbers who seek an excuse for their own evil lives in comparing the teaching with the conduct of their inst

Chapter 232

61. Such a teacher as is here described may, to secure compliance,

speak not only quietly and temperately, but even vehemently, without any breach of modesty, because his life protects him against contempt. For while he pursues an upright life, he takes care to maintain a good reputatio

Chapter 233

63. There are, indeed, some men who have a good delivery, but

cannot compose anything to deliver. Now, if such men take what has been written with wisdom and eloquence by others, and commit it to memory, and deliver it to the people, they cannot be blamed, -- 188 of 192 -- suppos

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63. But whether a man is going to address the people or to dictate

what others will deliver or read to the people, he ought to pray God to put into his mouth a suitable discourse. For if Queen Esther prayed, when she was about to speak to the king touching the temporal welfare of her ra

Chapter 235

64. This book has extended to a greater length than I expected or

desired. But the reader or hearer who finds pleasure in it will pot think it long. He who thinks it long, but is anxious to know its contents, may read it in parts. He who does not care to be acquainted with it need not