 Section 0, Preface of On Christian Doctrine This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Phil Chenevere, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On Christian Doctrine by Augustine of Hippo, translated by J. F. Shaw, Section 0, Preface, showing that to teach rules for the interpretation of scripture is not a superfluous task. There are certain rules for the interpretation of scripture, which I think might with great advantage be taught to earn a 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 opening such secrets to others. These rules I propose to teach to those who are able and willing to learn if God our Lord do not withhold from me while I write the thoughts he is want to vouch safe to me in my meditations on this subject. But before I enter upon this undertaking, I think it well to meet the objections of those who are likely to take exception to the work, or who would do so did I not conciliate them beforehand, and if, after all, men should still be found to make objections, yet at least they will not prevail with others over whom they might have influence did they not find themselves forearmed against their assaults to turn them back from a useful study to the dull sloth of ignorance. 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 scripture by them, they have failed to clear up the point they wish cleared up. And these, because they have received no assistance from this work themselves, will give it as their opinion that it can be of no use to anybody. There is a third class of objectors who either really do understand scripture well, or think they do, and who, because they know, or imagine, that they have attained a certain power of interpreting the sacred books without reading any directions of the kind that I propose to lay down here, will cry out that such rules are not necessary for anyone but that everything rightly done towards clearing up the obscurities of scripture could be better done by the unassisted grace of God. 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 finger. If they had not sight enough to see even my finger, they would surely have no right to fly into a passion with me on that account. As for those who, even though they know and understand my directions, fail to penetrate the meaning of obscure passages in scripture, they may stand for those who, in the case I have imagined, are just able to see my finger but cannot see the star at which it is pointed. And so both these classes had better give up blaming me and pray instead that God would grant them the sight of their eyes. For though I can move my finger to point out an object, it is out of my power to open men's eyes that they may see either the fact that I am pointing or the object at which I point. 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 persons could calm themselves so far as to remember that, however justly they may rejoice in God's great gift, yet it was from human teachers they themselves learned to read. Now they would hardly think it right that they should for that reason be held in contempt by the Egyptian monk Antony, a just and holy man, who, not being able to read himself, is said to have committed the scriptures to memory through hearing them read by others, and by dint of wise meditation to have arrived at a thorough understanding of them, or by that barbarian slave, Christianus, of whom I have lately heard from very respectable and trustworthy witnesses, who, without any teaching from man, attained a full knowledge of the art of reading simply through prayer that it might be revealed to him. After three days of supplication, obtaining his request that he might read through a book presented to him on the spot by the astonished bystanders. But if anyone 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 must surely grant that every one of us learnt his own language by hearing it constantly from childhood, and that any other language we have learnt, Greek or Hebrew or any of the rest, we have learnt either in the same way by hearing it spoken or from a human teacher. Now then, suppose we advise all our brethren not to teach their children any of these things, because on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the apostles immediately began to speak the language of every race, and warn every one who has not had a like experience that he need not consider himself a Christian, or may at least doubt whether he has yet received the Holy Spirit. No, no, rather, let us put away false pride, and learn whatever can be learnt from man, and let him who teaches another communicate what he has himself received without arrogance and without jealousy. And do not let us tempt him in whom we have believed, lest, being ensnared by such wiles of the enemy and by our own perversity, we may even refuse to go to the churches to hear the gospel itself, or to read a book or to listen to another reading or preaching in the hope that we shall be carried up to the third heaven, whether in the body or out of the body, as the apostle says, and there hear unspeakable words, such as it is not lawful for man to utter, or see the Lord Jesus Christ and hear the gospel from his own lips rather than from those of men. 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. And that Cornelius the centurion, although an angel announced to him that his prayers were heard and his arms had in remembrance, was yet handed over to Peter for instruction, and not only received the sacraments from the apostles' hands, but was also instructed by him in the proper objects of faith, hope, and love. And without doubt it was possible to have done everything through the instrumentality of angels, but the condition of our race would have been much more degraded if God had not chosen to make use of men as the ministers of his word to their fellow men. For how could that be true which is written? The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are? If God gave forth no oracles from his human temple, but communicated everything that he wished to be taught to men by voices from heaven, or through the administration of angels. Moreover, love itself, which binds men together in the bond of unity, would have no means of pouring soul into soul, and as it were, mingling them one with another, if men never learnt anything from their fellow men. 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 without the interposition of man. On the contrary, at the suggestion of God, Philip, who did understand the prophet, came to him and sat with him, and in human words and with a human tongue opened to him the scriptures. Did not God talk with Moses, and yet he, with great wisdom and entire absence of jealous pride, accepted the plan of his father-in-law, a man of an alien race, for ruling and administering the affairs of the great nation entrusted to him? For Moses knew that a wise plan, in whatever mind it might originate, was to be ascribed not to the man who devised it, but to him who is the truth, the unchangeable God. In the last place, every one who boasts that he, through divine illumination, understands the obscurity 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 with himself, but is the gift of God. For so he seeks God's glory not his own, but reading and understanding as he does without the aid of any human interpreter, why does he himself undertake to interpret for others? Why does he not rather send them direct to God, that they too may learn by the inward teaching of the Spirit without the help of man? The truth is, he fears to incur the reproach, thou wicked and slothful servant, thou autist to have put my money to the exchangers. Know then that these men teach others, either through speech or writing, what they understand. Surely they cannot blame me, if I likewise teach not only what they understand, but also the rules of interpretation they follow. For no one ought to consider anything as his own, except perhaps what is false. All truth is of him who says, I am the truth. For what have we that we did not receive? And if we have received it, why do we glory as if we had not received it? 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 Scripture he understands is like one who reads aloud the words before him. On the other hand, the man who lays down rules for interpretation is like one who teaches reading, that is, shows others how to read for themselves. So that just as he who knows how to read is not dependent on someone else when he finds a book to tell him what is written in it, so the man who is in possession of the rules which I here attempt to lay down, if he meet with an obscure passage in the books which he reads, will not need an interpreter to lay open the secret to him, but holding fast by certain rules and following up certain indications will arrive at the hidden sense without any error or at least without falling into any gross absurdity. And so it will sufficiently appear in the course of the work itself that no one can justly object to this understanding of mine which has no other object than to be of service, yet as it seems convenient to reply the outset to any who might make preliminary objections, such is the start I have thought good to make on the road I am about to traverse in this book. End of preface. Section 1 of On Christian Doctrine. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. On Christian Doctrine by Augustine of Hippo, translated by J. F. Shaw. Section 1. Book First. Containing a general view of the subjects treated in Holy Scripture. Argument. The author divides his work into two parts, one relating to the discovery, the other to the expression of the true sense of Scripture. He shows that to discover the meaning we must attend both to things and to signs, as it is necessary to know what things we ought to teach to the Christian people, and also the signs of these things, that is, where the knowledge of these things is to be sought. In this first book he treats of things which he divides into three classes, things to be enjoyed, things to be used, and things which use and enjoy. The only object which ought to be enjoyed is the triune God, who is our highest good and our true happiness. We are prevented by our sins from enjoying God, and that our sins might be taken away the word was made flesh. Our Lord suffered and died and rose again, and ascended into heaven, taking to himself as his bride the church, in which we receive remission of our sins. And if our sins are remitted and our souls renewed by grace, we may await with hope the resurrection of the body to eternal glory. If not, we shall be raised to everlasting punishment. These matters relating to faith having been expounded, the author goes on to show that all objects except God are for use, for those some of them may be loved, yet our love is not to rest in them, but to have reference to God. And we ourselves are not objects of enjoyment to God. He uses us, but for our own advantage. He then goes on to show that love, the love of God for his own sake, and the love of our neighbour for God's sake, is the fulfilment and the end of all scripture. After adding a few words about hope, he shows, in conclusion, that faith, hope, and love are graces essentially necessary for him who would understand and explain a right the holy scriptures. Chapter 1 The interpretation of scripture depends on the discovery and enunciation of the meaning, and is to be undertaken in dependence on God's aid. 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 great and arduous undertaking, and one that, if difficult to carry out, it is, I fear presumptuous to enter upon, and presumptuous it would undoubtedly be if I were counting on my own strength. But since my hope of accomplishing the work rests on him who has already supplied me with many thoughts on this subject, I do not fear but that he will go on to supply what is yet wanting when once I have begun to use what he has already given. For a possession which is not diminished by being shared with others, if it is possessed and not shared, is not yet possessed as it ought to be possessed. The Lord saith, whosoever hath to him shall be given. He will give then to those who have, that is to say, if they use freely and cheerfully what they have received, he will add to and perfect his gifts. The loaves in the miracle were only five and seven in number before the disciples began to divide them among the hungry people. But when once they began to distribute them, though the wants of so many thousands were satisfied, they filled baskets with the fragments that were left. Now just as that bread increased in the very act of breaking it, so those thoughts which the Lord has already vouchsafed to me, with a view to undertaking this work, will as soon as I begin to impart them to others be multiplied by his grace, so that in this very work of distribution in which I have engaged, so far from incurring loss and poverty, I shall be made to rejoice in a marvellous increase of wealth. What a thing is, and what a sign. All instruction is either about things or about signs, but things are learned 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, the wood which we read Moses cast into the bitter waters to make them sweet, nor the stone which Jacob used as a pillow, nor the ram which Abraham offered up instead of his son. For these, though, they are things, are also signs of other things. They are signs of another kind, those which are never employed except as signs, for example words. No one uses words except as signs of something else, and hence may be understood what I call signs, those things to wit which are used to indicate something else. Accordingly, every sign is also a thing, for what is not a thing is nothing at all. Every thing, however, is not also a sign, and so, in regard to this distinction between things and signs, I shall, when I speak of things, speak in such a way that even if some of them may be used as signs also, that will not interfere with the division of the subject, according to which I am to discuss things first and signs afterwards. But we must carefully remember that what we have now to consider about things is what they are in themselves, not what other things they are signs of. Chapter 3 Some things are for use, some for enjoyment. 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 that we can attain the things that make us happy and rest in them. We ourselves, again, who enjoy and use these things, being placed among both kinds of objects, if we set ourselves to enjoy those which we ought to use, are hindered in our course, and sometimes even led away from it, so that, getting entangled in the love of lower gratifications, we lag behind in, or even altogether turn back from, the pursuit of the real and proper objects of enjoyment. Chapter 4 Difference of use and enjoyment. 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 unabuse. Suppose, then, we were wanderers in a strange country, and could not live happily away from our fatherland, and that we felt wretched in our wandering, and wishing to put an end to our misery determined to return home. We find, however, that we must make use of some mode of conveyance, either by land or water in order to reach that fatherland, where our enjoyment is to commence. But the beauty of the country through which we pass, and the very pleasure of the motion charm our hearts, and turning these things which we ought to use into objects of enjoyment, we become unwilling to hasten the end of our journey, and becoming engrossed in effectitious delight, our thoughts are diverted from that home whose delights would make us truly happy. Such is a picture of our condition in this life of mortality. We have wandered far from God, and if we wish to return to our father's home, this world must be used, not enjoyed, so that the invisible things of God may be clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. That is, that by means of what is material and temporary, we may lay hold upon that which is spiritual and eternal. Chapter 5 The Trinity, The True Object of Enjoyment 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 all, for it is not easy to find a name that will suitably express so great excellence, unless it is better to speak in this way. The Trinity, one God, of whom are all things, through whom are all things, in whom are all things. Thus the father, and the son, and the Holy Spirit, and each of these by himself is God, and at the same time they are all one God, and each of them by himself is a complete substance, and yet they are all one substance. The father is not the son, nor the Holy Spirit. The son is not the father, nor the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the father, nor the son. But the father is only father, the son is only son, and the Holy Spirit is only Holy Spirit. To all three belong the same eternity, the same unchangeable illness, the same majesty, the same power. In the father is unity, in the son equality. In the Holy Spirit the harmony of unity and equality. And these three attributes are all one because of the father, all equal because of the son, and all harmonious because of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 6 In what sense God is ineffable. Have I spoken of God, or uttered his praise, in any worthy way? May I feel that I have done nothing more than desire to speak, and if I have said anything it is not what I desire to say. How do I know this except from the fact that God is unspeakable? But what I have said if it had been unspeakable could not have been spoken, and so God is not even to be called unspeakable, because to say even this is to speak of him. Thus there arises a curious contradiction of words, because if the unspeakable is what cannot be spoken of, it is not unspeakable if it can be called unspeakable. And this opposition of words is rather to be avoided by silence than to be explained away by speech. And yet God, although nothing worthy of his greatness can be said of him, has condescended to accept the worship of men's mouths, and has desired us through the medium of our own words to rejoice in his praise. For on this principle it is that he is called deus, God. For the sound of those two syllables in itself conveys no true knowledge of his nature, but yet all who know the Latin tongue are led, when that sound reaches their ears, to think of a nature supreme in excellence and eternal in existence. CHAPTER VII What all men understand by their term God. 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 exalted exists. And since men are moved by different kinds of pleasures, partly by those which pertain to the bodily senses, partly by those which pertain to the intellect and soul, those of them who are in bondage to sense think that either the heavens or what appears to be most brilliant in the heavens, or the universe itself is God of gods, or if they try to get beyond the universe, they picture to themselves something of dazzling brightness and think of it vaguely as infinite, or of the most beautiful form conceivable, or they represent it in the form of the human body if they think that superior to all others, or if they think that there is no one God supreme above the rest, but that there are many or even innumerable gods of equal rank, still these two they conceive as possessed of shape and form according to what each man thinks the pattern of excellence. Those on the other hand who endeavor by an effort of the intelligence to reach a conception of God, place him above all visible and bodily natures, and even above all intelligent and spiritual natures that are subject to change, all however strive emulously to exalt the excellence of God, nor could anyone be found to believe that any being to whom there exists a superior is God, and so all concurrent believing that God is that which excels in dignity all other objects. Chapter 8, God to be esteemed above all else because he is unchangeable wisdom, and since all who think about God think of him as living, they only conform 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 not live, and prefer what is living to what is dead, who understand that the living bodily form itself, however it may outshine all others in splendor, overtop them in size and excel them in beauty, is quite a distinct thing from the life by which it is quickened, and who look upon the life as incomparably superior in dignity and worth to the mass which is quickened and animated by it. Then when they go on to look into the nature of the life itself, if they find it mere nutritive life without sensibility such as that of plants, they consider it inferior to sentient life such as that of cattle, and above this again they place intelligent life such as that of men, and perceiving that even this is subject to change, they are compelled to place above it again that unchangeable life, which is not at one time foolish at another time wise, but on the contrary is wisdom itself. For a wise intelligence, that is one that has attained to wisdom, was previous to its attaining wisdom unwise, but wisdom itself never was unwise, and never can become so, and if men never caught sight of this wisdom, they could never with entire confidence prefer a life which is unchangeably wise to one that is subject to change. This will be evident if we consider that the very rule of truth by which they affirm the unchangeable life to be the more excellent is itself unchangeable, and they cannot find such a rule except by going beyond their own nature, for they find nothing in themselves that is not subject to change. Chapter 9. All acknowledge the superiority of unchangeable wisdom to that which is variable. 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 the man who does not see it is like a blind man in the sun, whom it profits nothing that the splendour of its light so clear and so near is poured into his very eyeballs. The man on the other hand who sees but shrinks from this truth is weak in his mental vision from dwelling long among the shadows of the flesh. And thus men are driven back from their native land by the contrary blasts of evil habits, and pursue lower and less valuable objects in preference to that which they own to be more excellent and more worthy. End of Section 1. Section 2 of On Christian Doctrine. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, auto-volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Rachel Pinto. On Christian Doctrine by Augustine of Hippo translated by J.F. Shaw. Section 2. Chapter 10. To see God the soul must be purified. 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 let us look upon this purification as a kind of journey or voyage to our native land, for it is not by change of place that we can come nearer to him who is in every place, but by the cultivation of pure desires and virtuous habits. Chapter 11. Wisdom Becoming Incarnate. A Pattern to Us of Purification. 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 to have done very foolishly, and since we, when we come to him, become strong, he, when he came to us, was looked upon as weak. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. And thus, though wisdom was himself our home, he made himself also the way by which we should reach our home. Chapter 12. In what sense the wisdom of God came to us? And though he is everywhere present to the inner eye when it is sound and clear, he condescended to make himself manifest to the outward eye of those whose inward sight is weak and dim. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief. 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 in their eagerness to enjoy the creature instead of the Creator, had grown into the likeness of this world, and are therefore most appropriately named the world, did not recognize him, therefore the evangelist says, and the world knew him not. Thus in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Why then did he come, seeing that he was already here, except that it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief? Chapter 13. The world was made flesh. In what way did he come but this? The world was made flesh and dwelt among us. Just as when we speak, in order that what we have in our minds may enter through the year into the mind of the Euro, the world which we have in our hearts becomes an outward sound and is called speech. And yet our thought does not lose itself in the sound, but remains complete in itself and takes the form of speech without being modified in its own nature by the change. So the divine world, though suffering no change of nature, yet became flesh that he might dwell among us. Chapter 14. How the wisdom of God healed man. 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 needness in the binding, in addition to its mere usefulness. So our medicine wisdom, was by his assumption of humanity, adapted to our wounds, curing some of them by their opposites, some of them by their likes. And just as he who ministers to a bodily hurt in some cases applies contrary, as gold to hot, moist to dry, etc. And in other cases applies likes as a round cloth to a round wound, or an a blonde cloth to an a blonde wound, and does not fit the same bandage to all limbs, but puts like the like. In the same way, the wisdom of God and healing man has applied himself to his cure, being himself healer in medicine, both in one. Seeing then that man fell through pride, he restored him through humility. We were ensnared by the wisdom of the serpent. We are set free by the foolishness of God. Moreover, just as the former was called wisdom, but was in reality the folly of those who despised God. So the latter is called foolishness, but is true wisdom in those who overcome the devil. We used our immortality so badly as to incur the penalty of death. Christ used his mortality so well as to restore us to life. The disease was brought in through a woman's corrupted soul. The remedy came through a woman's virgin body. To the same class of opposite remedies, it belongs that our vices are cured by the example of his virtues. On the other hand, the following are as it were bandages made in the same shape as limbs and wounds to which they are applied. He was born of a woman to deliver us who fell through a woman. He came as a man to save us who were men, as a mortal to save us who are mortals, by death to save us who were dead. And those who can follow out the matter more fully, who are not hurried on by the necessity of carrying out a set undertaking, will find many other points of instruction in considering the remedies where the opposites are likes employed in the medicine of Christianity. Chapter 15. Faith is buttressed by the resurrection and ascension of Christ and is stimulated by his coming to judgment. 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 lay down his life for us when he had it in his power thus to take it up again. With what assurance then is the hope of believers animated when they reflect how great he was who suffered so great things for them while they were still in unbelief. And when men look for him to come from heaven as the judge of quick and dead, it strikes great error into the careless so that they betake themselves to diligent preparation and learn by holy living to long for his approach instead of quaking at it on account of their evil deeds. And what tongue can tell or what imagination can conceive the reward he will bestow at the last when we consider that for our own comfort in this earthly journey he has given us so freely of his spirit that in the adversities of this life we may retain our confidence in and love for him whom as yet we see not and that he has also given to each gift suitable for the building up of his church that we may do what he points out as right to be done not only without a mama but even with delight. Chapter 16 Christ purchases church by medicinal afflictions. For the church is his body as the apostle teaching shows us and it is even called his spouse. 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 the present time and purges it with many wholesome afflictions that when he has transplanted it from this world to the eternal world he may take it to himself as his bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Chapter 17 Christ by forgiving our sins opened the way to our home. 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 is a girl of our past sins like a hedge of thorns barred against us what could he who was willing to lay himself down as a way by which we should return do that would be still gracious and more merciful except to forgive us all our sins and by being crucified for us to remove the stern decrees that barred the door against our return. Chapter 18 the keys given to the church. He is given therefore the keys to his church that whatsoever it should bind on earth might be bound in heaven that whatsoever it should loose on earth might be loosed in heaven that is to say that whosoever in the church should not believe that his sins are remitted they should not be remitted to him but that whosoever should believe and should repent and turn from his sins should be saved by the same faith and repentance on the ground of which he is received into the bosom of the church for he who does not believe that his sins can be pardoned falls into despair and becomes worse as if no greater good remain for him than to be evil when he has ceased to have faith in the results of his own repentance. Chapter 19 bodily and spiritual death and resurrection. 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 a soul after it has put away and destroyed by repentance its former habits is created anew after a better pattern so we must hope and believe that the body after that death which we all owe as a debt contracted through sin shall at the resurrection be changed into a better form not that flesh and blood shall inherit the kingdom of god for that is impossible but that this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality and thus the body being the source of no uneasiness because it can feel no want shall be animated by a spirit perfectly pure and happy and shall enjoy unbroken peace. Chapter 20 the resurrection to damnation now he who is sold 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. Chapter 21 neither body nor soul extinguished at death and so faith clings to the assurance and we must believe that it is so in fact that neither the human soul nor the human body suffers complete extinction but that the wicked rise again to endure inconceivable punishment and the good to receive eternal life. Chapter 22 God alone to be enjoyed among all these things then those only are the true objects of enjoyment which we have spoken of as eternal and unchangeable the rest of her 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 for a great thing truly is man made after the image and similitude of God not as respects the mortal body in which he is clothed but as respects the rational soul by which he is exalted in honor above the beasts and so it becomes an important question whether man ought to enjoy or to use themselves or to do both for we are commanded to love one another but it is a question whether man is to be loved by man for his own sake or for the sake of something else if it is for his own sake we enjoy him if it is for the sake of something else we use him it seems to me then that he's to be loved for the sake of something else for if a thing is to be loved for its own sake then in the enjoyment of it consists a happy life the hope of which at least if not yet the reality is our comfort in the present time but a curse is pronounced on him who places his hope in man neither ought anyone 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 a true object of enjoyment for a man is never in so good a state as when his whole life is a journey towards the unchangeable life and his affections are entirely fixed upon that if however he loves himself for his own sake he doesn't look at himself in relation to God but turns his mind in upon himself and so is not occupied with anything that is unchangeable and thus he does not enjoy himself at its best because he is better when his mind is fully fixed upon and his affections wrapped up in the unchangeable good than when he turns from that to enjoy even himself wherefore if you ought not love even yourself for your own sake but for his in whom your love finds its most worthy object no other man has a right to be angry if you love him too for god's sake for this is a law of love that has been laid down by the divine authority thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but thou shalt love god with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind so that you are to concentrate all your thoughts your whole life and your whole intelligence upon him from whom you derive all that you bring for when he says with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind he means that no part of a life is to be unoccupied and to afford room as it were for the wish to enjoy some other object but that whatever else may suggest itself to us as an object worthy of love is to be born into the same channel in which the whole current of our affections flows whoever then loves his neighbor a right or to urge upon him that he too should love god with his whole heart and soul and mind from this way loving his neighbor as himself or man turns the whole current of his love both for himself and his neighbor into the channel of the love of god which suffers no stream to be drawn off from itself by whose diversion its own volume would be diminished end of section 2 recording by Richard Bindo junction to love himself and his own body 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 assuredly the martyrs did not love the wickedness of their persecutors although they used it to attain the favor of god as then there are four kinds of things that are to be loved first that which is above us second ourselves third that which is on a level with us fourth that which is beneath us no precepts need to be given about the second and fourth of these for however far a man may fall away from the truth he still continues to love himself and to love his own body the soul which flies away from the unchangeable light the ruler of all things does so that it may rule over itself and over its own body and so it cannot but love both itself and its own body moreover 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 correctly called hate for it is not just that it should desire what is beneath it to be obedient to it while itself will not obey its own superior and most justly has it been said he who loveth iniquity hateeth his own soul and accordingly the soul becomes weak and injures much suffering about the mortal body for of course it must love the body and be grieved at its corruption and the immortality and incorruptibility of the body spring out of the health of the soul now the health of the soul is to cling steadfastly to the better part that is to the unchangeable god but when it aspires to lord it even over those who are by nature its equals that is its fellow man this is a reach of arrogance utterly intolerable Chapter 24 No man hates his own flesh not even those who abuse it 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 when some people say that they would rather be without a body altogether they entirely deceive themselves for it is not their body but its corruptions and its heaviness that they hate and so it is not no body but an uncorrupted and very light body that they want but they think a body of that kind would be no body at all because they think such a thing as that must be a spirit and as to the fact that they seem in some sort to scorch their bodies by abstinence and toil those who do this in the right spirit do it not that they may get rid of their body but that they may have it in subjection and ready for every needful work for they strive by a kind of toilsome exercise of the body itself to root out those lusts that are hurtful to the body that is those habits and affections of the soul that lead to the enjoyment of unworthy objects they are not destroying themselves they are taking care of their health 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 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 these are contrary the one to the other for this is said of the carnal habit yet unsubdued against which the spirit lusteth not to destroy the body but to eradicate the lust of the body i.e its evil habit and thus to make it subject to the spirit which is what the order of nature demands for as after the resurrection the body having become wholly subject to the spirit will live in perfect peace to all eternity even in this life we must make it an object to have the carnal habit changed for the better so that its inordinate affections may not war against the soul and until this shall take place the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh the spirit struggling not in hatred but for the mastery because it desires that what it loves should be subject to the higher principle and the flesh struggling not in hatred but because of the bondage of habit which it has derived from its parent's stock and which has grown in upon it by a law of nature till it has become inveterate the spirit then in subduing the flesh is working as it were to destroy the ill-founded peace of an evil habit and to bring about the real peace which springs out of a good habit nevertheless not even those who let astray by false notions hate their bodies would be prepared to sacrifice one eye even supposing that they could do so without suffering any pain and that they had as much sight left in one as they formerly had in two unless some object was to be attained which would overbalance the loss this and other indications of the same kind are sufficient to show those who candidly seek the truth how well founded is the statement of the apostle when he says no man ever yet hated his own flesh he adds too but nourisheth and cherishes it even as the lord the church Chapter 25 a man may love something more than his body but does not therefore hate his body 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 measure to love his body so as to care for it wisely within due limits for it is equally manifest that he loves his body also and desires to keep it safe and sound and yet a man may have something that he loves better than the safety and soundness of his body for many have been found voluntarily to suffer both pains and amputations of some of their limbs that they might obtain other objects which they valued more highly but no one is to be told not to desire the safety and health of his body because there is something he desires more for the miser though he loves money buys bread for himself that is he gives away money that he is very fond of and desires to heap up but is because he values more highly the bodily health which the bread sustains it is superfluous to argue longer on a point so very plain but this is just what the error of wicked men often compels us to do Chapter 26 The command to love God in our neighbor includes a command to love ourselves 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 law of nature which has never been violated and which is common to us with the beasts for even the beasts love themselves in their own bodies it only remained necessary to lay injunctions upon us in regard to God above us and our neighbor beside us Thou shalt love, he says, the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets thus the end of the commandment is love and that twofold the love of God and the love of our neighbor now if you take yourself in your entirety that is soul and body together and your neighbor in his entirety soul and body together for man is made up of soul and body you will find that none of the classes of things that are to be loved is overlooked in these two commandments for though when the love of God comes first and the measure of our love for him is prescribed in such terms that it is evident all other things are to find their center in him nothing seems to be said about our love for ourselves yet when it is said Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself it at once becomes evident that our love for ourselves has not been overlooked Chapter 27 The Order of Love 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 loves that equally which ought to be loved either less or more nor loves that less or more which ought to be loved equally no sinner is to be loved as a sinner and every man is to be loved as a man for God's sake but God is to be loved for his own sake and if God is to be loved more than any man each man ought to love God more than himself likewise we ought to love another man better than our own body because all things are to be loved in reference to God and another man can have fellowship with us in the enjoyment of God whereas our body cannot for the body only lives through the soul and it is by the soul that we enjoy God Chapter 28 How We Are to Decide Whom to Aide 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 felt bound to give it away to somebody who had none and that it could not be given to more than one person if two persons presented themselves neither of whom had either from need or relationship a greater claim upon you than the other you could do nothing fair than to choose by lot to which you would give what could not be given to both just so among men since you cannot consult for the good of them all you must take the matter as decided for you by a sort of lot according as each man happens for the time being to be more closely connected with you Chapter 29 We Are to Desire and Endeavor That All Men May Love God Chapter 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 ought to desire however that they should all join with us in loving God and all the assistance that we either give them or accept from them should tend to that one end for in the theaters dens of iniquity though they be if a man is fond of a particular actor and enjoys his art as a great or even as the very greatest good he is fond of all who join with him in admiration of his favorite not for their own sakes but for the sake of him who they admire in common and the more fervent he is in his admiration the more he works in every way he can to secure new admirers for him and the more anxious he becomes to show him to others and if he finds anyone comparatively indifferent he does all he can to excite his interest by urging his favorite merits if however he meet with anyone who opposes him he is exceedingly displeased by such a man's contempt of his favorite and strives in every way he can to remove it now if this be so what does it become us to do who live in the fellowship of the love of God the enjoyment of whom is true happiness of life to whom all who love him owe both their own existence and the love they bear him concerning whom we have no fear that anyone who comes to know him will be disappointed in him and who desires our love not for any gain to himself but that those who love him may obtain an eternal reward even himself whom they love and hence it is that we love even our enemies for we do not fear them seeing they cannot take away from us what we love but we pity them rather because the more they hate us the more they are separated from him whom we love for if they would turn to him they must have necessity love him as the supreme good and love us too as partakers with them in so great a blessing end of section three section four of on christian doctrine this is a libravox recording all libravox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org on christian doctrine by augustin of hippo translated by jf shaw section four book one chapters 30 to 40 chapter 30 whether angels are to be reckoned our neighbors 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 its termination but it is not irrational to ask whether in those two commandments is included the love of angels also for that he who commanded us to love our neighbor made no exception as far as men are concerned as shown both by our lord himself in the gospel and by the apostle paul for when the man to whom our lord delivered those two commandments and to whom he said that on these hang all the law and the prophets asked him and who is my neighbor he told him of a certain man who going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves and was severely wounded by them and left naked and half dead and he showed him that nobody was neighbor to this man except him who took pity upon him and came forward to relieve and care for him and the man who had asked the question and admitted the truth of this when he was himself interrogated and turn to whom our lord says go and do thou likewise teaching us that he is our neighbor whom it is our duty to help in his need or whom it would be our duty to help if he were in need whence it follows that he whose duty it would be in turn to help us is our neighbor for the name neighbor is a relative one and no one can be neighbor except to a neighbor and again who does not see that no exception is made of anyone as a person to whom the offices of mercy may be denied when our lord extends the rule even to our enemies love your enemies to good to them that hate you and so also the apostle Paul teaches when he says for this thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet and if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself love worketh no ill to his neighbor whoever then supposes that the apostle did not embrace every man in this precept is compelled to admit what is at once most absurd and most pernicious that the apostle thought it no sin if a man were not a christian or were an enemy to commit adultery with his wife or to kill him or to covet his goods and as nobody but a fool would say this it is clear that every man is to be considered our neighbor because we are to work no ill to any man but now if everyone to whom we ought to show or who ought to show 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 behalf as may easily be shown by turning the attention to many passages of holy scripture and on this ground even god himself our lord desired to be called our neighbor for our lord jesus christ points to himself under the figure of the man who brought aid to him who is lying half dead on the road wounded and abandoned by the robbers and the psalmist says in his prayer i behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother but as the divine nature is of higher excellence than and far removed above our nature the command to love god is distinct from that to love our neighbor for he shows us pity on account of his own goodness but we show pity to one another on account of his that is he pities us that we may fully enjoy himself we pity one another that we may fully enjoy him chapter 31 god uses rather than enjoys us 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 us and holy scripture frequently sets before us the love he has towards us in what way then does he love us as objects of use or as objects of enjoyment if he enjoys us he must be in need of good from us and no sane man will say that for all the good we enjoy is either himself or what comes from himself and no one can be ignorant or in doubt as to the fact that the light stands in no need of the glitter of the things it has itself lit up the psalmist says most plainly i said to the lord thou art my god for the only is not my goodness he does not enjoy us then but makes use of us for if he neither enjoys nor uses us i'm at a loss to discover in what way he can love us chapter 32 in what way god uses man 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 referenced to his own goodness for it is because he is good we exist and so far as we truly exist we are good and further because he is also just he cannot with impunity be evil and so far as we are evil so far as our existence less complete now he is the first and supreme existence who is altogether unchangeable and who could say in the fullest sense of the words i am that i am and thou shalt say to them i am had sent me unto you so that all other things that exist both owe their existence entirely to him and are good only so far as he has given it to them to be so that use then which god is said to make of us has no reference to his own advantage but to ours only and so far as he is concerned has reference only to his goodness when we take pity upon a man and care for him it is for his advantage we do so but somehow or other our own advantage follows by sort of natural consequence for god does not leave the mercy we show to him who needs it to go without reward now this is our highest reward that we should fully enjoy him and that all who enjoy him should enjoy one another in him chapter 33 in what way man should be enjoyed 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 irrigate this to themselves and are glad to have the hope of others fixed upon them but on the contrary the holy man and the holy angel even when we are weary and anxious to stay with them and rest in them set themselves to recruit our energies with the provision which they have received of god for us or for themselves and then urge us thus refresh to go on our way towards him in the enjoyment of whom we find our common happiness for even the apostle exclaims was paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of paul and again neither is he that planted anything neither he that watereth but god that giveth the increase and the angel admonish it the man who is about to worship him that he should rather worship him who is his master and under whom he himself is a fellow servant 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 ye brother let me have joy of thee and the lord for if he had not added in the lord but had only said let me have joy of thee he would have implied that he fixed his hope of happiness upon him although even in the immediate context to enjoy is used in the sense of to use with delight for when the thing that we love is near us it is a matter of course that it should bring delight with it and if you pass beyond this delight and make it a means to that which you are permanently to rest in you are using it and it is an abuse of language to say that you enjoy it but if you cling to it and rest in it finding your happiness complete in it then you may be truly improperly said to enjoy it and this we must never do except in the case of the blessed trinity who is the supreme and unchangeable good chapter 34 christ the first way to god 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 ye though we have known christ after the flesh yet now his fourth know we him no more for christ is are not only to give the possession to those who had completed the journey but also to be himself the way to those who were just setting out determined to take a fleshly body wince also that expression the Lord created me in the beginning of his way that is that those who wish to come might begin their journey in him the apostle therefore although still on the way and following after god who called him to the reward of his heavenly calling yet forgetting those things which were behind and pressing on towards those things which were before had already passed over the beginning of the way and had now no further need of it yet by this way all must commence their journey who desire to attain to the truth and to rest in eternal life for he says i am the way and the truth and the life that is by me men come to me they come in me they rest for when we come to him we come to the father also because through an equal unequal is known and the holy spirit binds and as it were seals us so that we are able to rest permanently in the supreme and unchangeable good and hence we may learn how essential it is that nothing should detain us on the way when not even our lord himself so far as he has condescended to be our way is willing to detain us but wishes us rather to press on and instead of weakly clinging to temporal things even though these have been put on and worn by him for our salvation to pass over them quickly and to struggle to attain unto himself who is freed our nature from the bondage of temporal things and has set it down at the right hand of his father chapter 35 the fulfillment and end of scripture is the love of god and our neighbor of all then that has been said since we entered upon the discussion about things this is the sum that we should clearly understand that the fulfillment and the end of the law and of the holy scripture is the love of an object which is to be enjoyed and the love of an object which can enjoy that other in fellowship with ourselves for there is no need of a command that each man should love himself the whole temporal dispensation for our salvation therefore was framed by the providence of god that we might know this truth and be able to act upon it and we ought to use that dispensation not with such love and delight as if it were a good to rest in but with a transient feeling rather such as we have towards the road or carriages or other things that are merely means perhaps some other comparison can be found that will more suitably express the idea that we are to love the things by which we are born only for the sake of that towards which we are born chapter 36 that interpretation of scripture which builds us up in love is not perniciously deceptive nor mendacious even though it be faulty the interpreter however should be corrected whoever then thinks that he understands the holy scriptures or any part of them but put 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 meaning from them that may be used for the building up of love even though he does not happen upon the precise meaning which the author whom he reads intended to express in that place his error is not pernicious and he is wholly clear from the charge of deception for there is involved in deception the intention to say what is false and we find plenty of people who intend to deceive but nobody who wishes to be deceived since then the man who knows practices deceit and the ignorant man is practiced upon it is quite clear that in any particular case the man who is deceived is a better man than he who deceives seeing that it is better to suffer than to commit injustice now every man who lies commits an injustice and if any man thinks that a lie is ever useful he must think that injustice is sometimes useful for no liar keeps faith in the matter about which he lies he wishes of course of the man to whom he lies should place confidence in him and yet he betrays is confidence by lying to him now every man who breaks faith is unjust either then injustice is sometimes useful which is impossible or a lie is never useful 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 the same way as a man who by mistake quits the high road but yet reaches through the fields the same place to which the road leads he is to be corrected however and to be shown how much better it is not to quit the straight road lest if he get into a habit of going astray he may sometimes take crossroads or even go in the wrong direction altogether chapter 37 dangers of mistaken interpretation for if he takes up rashly a meaning which the author whom he is reading did not intend he often falls in with other statements which he cannot harmonize with this meaning and if he admits that these statements are true and certain then it follows that the meaning he had put upon the former passage cannot be the true one and so it comes to pass one can hardly tell how that out of love for his own opinion he begins to feel more angry with scripture than he is with himself and if he should once permit that evil to creep in it will utterly destroy him for we walk by faith not by sight now faith will taught her if the authority of scripture began to shake and then if faith taught her love itself will grow cold for if a man has fallen from faith he must necessarily also fall from love for you cannot love what he does not believe to exist but if he both believes and loves then through good works and through diligent attention to the precepts of morality he comes to hope also that he shall attain the object of his love and so these are the three things to which all knowledge and all prophecy are subservient faith hope and love chapter 38 love never faileth 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 if we love by hope that which as yet we have not reached how much more shall we love it when we reach it for there is this great difference between things temporal and things eternal that a temporal object is valued more before we possess it and begins to prove worthless the moment we attain it because it does not satisfy the soul which has its only true and sure resting place in eternity an eternal object on the other hand is loved with greater ardor when it is in possession then while it is still an object of desire for no one in his longing for it can set a higher value on it than really belongs to it so as to think it comparatively worthless when he finds it less value than he thought on the contrary however high the value any man may set upon it when he is on his way to possess it he will find it when it comes into his possession of higher value still chapter 39 he who is mature in faith hope and love needs scripture no longer 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 graces so that in their case I think the saying is already fulfilled whether there be prophecies they shall fail whether there be tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away yet by means of these instruments as they may be called so great an edifice of faith and love has been built up in them that holding to what is perfect they do not seek for what is only in part perfect of course I mean so far as is possible in this life for in comparison with a future life the life of no just and holy man is perfect here therefore the apostle says now abided faith hope charity these three but the greatest of these is charity because when a man shall have reached the eternal world while the other two graces will fail love will remain greater and more assured chapter 40 what manner of reader scripture demands 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 unfaigned and is bent upon making all his understanding of scripture to bear upon these three graces he may come to the interpretation of these books with an easy mind for while the apostle says love he adds out of a pure heart to provide against anything being loved but that which is worthy of love and he joins with this a good conscience in reference to hope for if a man has the burden of a bad conscience he despairs of ever reaching that which he believes in and loves and in the third place he says and of faith unfaigned for if our faith is free from all hypocrisy then we both abstain from loving what is unworthy of our love and by living up rightly we are able to indulge the hope that our hope shall not be in vain for these reasons i've been anxious to speak about the objects of faith as far as i thought it necessary for my present purpose for much has already been said on this subject in other volumes either by others or by myself and so let this be the end of the present book in the next i shall discuss as far as god shall give me light the subject of signs end of section four section five of on christian doctrine this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by joseph on christian doctrine by augustin of hippo translated by jf shaw section five book second argument having completed his exposition of things the author now proceeds to discuss the subject of signs he first defines what a sign is and shows that there are two classes of signs the natural and the conventional of conventional signs which are the only class here noticed words are the most numerous and important and are those with which the interpreter of scripture is chiefly concerned the difficulties and obscurities of scripture spring chiefly from two sources unknown and ambiguous signs the present book deals only with unknown signs the ambiguities of language being reserved for treatment in the next book the difficulty arising from ignorance of signs is to be removed by learning the greek and hebrew languages in which scripture is written by comparing the various translations and by attending to the context in the interpretation of figurative expressions knowledge of things is as necessary as knowledge of words and the various sciences and arts of the heathen so far as they are true and useful may be turned to account in removing our ignorance of signs whether these be direct or figurative whilst exposing the folly and futility of many heathen superstitions and practices the author points out how all that is sound and useful in their science and philosophy may be turned to a christian use and in conclusion he shows the spirit in which it behoves us to address ourselves to the study and interpretation of the sacred books chapter one signs their nature and variety as when i was writing about things i introduced the subject with a warning against attending to anything but what they are in themselves even though they are signs of something else so now when i come in its turn to discuss the subject of signs i lay down this direction not to attend to what they are in themselves but to the fact that they are signs that is to what they signify for a sign is a thing which over and above the impression it makes on the senses causes something else to come into the mind as a consequence of itself as when we see a footprint we conclude that an animal whose footprint this is has passed by and when we see smoke we know that there is fire beneath and when we hear the voice of a living man we think of the feeling in his mind and when the trumpet sounds soldiers know that they are to advance or retreat or do whatever else the state of the butler requires 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 sign that it is so but through attention to experience we come to know that fire is beneath even when nothing but smoke can be seen and the footprint of an animal passing by belongs to this class of signs and the countenance of an angry or sorrowful man indicates the feeling in his mind independently of his will and in the same way every other emotion of the mind is betrayed by the telltale countenance even though we do nothing with the intention of making it known this class of signs however it is no part of my design to discuss at present but as it comes under this division of the subject i could not all to get a pass it over it'll be enough to have noticed it thus far chapter 2 of the kind of signs we are now concerned with 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 and conveying into another's mind what the giver of the sign has in his own mind we wish then to consider and discuss this class of signs so far as men are concerned with it because even the signs which have been given us of god and which are contained in the holy scriptures were made known to us through men those namely who wrote the scriptures the beasts too have certain signs among themselves by which they make known the desires in their mind for when the poultry cock has discovered food he signals with his voice for the hen to run to him and the dove by queen calls his mate or is called by her in turn and many signs of the same kind are matters of common observation now whether these signs like the expression or like the expression or the cry of a man in grief follow the movement of the mind instinctively and apart from any purpose or whether they are really used with a purpose of signification is another question and does not pertain to the matter in hand and this part of the subject I exclude from the scope of this work as not necessary to my present object chapter three among signs words hold the chief place 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 and some convey a great deal by the motion of the hands and actors by movements of all their limbs give certain signs to the initiated and so to speak address their conversation to the eyes and the military standards and flags convey through the eyes the will of the commanders and all these signs are as it were a kind of visible words the signs that address themselves to the ear are as I have said more numerous and for the most part consists of words for though the bugle and the flute and the liar frequently give not only a sweet but a significant sound yet all these signs are very few in number compared with words for among men words have obtained far and away the chief place as a means of indicating the thoughts of the mind our lord it is true gave a sign through the order of the ointment which was poured out upon his feet and in the sacrament of his body and blood he signified his will through the sense of taste and when by touching the hem of his garment the woman was made whole the act was not wanting in significance but the countless multitude of the signs through which men express their thoughts consist of words for I have been able to put into words all those signs the various classes of which I have briefly touched upon but I could buy no effort express words in terms of those signs chapter 4 origin of writing 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 the sounds but by means of certain signs it has been found impossible however to make those signs common to all nations owing to the sin of discord among men which springs from every man trying to snatch the chief place for himself and that celebrated tower which was built to reach to heaven was an indication of this arrogance of spirit and the ungodly man concerned in it justly earned the punishment of having not their minds only but their tongues besides thrown into confusion and discordance chapter 5 scripture translated into various languages 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 fifth season be disseminated through the whole world was interpreted into various tongues and spread far and wide and thus became known to the nations for their salvation and in reading it men seek nothing more than to find out the thought and will of those by whom it was written and through these to find out the will of God in accordance with which they believe these men to have spoken chapter 6 use of the obscurities in scripture which arise from its figurative language 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 thickest darkness and I do not doubt that all this was divinely arranged for the purpose of subduing pride by toil and of preventing a feeling of society in the intellect which generally holds in small esteem what is discovered without difficulty for why is it I ask that if anyone says that there are holy and just men whose life and conversation the church of Christ uses as a means of redeeming those who come to it from all kinds of superstitions and making them through their imitation of good men members of its own body men who as good and true servants of God have come to the baptismal font laying down the burdens of the world and who rising thence do through the implanting of the Holy Spirit yield the fruit of a twofold love a love that is of God and their neighbor how is it I say that if a man says this he does not please his hearer so much as when he draws the same meaning from that passage in conticles where it is said of the church when it is being praised under the figure of a beautiful woman thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are shorn which came up from the washing whereof everyone bears twins and none is bad in among them does the hearer learn anything more than when he listens to the same thought expressed in the plainest language without the help of this figure and yet I don't know why I feel greater pleasure in contemplating holy men when I view them as the teeth of the church tearing men away from their errors and bringing them into the church's body with all their harshness softened down just as if they had been torn off and masticated by the teeth it is with the greatest pleasure to that I recognize them under the figure of sheep that have been shorn laying down the burdens of the world like fleeces and coming up from the washing that is from baptism and all bearing twins that is the twin commandments of love and none among them barren in that holy fruit 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 both that it is pleasant in some cases to have knowledge communicated through figures and that what is attended with difficulty in the seeking gives greater pleasure in defining for those who seek but do not find suffer from hunger those again who do not seek at all because they have what they require just beside them often grow languid from society now weakness from either of these causes is to be avoided accordingly the holy spirit has with admirable wisdom and care for our welfare so range the holy scriptures as by the plainer passages to satisfy our hunger and by the more obscure to stimulate our appetite for almost nothing is dug out of those obscure passages which may not be found set forth in the plainest language elsewhere chapter seven steps to wisdom first fear second piety third knowledge fourth resolution fifth council sixth purification of heart seventh stop or termination wisdom 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 have necessity exciting us the thought of our mortality and of the death that is before us and crucify all the motions of pride as if our flesh were nailed to the tree next it is necessary to have our hearts subdued by piety and not to run in the face of holy scripture whether when understood its strike at some of our sins or when not understood we feel as if we could be wiser and give better commands ourselves we must rather think and believe that whatever is there written even though it be hidden is better and truer than anything we could devise by our own wisdom 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 for god's sake and that god is to be loved with all the heart and with all the soul and with all the mind and one's neighbor as oneself that is in such a way that all our love for our neighbor like all our love for ourselves should have reference to god and on these two commandments I touched in the previous book when I was treating about things it is necessary then that each man should first of all find the scriptures that he through being entangled in the love of this world that is of temporal things has been drawn far away from such a love for god and such a love for his neighbor as scripture enjoins then that fear which leads him to think of the judgment of god and that piety which gives him no option but to believe in and submit to the authority of scripture compel him to bewail his condition for the knowledge of a good hope makes a man not boastful but sorrowful and in this frame of mind he implores with unremitting prayers the comforts of the divine help that he may not be overwhelmed in despair and so he gradually comes to the fourth step that is strength and resolution in which he hungers and thirsts after righteousness for in this frame of mind he extricates himself from every form of fatal joy in transitory things and turning away from these fixes his affection on things eternal to wit the unchangeable trinity unity 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 much less light then in the fifth step that is in the council of compassion he cleanses his soul which is violently agitated and disturbs him with base desires from the filth it has contracted and at this stage he exercises himself diligently in the love of his neighbor and when he has reached the point of loving his enemy full of hopes and unbroken in strength he mounts to the sixth step in which he purifies the eye itself which can see god so far as god can be seen by those who as far as possible die to this world for men see him just so far as they die to this world and so far as they live to it they see him not but yet although that light may begin to appear clearer and not only more tolerable but even more delightful still it is only through a glass darkly that we are said to see because we walk by faith not by sight while we continue to wander as strangers in this world even though our conversation be in heaven and at this stage too a man so purges the eye of his affections as not to place his neighbor before or even in comparison with the truth and therefore not himself because not him who he loves as himself accordingly that holy man will be so single and so pure in heart that he will not step aside from the truth either for the sake of pleasing men or with a view to avoid any of the annoyances which beset this life such as sanna sends to wisdom which is the seventh and last step and which he enjoys in peace and tranquility for the fear of god is the beginning of wisdom from that beginning then till we reach wisdom itself our way is by the steps now described end of section five section six of on christian doctrine this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by joseph on christian doctrine by augustine of hippo translated by jf shaw section six chapter eight the canonical books 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 retained them in his knowledge if not yet with full understanding still with such knowledge as reading gives those of them at least that are called canonical for he will read the others with greater safety when built up in the belief of the truth so that they will not take first possession of a weak mind nor cheating it with dangerous falsehoods and delusions fill it with prejudices adverse to a sound understanding now in regard to the canonical scriptures he must follow the judgment of the greater number of catholic churches and among these of course a high place must be given to such as have been thought worthy to be the seat of an apostle and to receive epistles accordingly among the canonical scriptures he will judge according to the following standard to prefer those that are received by all the catholic churches to those which some do not receive among those again which are not received by all he will prefer such as have the sanction of the greater number in those of greater authority to such as are held by the smaller number in those of less authority if however he shall find that some books are held by the greater number of churches and others by the churches of greater authority though this is not a very likely thing to happen i think that in such a case the authority on the two sides is to be looked upon as equal 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 which seems rather to belong to the beginning of kings next four books of kings and two of chronicles these last not following one another but running parallel so to speak and going over the same ground the books now mentioned are history which contains a connected narrative of the times and follows the order of the events there are other books which seem to follow no regular order and are connected neither with the order of the preceding books nor with one another such as job and tobias and esther and judith and the two books of macabees and the two of ezra which last look more like a sequel to the continuous regular history which terminates with the books of kings and chronicles next are the prophets in which there is one book of the Psalms of david and three books of Solomon namely proverbs song of songs and ecclesiastes for two books one called wisdom and the other ecclesiasticus are ascribed to Solomon from a certain resemblance of style but the most likely opinion is that they were written by jesus the son of sirach still they are to be reckoned among the prophetical books since they have attained recognition as being authoritative the remainder are the books which are strictly called the prophets 12 separate books of the prophets which are connected with one another and having never been disjoined are reckoned as one book the names of these prophets are as follows hoja joel amos obadiah jona mayka nahum habakkuk zefanaya hagai zekaraya malakai then there are the four greater prophets isaya germaya daniel ezekiel the authority of the old testament is contained within the limits of these 44 books that of the new testament again is contained within the following four books of the gospel according to matthew according to marg according to luke according to john 14 epistles of the apostle paul one to the romans two to the corinthians one to the galatians to the effasions to the philippians two to the tessalonians one to the colotions two to timothy one to tyros to philemon to the hebrus two of peter three of john one of jude and one of james one book of the acts of the apostles and one of the revelation of john chapter nine how we should proceed in studying scripture 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 or at least so as not to remain wholly ignorant of them next those matters that are plainly laid down in them whether rules of life or rules of faith are to be searched into more carefully and more diligently and the more of these a man discovers the more capacious does his understanding become for among the things that are plainly laid down in scripture are to be found all matters that concern faith and the manner of life hope to it and love of which i have spoken in the previous book after this when we have made ourselves to a certain extent familiar with the language of scripture we may proceed to open up and investigate the obscure passages and in doing so draw examples from the plainer expressions to throw light upon the more obscure and use the evidence of passages about which there is no doubt to remove all hesitation in regard to the doubtful passages and in this matter memory counts for a great deal but if the memory be defective no rules can supply the want chapter 10 unknown or ambiguous signs prevent scripture from being understood now there are two causes which prevent what is written from being understood it's being veiled 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 as we say boss when we mean an ox because all men who with us use the latin tongue call it by this name signs are figurative when the things themselves which we indicate by the proper names are used to signify something else as we say boss and understand by that syllable the ox which is ordinarily called by that name but then further by that ox understand a preacher of the gospel as scripture signifies according to the apostles explanation when it says thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn chapter 11 knowledge of languages especially of greek and hebrew necessary to remove ignorance of signs 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 if the endless diversity of the latin translators throw them into doubt although indeed we often find hebrew words untranslated in the books as for example amen hallelujah raha osana and others of the same kind some of these although they could have been translated have been preserved in their original form on account of the more sacred authority that attaches to it as for example amen and hallelujah some of them again are said to be untranslatable into another tongue of which the other two i have mentioned are examples for in some languages there are words that cannot be translated into the idiom of another language and this happens chiefly in the case of interjections which are words that express rather an emotion of the mind than any part of a thought we have in our mind and the two given above are said to be of this kind raha expressing the cry of an angry man osana that of a joyful man but the knowledge of these languages is necessary not for the sake of a few words like these which it is very easy to mark and to ask about that as has been said on account of the diversities among translators for the translations of the scriptures from hebrew into greek can be counted but the latin translators are out of all number for in the early days of the faith every man who happened to get his hands upon a greek manuscript and who thought he had any knowledge were it ever so little of the two languages ventured upon the work of translation chapter 12 a diversity of interpretations is useful errors arising from ambiguous words 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 isaya once on satyr reads and do not despise the domestics of diced another reads and do not despise thine own flesh each of these in turn confirms the other for the one is explained by the other because flesh may be taken in its literal sense so that a man may understand that he is admonished not to despise his own body and the domestics of diced may be understood figuratively of christians because they are spiritually born of the same seers ourselves namely the word when now the meaning of the two translators is compared a more likely sense of the word suggests itself namely that the command is not to despise our kinsmen because when one brings the expression domestics of the seed into relation with flesh kinsmen most naturally occur to one's mind once i think that expression of the apostle when he says if by any means i may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh and might save some of them that is that through emulation of those who had believed some of them might believe too and he calls the jews his flesh on account of the relationship of blood again that passage from the same prophet azaiya if ye will not believe ye shall not understand another has translated if ye will not believe ye shall not abide now which of these is the literal translation cannot be ascertained without reference to the text in the original tongue and yet to those who read with knowledge a great truth is to be found in each for it is difficult for interpreters to differ so widely as not to touch at some point accordingly here as understanding consists in sight and is abiding but faith feeds us as babes upon milk in the cradles of temporal things for now we walk by faith not by sight as moreover unless we walk by faith we shall not attain to sight which does not pass away but abides our understanding being purified by holding to the truth for these reasons one says if you will not believe you shall not understand but the other if you will not believe you shall not abide 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 for the word axes among the Greeks means both sharp and swift and so he saw the true meaning who translated their feet are swift to shed blood the other taking the wrong sense of an ambiguous word fell into error now translations such as this are not obscure but false and there is a wide difference between the two things for we must learn not to interpret but to correct texts of this sort for the same reason it is that because the greek word moss house means a calf some have not understood that moss haymata are shoots of trees and have translated the word cows and this error has crept into so many texts that you can hardly find it written in any other way and yet the meaning is very clear for it is made evident by the words that follow for the plantings of an adulterer will not take deep root is a more suitable form of expression than the cows because these walk upon the ground with their feet and are not fixed in the earth by roots in this passage indeed the rest of the context also justifies this translation chapter 13 how faulty interpretations can be amended 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 departs from the meaning of his author we must either endeavor to get a knowledge of those languages from which the scriptures are translated into latin or we must get hold of the translations of those who keep rather close to the letter of the original not because these are sufficient but because we may use them to correct the freedom or the error of others who in their translations have chosen to follow the sense quite as much as the words for not only single words but often whole phrases are translated which could not be translated at all into the latin idiom by anyone who wished to hold by the usage of the ancients who spoke latin and though these sometimes do not interfere with the understanding of the passage yet they are offensive to those who feel greater delight in things when even the signs of those things are kept in their own purity for what is called a solicism is nothing else than the putting of words together according to a different rule from that which those of our predecessors who spoke with any authority followed for whether we say inter hominus among men or inter hominibus is of no consequence to a man who only wishes to know the facts and in the same way what is a barbarism but the pronouncing of a word in a different way from that in which those who spoke latin before us pronounced it for whether the word ignore to pardon should be pronounced with a third syllable long or short is not a matter of much concern to the man who is beseeching god in any way at all that he can get the words out to pardon his sins what then is purity of speech except the preserving of the custom of language established by the authority of former speakers 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 science by which it is hard not to be puffed up seeing that the knowledge of things even would often set up our neck if it were not held down by the yoke of our master for how does it prevent our understanding it to have the following passage thus expressed and I'm more disposed to think that this is simply the idiom of another language than that any deeper meaning is intended again that phrase which we cannot now take away from the lips of the people who sing it superypsum autum florid sanctificatio mea surely takes away nothing from the meaning yet a more learned man would prefer that this should be corrected and that we should say not floriate but floribid nor does anything stand in the way of the correction being made except the usage of the singers mistakes of this kind then if a man do not choose to avoid them all together it is easy to treat with indifference as not interfering with a right understanding but take on the other hand the saying of the apostle if anyone should retain in this passage the greek idiom and say a quick and careful reader would indeed buy an effort attained to the true meaning but still a man of slower intelligence either would not understand it at all or would put an utterly false construction upon it for not only is such a form of speech fault in the latin tongue but it is ambiguous too as if the meaning might be that the folly of man or the weakness of man is wiser or stronger than that of god but indeed even the expression sapiensius as hominibus stronger than man is not free from ambiguity even though it be free from solicism for whether hominibus is put as the plural of the dative or as the plural of the ablative does not appear unless by reference to the meaning it would be better than to say sapiensius as quam hominus and fortius as quam hominus end of section six