 section 13 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 Yossip on Christian doctrine by Augustine of Hippo translated by JF Shaw section 13 chapter 12 rule for interpreting those sayings and actions which are ascribed to God and the saints and which yet seem to the unskillful to be wicked those things again whether only sayings or whether actual deeds which appear to the inexperience to be sinful and which are ascribed to God or to men whose holiness is put before us as an example are wholly figurative and the hidden kernel of meaning they contain is to be picked out as food for the nourishment of charity. Now whoever uses transitory objects less freely than is the custom of those among whom he lives is either temperate or superstitious whoever on the other hand uses them so as to transgress the bounds of the custom of the good man about him either has a further meaning in what he does or is sinful in all such matters it is not the use of the objects but the last of the user that is to blame nobody in his sober senses would believe for example that when our Lord's feet were anointed by the woman with precious ointment it was for the same purpose for which luxurious and profligate man are accustomed to have theirs anointed in those banquets which we abhor for the sweet order means the good report which is earned by a life of good works and the man who wins this while following in the footsteps of Christ anoints his feet so to speak with the most precious ointment and so that which in the case of other persons is often a sin becomes when ascribed to God or a prophet the sign of some great truth keeping company with a harlot for example is one thing when it is the result of abandoned manners another thing when done in the course of his prophecy by the prophet Hosea because it is a shamefully wicked thing to strip the body naked at a banquet among the drunken and licentious it does not follow that it is a sin to be naked in the baths we must therefore consider carefully what is suitable to times and places and persons and not rushly charge men with sins for it is possible that a wise man may use the daintiest food without any sin of Epicurism or gluttony while a fool will crave for the vilest food with a most disgusting eagerness of appetite and any sane man would prefer eating fish after the manner of our Lord to eating lentils after the manner of Esau or barley after the manner of oxen for there are several beasts that feed on commoner kinds of food but it does not follow that they are more temperate than we are for in all matters of this kind it is not the nature of the things we use but our reason for using them and our manner of seeking them that make what we do either praiseworthy or blameable now the saints of ancient times were under the form of an earthly kingdom for shadowing and for telling the kingdom of heaven and an account of the necessity for a numerous offspring the custom of one man having several wives was at that time blameless and for the same reason it was not proper for one woman to have several husbands because a woman does not in that way become more fruitful but on the contrary it is based harlotry to seek either gain or offspring by promiscuous intercourse in regard to matters of this sort whatever the holy man of those times did without lust scripture passes over without blame although they did things which could not be done at a present time except through lust and everything of this nature that is there narrated we are to take not only in its historical and literal but also in its figurative and prophetical sense and to interpret us bearing ultimately upon the end of love towards God or our neighbor or both for as it was disgraceful among the ancient Romans to wear tunics reaching to the heels and furnished with sleeves but now it is disgraceful for man honorably born not to wear tunics of that description so we must take heed in regard to other things also that last do not mix with our use of them for last not only abuses to wicked ends the customs of those among whom we live but frequently also transgressing the bounds of custom betrays in a disgraceful outbreak its own hideousness which was concealed under the cover of prevailing fashions chapter 13 same subject continued whatever then is in accordance with the habits of those with whom we are either compelled by necessity or undertake as a matter of duty to spend this life is to be turned by good and great men to some prudent or benevolent and either directly as is our duty or figuratively as is allowable to prophets chapter 14 era of those who think that there is no absolute right and wrong but when men are acquainted with other modes of life than their own meet with a record of such actions unless they are restrained by authority they look upon them as sins and do not consider that their own customs either in regard to marriage or feasts or dress or the other necessities and the dormance of human life appear sinful to the people of other nations and other times and destructed by this endless variety of customs some who were half asleep as I may say that is who were neither sunk in the deep sleep or folly nor were able to awake into the light of wisdom have thought that there was no such thing as absolute right but that every nation took its own custom for right and that since every nation has a different custom and the ride must remain unchangeable it becomes manifest that there is no such thing as right at all such men did not perceive to take only one example that the precept whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them cannot be altered by any diversity of national customs and this precept when it is referred to the love of God destroys all vices when to the love of one's neighbor puts an end to all crimes for no one is willing to defile his own dwelling he ought not therefore to defile the dwelling of God that is himself and no one wishes an injury to be done him by another he himself therefore ought not to do injury to another chapter 15 rule for interpreting figurative expressions the tyranny of last being thus overthrown charity reigns through its supremely just laws of love to God for his own sake and love to one's self and one's neighbor for God's sake accordingly in regard to figurative expressions a rule such as the following will be observed to carefully turn over in our minds and meditate upon what we read till an interpretation be found that tends to establish the reign of love now if when taken literally it at once gives a meaning of this kind the expression is not to be considered figurative chapter 16 rule for interpreting commands and prohibitions if the sentence is one of command either forbidding a crime or vice or enjoying an act of prudence or benevolence it is not figurative if however it seems to enjoy in a crime or vice or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence it is figurative except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man says Christ and drink his blood ye have no life in you this seems to enjoy in a crime or a vice it is there for a figure and joining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that his flesh was wounded and crucified for us scripture says if thine enemy hunger fear him if he thirst give him drink and this is beyond doubt a command to a kindness but in what follows for in so doing thou shalt heap cause of fire on his head one would think a deed of malevolence was enjoined do not doubt then that the expressionist figurative and while it is possible to interpret it in two ways one pointing to the doing of an injury the other to a display of superiority let charity on the contrary call you back to benevolence and interpret the cause of fire as the burning groans of penitence by which a man's pride is cured who bewails that he has been the enemy of one who came to his assistance in distress in the same way when our Lord says he who loveeth his life shall lose it we are not to think that he forbids the prudence with which it is a man's duty to care for his life but that he says in a figurative sense let him lose his life that is let him destroy and lose that perverted and unnatural use which he now makes of his life and through which his desires are fixed on temporal things so that he gives no heed to eternal it is written give to the godly man and help not a sinner the latter clause of this sentence seems to forbid benevolence for it says help not a sinner understand therefore that sinner is put figuratively for sin so that it is his sin you are not to help chapter 17 some commands are given to all in common others to particular classes again it often happens that a man who has attained or thinks he has attained to a higher grade of spiritual life thinks that the commands given to those who are still in the lower grades are figurative for example if he has embraced a life of celibacy and made himself an eunuch for a kingdom of heaven's sake he contends that the commands given in scripture about loving and ruling a wife are not to be taken literally but figuratively and if he has determined to keep his virgin unmarried he tries to put a figuratively interpretation on the passage where it is said marry thy daughter and so shall thou have performed a weighty matter accordingly another of our rules for understanding the scripture will be as follows to recognize that some commands are given to all in common others to particular classes of persons that the medicine may act not only upon the state of health as a whole but also upon the special weakness of each member for that which cannot be raised to a higher state must be cared for in its own state chapter 18 we must take into consideration the time at which anything was enjoined or allowed we must also be on our guard against opposing that what in the Old Testament making allowance for the condition of those times is not a crime or a vice even if we take it literally and not figuratively can be transferred to the present time as a habit of life for no one will do this except last has the minion over him and endeavors to find support for itself in the very scriptures which were intended to overthrow it and the wretched man does not perceive that such matters are recorded with this useful design that men of good hope may learn the salutary lesson both that the custom they spurn can be turned to a good use and that which they embrace can be used to condemnation if the use of the former be accompanied with charity at the use of the latter with last for if it was possible for one man to use many wives with chastity it is possible for another to use one wife with last and I look with greater approval on the man who uses the fruitfulness of many wives for the sake of an ulterior object then on the man who enjoys the body of one wife for its own sake for in the former case the man aims at a useful object suited to the circumstances of the times in the latter case he gratifies a last which is engrossed in temporal enjoyments and those men to whom the Apostle permitted as a matter of indulgence to have one wife because of their incontinence were less near to God than those who though they had each of them numerous wives yet just as a wise man uses food and drink only for the sake of bodily health used marriage only for the sake of offspring and accordingly if these last had been still alive at the advent of our Lord when the time not of casting stones away but of gathering them together had come they would have immediately made themselves eunuchs for a kingdom of heaven's sake for there is no difficulty in abstaining unless when there is lust in enjoying and assuredly those men of whom I speak knew that wantoness even in regard to wives is abuse and intemperance as is proved by Tobit's prayer when he was married to his wife for he says blessed are thou oh God of our fathers and blessed is thy holy and glorious name forever let the heavens bless thee and all thy creatures thou made as Adam and gave us him Eve his wife for an helper and stay and now Lord thou knowest that I take not this my sister for lust but uprightly therefore have pity on us all Lord chapter 19 wicked men judge others by themselves but those who giving the rain to last either wonder about steeping themselves in a multitude of debaucheries or even in regard to one wife not only exceed the measure necessary for the procreation of children but with a shameless license of a sword of slavish freedom heap up the filth of a still more beastly excess such men do not believe it possible that a man of ancient times use a number of wives with temperance looking to nothing but the duty necessary in the circumstances of the time of propagating the race and what they themselves who are entangled in the meshes of last do not accomplish in the case of a single wife they think are only impossible in the case of a number of wives but these same men might say that it is not right even to honor and praise good and holy men because they themselves when they are honored and praised swell with pride becoming the more eager for the emptiest sort of distinction the more frequently and the more widely they are blown about on the tongue of flattery and so become so light that a breath of rumor whether it appear prosperous or adverse will carry them into the whirlpool of vice or dash them on the rocks of crime let them then learn how trying and difficult it is for themselves to escape either being caught by the bait of praise or pierced by the stings of insult but let them not measure others by their own standard end of section 13 section 14 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 JF Shaw section number 14 chapter 20 consistency of good men and all outward circumstances let them believe on the contrary that the apostles of our faith were neither puffed up when they were honored by men nor cast down when they were despised and certainly neither sort of temptation was wanting to those great men for they were both cried up by the loud praises of believers and cried down by the slanderous reports of their persecutors but the apostles used all these things as occasions served and were not corrupted and in the same way the saints of old used their wives with reference to the necessities of their own times and were not in bondage to lust as they are who refuse to believe such things 40 for if they had been under the influence of any such passion they could never have restrained themselves from implacable hatred towards their sons by whom they knew that their wives and concubines were solicited and debauched chapter 21 David not lustful though he fell into adultery but when King David had suffered this injury at the hands of his impious and unnatural son he not only bore with him in his mad passion but mourned over him in his death he certainly was not caught in the meshes of carnal jealousy seeing that it was not his own injuries but the sins of his son that moved him for it was on this account he had given orders that his son should not be slain if he were conquered in battle that he might have a place of repentance after he was subdued and when he was baffled in this design he mourned over his son's death not because of his own loss but because he knew to what punishment so impious and adulterer and parasite had been hurried for prior to this in the case of another son who had been guilty of no crime though he was dreadfully afflicted for him while he was sick yet he comforted himself after his death 31 and with what moderation and self-restraint these men used their wives appears chiefly in this that when the same king carried away by the heat of passion by temporal prosperity had taken unlawful possession of one woman whose husband also he ordered to be put to death he was accused of his crime by a prophet who when he had come to show him his sin set before him the parable of the poor man who had but one you lamb and whose neighbor though he had many yet when a guest came to him spared to take one of his own flock but set his poor neighbors one lamb before his guest to eat and David's anger being kindled against the man he commanded that he should be put to death and the lamb restored fourfold to the poor man thus unwittingly condemning the sin he had wittingly committed and when he had been shown this and God's punishment had been announced against him he wiped out his sin and deep penitence but yet in this parable it was the adultery only that was indicated by the poor man's you lamb about the killing of the woman's husband that is about the murder of the poor man himself who had the one you lamb nothing is said in the parable so that the sentence of condemnation is pronounced against the adultery alone and hence we may understand with what temperance he possessed a number of wives when he was forced to punish himself for transgressing in regard to one woman but in his case the immoderate desire did not take up its abode with him but was only a passing guest on this account the unlawful appetite is called even by the accusing prophet a guest for he did not say that he took the poor man's you lamb to make a feast for his king but for his guest in the case of his son Solomon however this lust did not come and pass away like a guest but reigned as a king and about him scripture is not silent but accuses him of being a lover of strange women for in the beginning of his reign he was inflamed with a desire for wisdom but after he had attained it through spiritual love he lost it through carnal lust chapter 22 rule regarding passages of scripture in which approval is expressed of actions which are now condemned by good men 32 therefore although all or nearly all the transactions recorded in the Old Testament are to be taken not literally only but figuratively as well nevertheless even in the case of those which the reader has taken literally in which though the authors of them are praised or repugnant to the habits of a good man who since our Lord's advent are the custodians of the divine commands let him refer the figure to its interpretation but let him not transfer the act to his habits of life for many things which are done as duties at that time cannot now be done except through lust chapter 23 rule regarding the narrative of sins of great men 33 and when he reads of the sins of great men although he may be able to see and to trace out in them a figure of things to come let him yet put the literal fact to this use also to teach him not to dare to want himself in his own good deeds and in comparison with his own righteousness to despise others as sinners when he sees in the case of men so eminent both the storms that are to be avoided and the shipwrecks that are to be wept over for the sins of these men's were recorded to this end that men might everywhere and always tremble at that saying of the Apostle where for let him that think at the standard take heed lest he fall for there is hardly a page of scripture on which it is not clearly written that God resisted the proud and give it grace to the humble chapter 24 the character of the expressions used is above all to have weight 34 the chief thing to be inquired into therefore in regard to any expression that we are trying to understand is whether it is literal or figurative for when it is ascertained to be figurative it is easy by an application of the laws of things which we discussed in the first book to turn it in every way until we arrive at a true interpretation especially when we bring to our aid experience strengthened by the exercise of piety now we find out whether an expression is literal or figurative by attending to the considerations indicated above chapter 25 the same word does not always signify the same thing and when it is shown to be figurative the words in which it is expressed would be found to be drawn either from like objects or from objects having some affinity 35 but as there are many ways in which things show a likeness to each other we are not to suppose there is any rule that what a thing signifies by simulitude in one place it is to be taken to signify in all other places for a lord used leaven both in a bad sense as when he said beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and in a good sense as when he said the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures a meal to the whole was leavened 36 now the rule in regard to this variation has two forms for things that signify now one thing and now another signify either things that are contrary or things that are only different they signify contraries for example when they are used metaphorically at one time in a good sense at another in a bad as in the case of the leaven mentioned above another example of the same is that a lion stands for Christ in the place where it is said the lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed and again stands for the devil where it is written your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour and the same way the serpent is used in a good sense be wise as serpents and again in a bad sense the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety bread is used in a good sense I'm the living bread which came down from heaven and in a bad bread eaten in secret is pleasant and so in a great many other cases the examples I have adduced are indeed by no means doubtful in their signification because only plain instances ought to be used as examples there are passages however in regard to which it is uncertain in what sense they ought to be taken as for example in the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red it is full of mixture now it is uncertain whether this denotes the wrath of God but not to the last extremity of punishment that is to the very dregs or whether it denotes the grace of the scriptures passing away from the Jews and coming to the Gentiles because he has put down one and set up another certain observances however which they understand in a carnal manner still remaining among the Jews for the dregs hereof is not yet wrung out the following is an example of the same object being taken not in opposite but only in different significations water denotes people as we read in the apocalypse and also the holy spirit as for example out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water and many other things besides water must be interpreted according to the place in which they are found 37 and in the same way other objects are not single in their signification but each one of them denotes not two only but sometimes even several different things according to the connection in which it is found chapter 26 obscure passages are to be interpreted by those which are clearer now from the places where the sense in which they are used is more manifest we must gather the sense in which they are to be understood in obscure passages for example there is no better way of understanding the words addressed to God take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for mine help then by referring to the passage where we read thou word has to crown me with thy favor as with the shield and yet we are not so to understand it as that whenever we meet with the shield put to indicate a protection of any kind we must take it as signifying nothing but the favor of God for we hear also of the shield of faith where with says the apostle he shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked nor ought we on the other hand in regard to spiritual armor of this kind to assign faith to the shield only for we read in another place of the breastplate of faith putting on says the apostle the breastplate of faith and love chapter 27 one passage susceptible of various interpretations 38 when again not some one interpretation but two or more interpretations are put upon the same words of scripture even though the meaning the writer intended remain undiscovered there is no danger if it can be shown from other passages of scripture that any of the interpretations put on the words is in harmony with the truth and if a man in searching the scriptures endeavors to get at the intention of the author through whom the holy spirit spake whether he succeeds in this endeavor or whether he draws a different meaning from the words but one that is not opposed to sound doctrine he is free from blame so long as he is supported by the testimony of some other passage of scripture for the author perhaps saw this very meaning lay in the words which we are trying to interpret and assuredly the holy spirit who through him spake these words foresaw that this interpretation would occur to the reader nay made provision that it should occur to him seeing that it too is founded on truth for what more liberal and more fruitful provision could God have made in regard to the sacred scriptures than that the same words might be understood in several senses all of which are sanctioned by the concurring testimony of other passages equally divine chapter 28 it is safer to explain a doubtful passage by other passages of scripture than by reason 39 when however a meaning is evolved as such a kind that what is doubtful in it cannot be cleared up by indubitable evidence from scripture it remains for us to make it clear by the evidence of reason but this is a dangerous practice for it is far safer to walk by the light of holy scripture so that when we wish to examine the passages that are obscured by metaphorical expressions we may either obtain a meaning about which there is no controversy or if a controversy arises they settle it by the application of testimony sought out in every portion of the same scripture end of section number 14 section 15 of on christian doctrine this is a liber box recording all liber box recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit liberbox.org on christian doctrine by augustine of hippo translated by jf shaw section 15 chapter 29 the knowledge of tropes is necessary moreover i would have learned men to know that the authors of our scriptures use all those forms of expression which grammarians call by the greek name tropes and use them more freely and in greater variety than people who are unacquainted with the scriptures and have learned these figures of speech from other writings can imagine or believe nevertheless those who know these tropes recognize them in scripture and are very much assisted by their knowledge of them and understanding scripture but this is not the place to teach them to the illiterate lest it might seem that i was teaching grammar i certainly advise however that they be learnt elsewhere although indeed i have already given that advice above in the second book namely where i treated of the necessary knowledge of languages for the written characters from which grammar itself gets its name are the signs of sounds made by the articulate voices with which we speak now of some of these figures of speech we find in scripture not only examples which we have of them all but the very names as well for instance allegory enigma and parable however nearly all these tropes which are said to be learnt as a matter of liberal education are found even in the ordinary speech of men who have learnt no grammar but are content to use the vulgar idiom for who does not say so may you flourish and this is the figure of speech called metaphor who does not speak of a fish pond in which there is no fish which was not made for fish and yet gets its name from fish and this is the figure called catechesis it would be tedious to go over all the rest in this way for the speech of the vulgar make use of them all even of those more curious figures which mean the very opposite of what they say as for example those called irony or antiphysis now in irony we indicate by the tone of voice the meaning we desire to convey as when we say to a man who is behaving badly you are doing well but it is not by the tone of voice that we make an antiphysis to indicate the opposite of what the words convey but either the words in which it is expressed are used in the opposite of their etymological sense as a grove is called lucas from its want of light or it is customary to use a certain form of expression although it puts yes for no by a law of contraries as when we ask in a place for what is not there and get the answer there is plenty or we add words that make it plain we mean the opposite of what we say as in the expression beware of him for he is a good man and what illiterate man is there that does not use such expressions although he knows nothing at all about either the nature or the names of these figures of speech and yet the knowledge of these is necessary for clearing up the difficulties of scripture because when the words taken literally given absurd meaning we opt for it with to inquire whether they may not be used in this or that figurative sense which we are unacquainted with and in this way many obscure passages have had light thrown upon them chapter 30 the rules of toconius the donatist examined one toconius who although a donatist himself has written most triumphantly against the donatist and herein showed himself of a most inconsistent disposition that he was unwilling to give them up altogether wrote a book which he called the book of rules because in it he laid down seven rules which are as it were keys to open the secrets of scripture and of these rules the first relates to the lord and his body the second to the twofold division of the lord's body and third to the promises and the law fourth to species and genus the fifth to times the sixth to recapitulation the seventh to the devil and his body now these rules as expounded by their author do indeed when carefully considered afford considerable assistance in penetrating the secrets of the sacred writings but still they do not explain all the different passages for there are several other methods required which are so far from being embraced in this number of seven that the author himself explains many obscure passages without using any of his rules finding indeed that there was no need for them and there was no difficulty in the passage of the kind to which the rules apply as for example he inquires what we are to understand in the apocalypse by the seven angels of the churches to whom john is commanded to write and after much and various reasoning arise at the conclusion that the angels are the churches themselves and throughout this long and full discussion although the matter inquired into is certainly very obscure no use whatever is made of the rules this is enough for an example for it would be too tedious and troublesome to collect all the passages in mechanical scriptures which present obscurities of such a kind as required none of these seven rules for their elucidation the author himself however when commending these rules attributes so much value to them that it would appear as if when they were thoroughly known and duly applied we should be able to interpret all the obscure passages in the law that is in the sacred books for he thus commences this very book of all the things that occur to me i consider none so necessary as to write a little book of rules and as it were to make keys for and put windows in the secret places of the law for there are certain mystical rules which hold the key to the secret recesses of the whole law and render visible the treasures of truth that are too many invisible and if this system of rules be received as i communicate it without jealousy what is shut shall be laid open and what is obscure shall be elucidated so that a man traveling through the vast forest of prophecy shall if he followed these rules as pathways of light be preserved from going astray now if he had said there are certain mystical rules which hold the key to some of the secrets of the law or even which hold the key to the great secrets of the law and not what he does say the secret recesses of the whole law and if he had not said what is shut shall be laid open but many things that are shut shall be laid open he would have said what was true and he would not by attributing more than is warranted by the facts to this very elaborate and useful work have led the reader into false expectations and i have thought it right to say thus much in order both that the book may be read by the studious for it is a very great assistance in understanding scripture and that no more may be expected from it than it really contains certainly it must be read with caution not only on account of the errors into which the author falls as a man but chiefly on account of the heresies which he advances as a donatist and now i shall briefly indicate what these seven rules teach or advise chapter thirty one the first rule of tyconius the first is about the lord and his body and it is this that knowing as we do that the head and the body that is christ and his church are sometimes indicated to us under one person for it is not in vain that is said to believers ye then are abraham's seed when there is but one seed of abraham and that is christ we need not be in a difficulty when a transition is made from the head to the body or from the body to the head and yet no change made in the person spoken of for a single person is represented as saying he hath decked me as a bridegroom with ornaments and adorn me as a bride with jewels and yet it is of course a matter of for interpretation which of these two refers to the head and which to the body that is which to christ and which to the church chapter thirty two the second rule of tyconius the second rule is about the twofold division of the body of the lord but this indeed is not a suitable name for that is really no part of the body of christ which will not be with him in eternity we ought therefore to say that the rule is about the true and the mixed body of the lord or the true and the counterfeit or some such name because not to speak of eternity hypocrites cannot even now be said to be in him although they seem to be in his church and hence his rule might be designated thus concerning the mixed church now this rule requires the reader to be on his guard when scripture although it has now come to address or speak of a different set of persons seems to be addressing and speaking of the same persons as before just as if both sets constituted one body and consequence of their being for the time united in a common participation of the sacraments an example of this is that passage in the song of Solomon I am black but comely as the tents of qadar as the curtains of Solomon for it is not said I was black as the tents of qadar but am now comely as the curtains of Solomon the church declares itself to be at present both and this because the good fish and the bad are for the time mixed up in the one net for the tents of qadar pertain to ishmael who shall not be air with the son of the free woman and in the same way when God says of the good part of the church I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not I will lead them in past that they have not known I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight these things will I do unto them and not forsake them he immediately adds in regard to the other part the bad that is mixed with the good they shall be turned back now these words refer to a set of persons altogether different from the former but as the two sets are for the present united in one body he speaks as if there were no change in the subject of the sentence they will not however always be in one body for one of them is that wicked servant of whom we are told in the gospel whose lord when he comes shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites chapter 33 the third rule of tyconius the third rule relates to the promises and the law and may be designated in other terms as relating to the spirit and the letter which is the same I made use of when writing a book on this subject it may be also named of grace and the law this however seems to me to be a great question in itself rather than a rule to be applied to the solution of other questions it was the one of clear views on this question that originated or at least greatly aggravated the pelagian heresy and the efforts of tyconius to clear up this point were good but not complete for in discussing the question about faith and works he said that works were given us by God as reward for faith but that faith itself was so far our own that it did not come to us from God not keeping in mind the saying of the apostle peace be to the brethren and love with faith from god the father and the lord jesus christ but he had not come into contact with this heresy which has arisen in our time and has given us much labor and trouble in defending against it the grace of god which is through our lord jesus christ and which according to the saying of the apostle there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you has made us much more watchful and diligent to discover in scripture what escaped tyconius who having no enemy to guard against was less attentive and anxious on this point namely that even faith itself is the gift of him who had dealt to every man the measure of faith once it is said to certain believers unto you it is given in the behalf of christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake who then can doubt that each of these is the gift of god when he learns from this passage and believes that each of them is given there are many other testimonies besides which prove this but i am not now treating of this doctrine i have however dealt with it one place or another very frequently end of section 15 section 16 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 jf shaw section 16 chapter 34 the fourth rule of tyconius 47 the fourth rule of tyconius is about species and genus for so he calls it intending that by species should be understood apart by genus the whole of which that which he calls species is apart as for example every single city is a part of the great society of nations the city he calls a species all nations constitute the genus there's no necessity for here applying that subtlety of distinction which is in use among logicians who discuss with great acuteness the difference between a part and a species the rule is of course the same if anything of the kind referred to is found in scripture not in regard to a single city but in regard to a single province or tribe or kingdom not only for example about jerusalem or some of the cities of the gentiles such as tyre or babelon our things said in scripture whose significance oversteps the limits of the city and which are more suitable when applied to all nations but in regard to judaea also and egypt and assyria or any other nation you choose to take which contains numerous cities but still is not the whole world but only a part of it things are set which pass over the limits of that particular country and apply more fitly to the whole of which this is a part or as our author terms it to the genus of which this is a species and hence these words have come to be commonly known so that even uneducated people understand what is laid down specially and what generally in any given imperial command the same thing occurs in the case of men things are set of Solomon for example the scope of which reaches far beyond him and which are only properly understood when applied to christ and his church of which Solomon is a part 48 now the species is not always overstepped for things are often set of such a kind as evidently applied to it also or perhaps even to it exclusively but when scripture having up to a certain point been speaking about the species makes a transition at that point from the species to the genus the reader must then be carefully on his guard against seeking in the species what he can find much better and more surely in the genus take for example what the prophet Ezekiel says when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land they defiled it by their own way and by their doings their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman where for I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it and I scattered them among the heathen and they were dispersed through the countries according to their way and according to their doings I judge them now it is easy to understand that this applies to the house of Israel of which the apostle says behold Israel after the flesh because the people of Israel after the flesh did both perform and endure all that is here referred to what immediately follows to may be understood as applying to the same people but when the prophet begins to say and I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen which he have profaned in the midst of them and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord the reader ought now carefully to observe the way in which the species is overstepped and the genus taken in for he goes on to say and I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes for I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries it will bring you into your own land then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my commandments and do them and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your God and I will save you from all your uncleanness this now that is a prophecy of the New Testament to which pertain not only the remnant of that one nation of which it is elsewhere said for though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea yet a remnant of them shall be saved but also the other nations which were promised to their fathers and our fathers and that there is here a promise of that washing of regeneration which as we see is now parted to all nations no one who looks into the matter can doubt in that saying of the apostle when he is commending the grace of the New Testament and its excellence in comparison with the old E R R epistle written not with ink but with the spirit of the living God not in tables of stone but in fleshy tables of the heart as an evident reference to this place where the prophet says a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh now the heart of flesh from which the apostles expression the fleshy tables of the heart is drawn the prophet intended to point out as distinguished from the stony heart by the possession of sentient life by sentient he understood intelligent life and thus the spiritual israel is made up not of one nation but of all the nations which were promised to the fathers in their seed that is in christ 49 this spiritual israel therefore is distinguished from the carnal israel which is of one nation by newness of grace not by nobility of descent in feeling not in race but the prophet in his depth of meaning while speaking of the carnal israel passes on without indicating the transition to speak of the spiritual and although now speaking of the latter seems to be still speaking of the former not that he grudges us the clear apprehension of scripture as if we are enemies but that he deals with us as a physician giving us a wholesome exercise for our spirit and therefore we ought to take this saying and I will bring you into your own land and what he says shortly afterwards as if repeating himself and he shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers not literally as if they referred to israel after the flesh but spiritually as referring to the spiritual israel for the church without spot or wrinkle gathered up of all nations and destined to reign forever with christ is itself the land of the blessed the land of the living we are to understand that this was given to the fathers when it was promised to them in the shore in a mutable purpose of god for what the fathers believed would be given in its own time was to them on account of the unchangeableness of the promise and purpose the same as if it were already given just as the apostle writing to timothy speaks of the grace which is given to the saints not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in christ jesus before the world began but is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior he speaks of the grace as given at a time when those to whom it was to be given were not yet in existence because he looks upon that as having already been done in the arrangement and purpose of god which was to take place in its own time and he himself speaks of it as now made manifest it is possible however that these words may refer to the land of the age to come when there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein the unrighteous shall be unable to dwell and so it is truly said to the righteous that the land itself is theirs no part of which will belong to the unrighteous because it is the same as if it were itself given when it is firmly settled that it shall be given chapter 35 the fifth rule of tyconius 50 the fifth rule tyconius lays down is one he designates of times a rule by which we can frequently discover or or conjecture quantities of time which are not expressly mentioned in scripture and he says that this rule applies in two ways either to the figure of speech called synestarchy or to legitimate numbers the figure synestarchy either puts the part for the whole or the whole for the part as for example in reference to the time when in the presence of only three of his disciples our lord was transfigured on the mount so that his face shown as the sun and his rain meant was white as snow one evangelist says that this event occurred after eight days while another says that it occurred after six days now both of these statements about the number of days cannot be true unless we suppose that the rider who says after eight days counted the latter part of the day on which christ uttered the prediction and the first part of the day on which he showed its fulfillment as two whole days while the rider who says after six days counted only the whole unbroken days between these two this figure of speech which puts the part for the whole explains also the great question about the resurrection of christ for unless to the latter part of the day on which he suffered would join the previous night and count it as a whole day into the latter part of the night in which he arose would join the lord's day which was just dawning and counted also a whole day we cannot make out the three days and three nights during which he foretold that he would be in the heart of the earth 51 in the next place our author calls these numbers legitimate which holy scripture more highly favors such as seven or ten or twelve or any of the other numbers which the diligent reader of scripture soon comes to know now numbers of this sort are often put for time universal as for example seven times in the day do i praise thee means just the same as his praise shall continually be in my mouth and their force is exactly the same either when multiplied by 10 as 70 and 700 once the 70 years mentioned in Jeremiah may be taken in a spiritual sense for the whole time during which the church is a sojourner among aliens will when multiplied into themselves as 10 into 10 gives 100 in 12 into 10 gives 144 which last number is used in the apocalypse to signify the whole body of the saints hence it appears that it is not merely questions about times that are to be settled by these numbers but that their significance is of much wider application and extends to many subjects that number in the apocalypse for example mentioned above has not referenced the times but to men chapter 36 the sixth rule of tyconius 52 the sixth rule tyconius calls the recapitulation which with sufficient watchfulness is discovered in difficult parts of scripture for certain occurrences are so related that the narrative appears to be following the order of time or the continuity of events when it really goes back without mentioning it to previous occurrences which had been passed over in their proper place and we make mistakes if we do not understand this from applying the rule here spoken of for example in the book of genesis we read and the lord god planted a garden eastward and eaten and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the lord god to grow every tree that is pleasant to the site in good for food now here it seems to be indicated that the events last mentioned took place after god had formed man and put him in the garden whereas the fact is that the two events having been briefly mentioned these that god planted a garden and there put the man whom he had formed the narrative goes back by way of recapitulation to tell what had before been admitted the way in which the garden was planted that out of the ground god made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the site in good for food here there follows the tree of life was also in the mist of the garden in the tree of a knowledge of good and evil next the river is mentioned which watered the garden and which was parted into four heads the source of four streams and all this has reference to the arrangements of the garden and when this is finished there is a repetition of the fact which had been already told but which in the strict order of events came after all this and the lord god took the man and put him into the garden of Eden for it was there after all these other things were done that man was put in the garden as now appears from the order of the narrative itself it was not after man was put there that the other things were done as the previous statement might be thought to imply did we not accurately mark and understand the recapitulation by which the narrative reverts to what was previously been passed over 53 in the same book again when the generations of the sons of Noah are recounted it is said these are the sons of Ham after their families after their tongues in their countries and in their nations and again when the sons of Shem are enumerated these are the sons of Shem after their families after their tongues in their lands after their nations and it is added in reference to all of them these are the families of the sons of Noah after their generations in their nations and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood and the whole earth was of one language and of one speech now the addition of this sentence and the whole earth was of one language and of one speech seems to indicate that at the time when the nations were scattered over the earth they had all one language in common but this is evidently inconsistent with the previous words in their families after their tongues for each family or nation could not be said to have its own language if all had one language in common and so it is by way of recapitulation it is added and the whole earth was of one language and of one speech the narrative here going back without indicating the change to tell how it was that from having one language in common the nations were divided into a multitude of tongues and accordingly we are forthwith told of the building of the tower and of this punishment being there laid upon them as the judgment of God upon their arrogance and it was after this that they were scattered over the earth according to their tongues 54 this recapitulation is found in a still more obscure form as for example our Lord says in the gospel the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire from heaven and destroyed them all even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed in that day he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in his house let him not come down to take it away and he that is in the field let him likewise not return back remember Lot's wife is it when our Lord shall have been revealed that men are to give heed to these sayings and not to look behind them that is not too long after the past life which they had renounced is not the present rather the time to give heed to them that when the Lord shall have been revealed every man may receive his reward according to the things he has given heed to or despised and yet because Scripture says in that day the time of the revelation of the Lord will be thought the time for giving heed to these sayings unless the reader be watchful and intelligent so as to understand the recapitulation in which he will be assisted by that other passage of Scripture which even in the time of the apostles proclaimed little children it is the last time the very time then when the gospel is preached up to the time that the Lord shall be revealed is the day in which man ought to give heed to these sayings for to the same day which shall be brought to a close by the day of judgment belongs that very revelation of the Lord here spoken of chapter thirty-seven the seventh rule of tyconius fifty-five the seventh rule of tyconius and the last is about the devil and his body for he is the head of the wicked who are in a sense his body and destined to go with him into the punishment of everlasting fire just as Christ is the head of the church which is his body destined to be with him in his eternal kingdom and glory accordingly as the first rule which is called of the Lord and his body directs us when scripture speaks of one and the same person to take pains to understand which part of the statement applies to the head in which to the body so this last rule shows us that statements are sometimes made about the devil whose truth is not so evident in regard to himself as in regard to his body and his body is made up not only of those who are manifestly out of the way but of those also who though they really belong to him are for a time mixed up with a church until they depart from this life or until the chaff is separated from the wheat at the last great winnowing for example what is said in isea how he has fallen from heaven lucifer son of the morning and the other statements of the context which under the figure of the king of babelon are made about the same person are of course to be understood of the devil and yet the statement which is made in the same place he is ground down on the earth who send it to all nations does not altogether fitly apply to the head himself for although the devil sends his angels to all nations yet it is his body not himself that is ground down on the earth except that he himself is in his body which is beaten small like the dust which the wind blows from the face of the earth 56 now all these rules except the one about the promises and the law make one meaning to be understood where another is expressed which is the peculiarity of figurative diction and this kind of diction it seems to me is too widely spread to be comprehended in its full extent by any one for wherever one thing is said with the intention that another should be understood we have a figurative expression even though the name of the trope is not to be found in the art of rhetoric and when an expression of this sort occurs where it is customary to find it there is no trouble in understanding it when it occurs however where it is not customary it costs labor to understand it from some more from some less just as men have got more or less from god of the gifts of intellect or as they have access to more or fewer external helps and as in the case of proper words which i discussed above and in which things are to be understood just as they are expressed so in the case of figurative words and which one thing is expressed and another is to be understood and which i have just finished speaking of as much as i thought enough students of these venerable documents bought to be counseled not only to make themselves equated with the forms of expression ordinarily used in scripture to observe them carefully and to remember them accurately but also what is especially and before all things necessary to pray that they may understand them for in these very books on the study of which they are intent they read the lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding and it is from him that they have received their very desire for knowledge if it is wedded to piety but about sign so far as relates to words i've now said enough it remains to discuss in the following book so far as god has given me light the means of communicating our thoughts to others end of section 16 section 17 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 jf shaw section 17 look forth argument passing to the second part of his work that which treats of expression the author premises that it is no part of his intention to write a treatise on the laws of rhetoric these can be learned elsewhere and ought not to be neglected being indeed especially necessary for the christian teacher whom it behooves to excel in eloquence and power of speech after detailing with much care and minuteness the various qualities of an orator he recommends the authors of the holy scriptures as the best models of eloquence far excelling all others in the combination of eloquence with wisdom he points out that perspicuity is the most essential quality of style and ought to be cultivated with the special care by the teacher as it is the main requisite for instruction although other qualities are required for delighting and persuading the hearer all these gifts are to be sought in earnest prayer from god though we are not to forget to be zealous and diligent and study he shows that there are three species of style the subdued the elegant and the majestic the first serving for instruction the second for praise and the third for exhortation and of each of these he gives examples selected both from scripture and from early teachers of the church syprian and ambrose he shows that these various styles may be mingled and when and for what purposes they are mingled and that they all have the same end in view to bring home the truth to the hearer so that he may understand it hear it with gladness and practice it in his life finally he exhorts the christian teacher himself pointing out the dignity and responsibility of the office he holds to lead a life in harmony with his own teaching and to show a good example to all chapter one this work not intended as a treatise on rhetoric one this work of mine which is entitled on christian doctrine was at the commencement divided into two parts for after a preface in which i answered by anticipation those who were likely to take exception to the work i said there are two things on which all interpretation of scripture depends the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning and the mode of making known the meaning when it is ascertained i shall treat first to the mode of ascertaining next to the mode of making known the meaning as then i have already said a great deal about the mode of ascertaining the meaning and have given three books to this one part of the subject i shall only say a few things about the mode of making known the meaning in order of possible to bring them all within the compass of one book and so finish the whole work in four books two in the first place then i wish by this preamble to put a stop to the expectations of readers who may think that i'm about to lay down rules of rhetoric such as i have learned and taught to in the secular schools and to warn them that they need not look for any such from me not that i think such rules of no use but that whatever use they have is to be learned elsewhere and if any good man should happen to have leisure for learning them he is not to ask me to teach them either in this work or any other chapter two it is lawful for christian teacher to use the art of rhetoric three now the art of rhetoric being available for the enforcing either of truth or falsehood who will dare to say that truth in the person of its defenders is to take it stand unarmed against falsehood for example that those who are trying to persuade men of what is false are to know how to introduce their subject so as to put the hearer into a friendly or attentive or teachable frame of mind while the defenders of the truth shall be ignorant of that art that the former are to tell their falsehoods briefly clearly and plausibly while the latter shall tell the truth in such a way that is tedious to listen to hard to understand and in fine not easy to believe it that the former are to oppose the truth and defend falsehood with sophisticated arguments while the latter shall be unable either to defend what is true or to refute what is false that the former while imbuing the minds of their hearers with erroneous opinions are by their power of speech to awe to melt to enliven and derouse them while the latter shall in defense of the truth be sluggish and frigid and somnolent who is such a fool as to think this wisdom since then the faculty of eloquence is available for both sides and as a very great service in the enforcing either of wrong or right why do not good men study to engage it on the side of truth when bad men use it to obtain the triumph of wicked and worthless causes and to further injustice and error chapter three the proper age and the proper means for acquiring rhetorical skill four but the theories and rules on this subject to which when you add a tongue thoroughly skilled by exercise and habit and the use of many words and many ornaments of speech you have what is called eloquence or oratory may be learned apart from these writings of mine if a suitable space of time be set aside for the purpose at a fit and proper age but only by those who can learn them quickly for the masters of roman eloquence themselves did not shrink from saying that anyone who cannot learn this art quickly can never thoroughly learn it at all whether this be true or not why need we inquire for even if this art can occasionally be in the end mastered by men of slower intellect I do not think it of so much importance as to wish men who have arrived at mature age to spend time in learning it it is enough that boys should give attention to it and even of these not all who are to be fitted for usefulness in the church but only those who are not yet engaged in any occupation a more urgent necessity or which ought evidently to take precedence of it for men a quick intellect and glowing temperament find it easier to become eloquent by reading and listening to eloquent speakers than by following rules for eloquence and even outside the canon which to our great advantage is fixed in a place of secure authority there's no watt of ecclesiastical writings in reading which a man of ability will acquire a tinge of the eloquence with which they are written even though he does not aim at this but his solely intent on the matters treated of especially of course if in addition he practice himself in writing or dictating and at last also in speaking the opinions he has formed on grounds of piety and faith if however such ability be wanting the rules of rhetoric are either not understood or if after great labor has been spent in enforcing them they come to be in some small measure understood they prove of no service for even those who have learned them and who speak with fluency and eloquence cannot always think of them when they are speaking so as to speak in accordance with them unless they are discussing the rules themselves indeed i think there are scarcely any who can do both things that is speak well and in order to do this think of the rules of speaking while they are speaking for we must be careful that what we have got to say does not escape us whilst we are thinking about saying it according to the rules of art nevertheless in the speeches of eloquent men we find rules of eloquence carried out which the speakers did not think of as aids to eloquence at the time when they were speaking whether they had ever learned them or whether they had never even met with them but it is because they are eloquent that they exemplify these rules it is not that they use them in order to be eloquent five and therefore as infants cannot learn to speak except by learning words and phrases from those who do speak why should not men become eloquent without being taught any art of speech simply by reading and learning the speeches of eloquent men and by imitating them as far as they can why do we find from the examples themselves to be the case in this respect we know numbers who without acquaintance with rhetorical rules are more eloquent than many who have learned these but we know no one who is eloquent without having read and listened to the speeches and debates of eloquent men for even the art of grammar which teaches correctness of speech need not be learned by boys if they had the advantage of growing up and living among men who speak correctly for without knowing the names of any of the faults they will from being accustomed to correct speech they hold upon whatever is faulty in the speech of anyone they listen to and avoid it just as city bread men even when illiterate seize upon the faults of rustics chapter four the duty of the christian teacher six it is the duty then of the interpreter and teacher of holy scripture the defender of the true faith and the opponent of era both to teach what is right and to refute what is wrong and in the performance of this task to conciliate the hostile to rouse the careless and to tell the ignorant both what is occurring at present and what is probable in the future but once that his hearers are friendly attentive and ready to learn whether he has found them so or has himself made them so the remaining objects are to be carried out in whatever way the case requires if the hearers need teaching the matter treated of must be made fully known by means of narrative on the other hand to clear up points that are doubtful requires reasoning and the exhibition of proofs if however the hearers require to be roused rather than instructed in order that they may be diligent to do what they already know and to bring their feelings into harmony with the truths they admit greater vigorous speech is needed here in treaties and reproaches exhortations and abradings and all the other means of rousing the emotions are necessary seven and all the methods I have mentioned are constantly used by nearly everyone in cases where speech is the agency employed chapter five wisdom of more importance than eloquence to the christian teacher but as some men employ these coarsely and elegantly and frigidly while others use them with acuteness elegance and spirit the work that i'm speaking of ought to be undertaken by one who can argue and speak with wisdom if not with eloquence and with profit to his hearers even though he profit them less than he would if he could speak with eloquence too but we must beware of the man who abounds in eloquent nonsense and so much the more if the hearer is pleased with what is not worth listening to and thinks that because the speaker is eloquent what he says must be true in this opinion is held even by those who think that the art of rhetoric should be taught but they confess that though wisdom without eloquences of little service to states yet eloquence without wisdom is frequently a positive injury and is of service never if then the men who teach the principles of eloquence have been forced by truth to confess this in the very books which treat of eloquence though they were ignorant of the true that is the heavenly wisdom which comes down from the father of lights how much more ought we to feel it who are the sons and the ministers of this higher wisdom now a man speaks with more or less wisdom just as he has made more or less progress in the knowledge of scriptures i do not mean by reading them much and committing them to memory but by understanding them a right and carefully searching into their meaning for there are who read and yet neglect them they read to remember the words but are careless about knowing the meaning it is plain we must set far above these the men who are not so retentive of the words but see with the eyes of the heart into the heart of scripture better than either of these however the man who when he wishes can repeat the words and at the same time correctly apprehends their meaning eight now it is especially necessary for the man who is bound to speak wisely even though he cannot speak eloquently to retain in memory the words of scripture for the more he discerns the poverty of his own speech the more he ought to draw on the riches of scripture so that what he says in his own words he may prove by the words of scripture and he himself the small and weak in his own words may gain strength and power from the confirming testimony of great men for his proof gives pleasure when he cannot please by his motive speech but if a man desire to speak not only with wisdom but with eloquence also and assuredly he will prove a greater service if he can do both i would rather send him to read and listen to and exercise himself in imitating eloquent men then advise him to spend time with the teachers of rhetoric especially if the men he reads and listens to are justly praised as having spoken or as being accustomed to speak not only with eloquence but with wisdom also for eloquent speakers are heard with pleasure wise speakers with profit and therefore scripture does not say that the multitude of the eloquent but the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world and as we must often swallow wholesome bitters so we must also avoid unwholesome sweets but what is better than wholesome sweets or sweet wholesomeness for the sweeter we try to make such things the easier it is to make their wholesomeness serviceable and so there are writers of the church who have expounded the holy scriptures not only with wisdom but with eloquence as well and there is not more time for the reading of these than is sufficient for those who are studious and at leisure to exhaust them end of section 17 section 18 of unchristian 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 Craig Yusselman de Forest Wisconsin unchristian doctrine by Augustine of Hippo book four chapters six and seven chapter six the sacred writers unite eloquence with wisdom here perhaps someone inquires whether the authors whose divinely inspired writings constitute the canon which carries with it a most wholesome authority are to be considered wise only or eloquent as well a question which to me and to those who think with me is very easily settled for where i understand these writers it seems to me not only that nothing can be wiser but also that nothing can be more eloquent and i venture to affirm that all who truly understand what these writers say perceive at the same time that it could not have been properly said in any other way for as there is a kind of eloquence that is more becoming in youth and a kind that is more becoming in old age and nothing can be called eloquence if it be not suitable to the person of the speaker so there is a kind of eloquence that is becoming in men who justly claim the highest authority and who are evidently inspired of god with this eloquence they spoke no other would have been suitable for them and this itself would be unsuitable in any other for it is in keeping with their character while it mounts as far above that of others not from empty inflation but from solid merit as it seems to fall below them where however i do not understand these writers though their eloquence is then less apparent i have no doubt but that it is of the same kind is that i do understand the very obscurity too of these divine and wholesome words was a necessary element in eloquence of a kind that was designed to profit our understandings not only by the discovery of truth but also by the exercise of their powers i could however if i had time show those men who cry up their own form of language as superior to that of our authors not because of its majesty but because of its inflation that all these powers and beauties of eloquence which they make their boast are to be found in the sacred writings which god in his goodness has provided to mold our characters and to guide us from this world of wickedness to the blessed world above but it is not the qualities which these writers have in common with the heathen orators and poets that give me such unspeakable delight in their eloquence i am more struck with admiration at the way in which by an eloquence particularly their own they so use this eloquence of ours that it is not conspicuous either by its presence or its absence for it did not become them either to condemn it or to make an ostentatious display of it and if they had shunned it they would have done the former if they had made it prominent they might have appeared to be doing the latter and in those passages where the learned do note its presence the matters spoken of are such that the words in which they are put seem not so much to be sought out by the speaker as spontaneously to suggest themselves as if wisdom were walking out of its house that is the breast of the wise man and eloquence like an inseparable attendant followed it without being called for chapter seven examples of true eloquence drawn from the epistles of paul and the prophecies of amos for who would not see what the apostle meant to say and how wisely he has said it in the following passage we glory in the tribulations also knowing the tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost which is given unto us now were any man unlearnedly learned if i may use the expression to contend that the apostle had here followed the rules of rhetoric would not every christian learned or unlearned laugh at him and yet here we find the figure which is called in greek climax and by some in latin gordazio for they do not care to call it scala a ladder when the words and ideas have a connection of dependency the one upon the other as we see here that patience arises out of tribulation experience out of patience and hope out of experience another ornament too is found here for after certain statements finished in a single tone of voice which we call clauses and sections membra et kesa but the greeks cola and comata there follows a rounded sentence ambitus syvei circuitus which the greeks call periodos the clauses of which are suspended on the voice of the speaker till the hole is completed by the last clause four of the statements which precede the period this is the first clause knowing the tribulation worketh patience the second and patience experience the third and experience hope then the period which is subjoint is completed in three clauses of which the first is and hope maketh not ashamed the second because the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts the third by the holy ghost which is given unto us but these and other matters of the same kind are taught in the art of elocution as then i do not affirm that the apostle was guided by the rules of eloquence so i do not deny that his wisdom naturally produced and was accompanied by eloquence in the second epistle to the corinthians again he reviewed certain false apostles who had gone out from the jews and had been trying to injure his character and being compelled to speak of himself though he ascribes this as folly to himself how wisely and how eloquently he speaks but wisdom is his guide eloquence is attendant he follows the first the second follows him and yet he does not spurn it when it comes after him i say again he says let no man think me a fool if otherwise yet as a fool receive me that i may boast myself a little that which i speak i speak it not after the lord but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting seeing that many glory after the flesh i will glory also for ye suffer fools gladly seeing ye yourselves are wise for ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage if a man devour you if a man take of you if a man exalt himself if a man smite you on the face i speak as concerning reproach as though we had been weak how be it wherein so ever any is bold i speak foolishly i am bold also are they hebrews so am i are the israelites so am i are they the seed of abraham so am i are they ministers of christ i speak as a fool i am more in labors more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft of the jews five times received i forty stripes save one thrice was i beaten with rods once was i stoned thrice i suffered shipwreck a night in a day i have been in the deep in journeyings often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by my own countrymen in perils by the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren in weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness besides those things which are without that which cometh upon me daily the care of all the churches who is weak and i am not weak who is offended and i burn not if i must needs glory i will glory of the things which concern my infirmities the thoughtful intent of perceive how much wisdom there is in these words and even a man sound asleep must notice what a stream of eloquence flows through them further still the educated man observes that those sections which the greeks call comata and the clauses and periods of which i spoke a short time ago being intermingled in the most beautiful variety make up the whole form and features so to speak of that diction by which even the unlearned are delighted and affected for from the place where i commence to quote the passage consists of periods the first the smallest possible consisting of two members for a period cannot have less than two members though it may have more i say again let no man thank me a fool the next has three members if otherwise yet as a fool receive me that i may boast myself a little the third has four members that which i speak i speak it not after the lord but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting the fourth has two seeing that many glory after the flesh i will glory also and the fifth has two for you suffer fools gladly seeing ye yourselves are wise the sixth again has two members for ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage then follow three sections kesa if a man devour you if a man take of you if a man exalt himself next three clauses or membra if a man smite you on the face i speak is concerning reproach as though we had been weak then is subjoined a period of three members how be it wherein so ever any is bold i speak foolishly i am bold also after this certain separate sections being put in the interrogatory form separate sections are also given as answers three to three are they hebrus so am i are the israelites so am i are they the seed of abraham so am i but a fourth section being put likewise in the interrogatory form the answer is not given in another section kaism but in a clause membrum are they ministers of christ i speak as a fool i am more than the next four sections are given continuously the interrogatory form being most elegantly suppressed in labors more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft next is interposed a short period for by a suspension of the voice of the jews five times is to be marked off as constituting one member to which is joined the second received i forty stripes save one then he returns to sections and three are set down thrice was i beaten with rods once was i stoned thrice i suffered shipwreck next comes a clause a night at a day i have been in the deep next 14 sections burst forth with a vehemence which is most appropriate in journeyings often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by mine own countrymen in perils by the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren in weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness after this comes a period of three members besides these things which are without that which cometh upon me daily the care of all the churches and to this he adds two clauses with a tone of inquiry who is weak and i am not weak who is offended and i burn not in fine this whole passage as if panting for breath winds up with a period of two members if i must needs glory i will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities and i cannot sufficiently express how beautiful and delightful it is when after this outburst he rests himself and gives the hearer rest by interposing a slight narrative for he goes on to say the god and father of our lord jesus christ which is blessed forever more knoweth that i lie not and then he tells very briefly the danger he had been in and the way he escaped it it would be tedious to pursue the matter further or to point out the same facts in regard to other passages of holy scripture suppose i had taken the further trouble at least in regard to the passages i have quoted from the apostle's writings to point out figures of speech which are taught in the art of rhetoric is it not more likely that sirius ben would think i had gone too far than that any of the studious would think i had done enough all these things when taught by masters are reckoned of great value great prices are paid for them and the vendors puff them magnetically and i fear lest i too should smack of that puffery while thus discounting on members of this kind it was necessary however to reply to the ill-taught men who think our authors contemptible not because they do not possess but because they do not display the eloquence which these men value so highly but perhaps someone is thinking that i have selected the apostle paul because he is our great orator for when he says though i be rude in speech yet not in knowledge he seems to speak as if granting too much to his detractors not as confessing that he recognized its truth if he had said i am indeed rude in speech but not in knowledge we could not in any way have put another meaning upon it he did not hesitate plainly to assert his knowledge because without it he could not have been the teacher of the Gentiles and certainly if we bring forward any of his as a model of the eloquence we take it from those epistles which even is very detractors who thought his bodily presence weak and his speech contemptible confessed to be weighty and powerful i see then that i must say something about the eloquence of the prophets also where many things are concealed under a metaphorical style which the more completely they seem buried under figures of speech give the greater pleasure when brought to light in this place however it is my duty to select a passage of such a kind that i shall not be compelled to explain the matter but only to commend the style and i shall do so quoting principally from the book of that prophet who says that he was a shepherd or herdsman and was called by god from that occupation and sent to prophesy it to the people of god i shall not however follow the septuagint translators who being themselves under the guidance of the holy spirit in their translation seem to have altered some passages with the view of directing the reader's attention more particularly to the investigation of the spiritual sense and hence some passages are more obscure because more figurative in their translation but i shall follow the translation made from the Hebrew into latin by the presbyter Jerome a man thoroughly acquainted with both tongues when then this rustic or quantum rustic prophet was denouncing the godless the proud the luxurious and therefore the most neglectful of brotherly love he called aloud saying woe to you who were at ease in Zion and trust in the mountain of samaria who are heads and chiefs of the people entering with pomp into the house of israel pass ye unto kalna and see and from thence go ye to hammoth the great then go down to gath of the philistines and to all the best kingdoms of these is their border greater than your border ye that are set apart for the day of evil and that come near to the seat of oppression that lie upon beds of ivory and stretch yourselves upon couches that eat the lamb of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the herd that chant to the sound of the vile they thought that they had instruments of music like david drinking wine and bowls and anointing themselves with the costly assointment and they were not grieved for the affliction of joseph suppose those men who assuming to be themselves learned and eloquent despised our prophets as untaught and unskillful of speech had been obliged to deliver a message like this and to men such as these would they have chosen to express themselves in any respect differently those of them at least who would have shrunk from raving like madman for what is there that sober ears could wish changed in this speech in the first place the invective itself with what vehemence it throws itself upon the drowsy senses to startle them into wakefulness woe to you who are at ease in Zion and trust in the mountains of samaria who are heads and chiefs of the people entering with pomp into the house of israel next that he may use the favors of god who has bestowed upon them ample territory to show their ingratitude in trusting to the mountains of samaria where idols were worshiped past ye unto kelna he says and see and from thence go ye to hammoth the great then go down to gath of the philistines and to all the best kingdoms of these is their border greater than your border at the same time also that these things are spoken of the style is adorned with names of places as with lamps such as zion samaria kelna hammoth the great and gath of the philistines then the words joined to these places are most appropriately varied ye are at ease ye trust pass on go descend and then the future captivity under an oppressive king is announced as approaching when it is added ye that are set apart for the day of evil and come nearer to the seed of oppression then are subjoined the evils of luxury ye that lie upon beds of ivory and stretch yourselves upon couches that eat the lamb from the flock and the calves out of the midst of the herd these six clauses form three periods of two members each for he does not see ye who are set apart for the day of evil who come nearer to the seed of oppression who sleep upon beds of ivory who stretch yourselves upon couches who eat the lamb from the flock and calves out of the herd if he had so expressed it this would have had its beauty six separate clauses running on the same pronoun being repeated each time and each clause finished by a single effort of the speaker's voice but it is more beautiful as it is the clause is being joined in pairs under the same pronoun and forming three sentences one referring to the prophecy of the captivity ye that are set apart for the day of evil and come nearer the seed of oppression the second to lasciviousness ye that lie upon the beds of ivory and stretch yourselves upon couches the third to gluttony who eat the lamb from the flock and the calves out of the midst of the herd so that it is at the discretion of the speaker whether he finish each clause separately and make six all together or whether he suspend his voice at the first the third and the fifth and by joining the second to the first the fourth to the third and the sixth to the fifth make three most elegant periods of two members each one describing imminent catastrophe another the lascivious couch and the third the luxurious table next he reproaches them with their luxury in seeking pleasure for the sense of hearing and here when he had said ye who chant to the sound of the vial seeing that wise men may practice music wisely he with wonderful skill of speech checks the flow of his invective and not now speaking to but of these men and to show us that we must distinguish the music of the wise from the music of the voluptuary he does not say ye who chant to the sound of the vial and think that you have instruments of music like david but he first addresses to themselves what it is right the voluptuary should hear ye who chant to the sound of the vial and then turning to others he intimates that these men have not even skill in their art they thought that they had instruments of music like david drinking wine and bowls and anointing themselves with the costly assointment these three clauses are best pronounced when the voice is suspended on the first two members of the period and comes to a pause on the third but now as to the sentence which follows all these and they were not grieved for the affliction of joseph whether this be pronounced continuously as one clause or whether with more elegance we hold the words and they were not grieved suspended on the voice and then add for the affliction of joseph so as to make a period of two members in any case it is a touch of marvelous beauty not to say and they were not grieved for the affliction of their brother but to put joseph for brother so as to indicate brothers in general by the proper name of him who stands out illustrious from among his brethren both in regard to the injuries he suffered and the good return he made and indeed i do not know whether this figure of speech by which joseph is put for brothers in general is one of those laid down in that art which i learned and used to teach but how beautiful it is and how it comes home to the intelligent reader it is useless to tell anyone who does not himself feel it and a number of other points bearing on the laws of eloquence could be found in this passage which i have chosen as an example but an intelligent reader will not be so much instructed by carefully analyzing it as kindled by reciting it with spirit nor was it composed by man's art and care but it flowed forth in wisdom and eloquence from the divine mind wisdom not aiming at eloquence yet eloquence not shrinking from wisdom for if as certain very eloquent and acute men have perceived and said the rules which are laid down in the art of oratory could not have been observed and noted and reduced a system if they had not first had their birth in the genius of orators is it wonderful that they should be found in the messengers of him who is the author of all genius therefore let us acknowledge that the canonical writers are not only wise but eloquent also with an eloquence suited to a character and position like theirs end of section 18 of on christian doctrine