Here there follows " The tree of life also was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Next the river is mentioned which watered the garden, and which was parted into four heads, the sources 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 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 ac- curately mark and understand the recapitula- 1 Rev. vii. 4.
2 Gen. ii. 8, 9.
3 Gen. ii. 15.
tion by which the narrative reverts to what had 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."4 And, again, when the sons of Shem are enumer- ated: "These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations."5 And it is added in reference to them all: "These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their gen- erations, in their nations; and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. And the whole earth was of one lan- guage and of one speech."6 Now the addi- tion 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 recapitu- lation it is added, "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech, ' ' the nar- rative 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 house-top, and his stuff in the 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."7 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 to long after the past life which they have 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 4 Gen. x. 20.
Chap. XXXVII.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
5 73 or despised? And yet because Scripture says, " In that day," the time of the revela- tion 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 apos- tles proclaimed: 'Little children, it is the last time."1 The very time then when the gospel is preached, up to the time that the Lord shall be revealed, is the day in which men ought to give heed to these sayings: for to the same day, which shall be brought to a close by a day of judgment, belongs that very revelation of the Lord here spoken of.2 CHAP. 37. THE SEVENTH RULE OF TICHONIUS.
55. The seventh rule of Tichonius and the last, is about the devil mid 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 and 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 the 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 Isaiah, " How he is fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! " 3 and the other statements of the context which, under the figure of the king of Babylon, are made about the same person, are of course to be under- stood of the devil; and yet the statement which is made in the same place, "He is ground down on the earth, who sendeth to all 1 1 John ii. 18.
2 Comp. Rom. ii. 5.
3 Isa. xiv. 12 (LXX..). " How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! " (A. V.).
nations,"4 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 figura- tive diction; and this kind of diction, it seems to me, is too widely spread to be compre- hended 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 ex- ternal 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, in 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 docu- ments ought to be counselled not only to make themselves acquainted 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 un- derstanding; " 5 and it is from Him they have received their very desire for knowledge, if it is wedded to piety. But about signs, so far as relates to words, I have 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.
4 Isa. xiv. 12 (LXX.). " How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! " (A. V.).
5 Prov. ii. 6.
BOOK IV.
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 SPECIALLY NECESSARY FOR THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER, WHOM IT BEHOVES TO EXCEL IN ELOQUENCE AND POWER OF SPEECH. AFTER DETAILING WITH MUCH CARE AND MINUTE- NESS 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 COM- BINATION OF ELOQUENCE WITH WISDOM. HE POINTS OUT THAT PERSPICUITY IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL QUALITY OF STYLE, AND OUGHT TO BE CULTIVATED WITH ESPECIAL 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 ZEAL- OUS AND DILIGENT IN 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, CYPRIAN 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 PRACTISE 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.
CHAP. I. THIS WORK NOT INTENDED AS A TREATISE ON RHETORIC.
known, the meaning." ' As, then, I have al- ready 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 if possible to bring them all within the compass of one book, and so finish the whole work in four books, of ascertaining the proper meaning, and the 2- \n. the first P'ace, then, I wish by this i. 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 in- terpretation of Scripture depends: the mode yjL cisL-ciiciiuiug uie proper meaning, ana the "" x J,~ yia^> t«cu, ± wion lJy umo mode of making known the meaning when it Preamrjle to put a stop to the expectations of is ascertained. I shall treat first of the mode rea<Jers who may think that I am about to lay of ascertaining, next of the mode of making I ', Book L chap. u ' Chap. III.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
575 down rules of rhetoric such as I have learnt, and taught too, 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 learnt 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.
CHAP. 2. IT IS LAWFUL FOR A CHRISTIAN TEACHER TO USE THE ART OF RHETORIC.
3. Now, the art of rhetoric being available for the enforcing either of truth or falsehood, who will dare to say that truth in the person of its defenders is to take its stand unarmed against falsehood? For example, that those who are trying to persuade men of what is false are to know how to introduce their sub- ject, so as to put the hearer into a friendly, or attentive, or teachable frame of mind, while the defenders of the truth shall be ig- norant 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 it 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 sophistical arguments, while the latter, shall be unable either to defend what is true, or to refute what is false? That the former, while imbu- ing the minds of their hearers with erroneous opinions, are by their power of speech to awe, to melt, to enliven, and to rouse them, while the latter shall in defence 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 is of 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?
CHAP. 3. THE PROPER AGE AND THE PROPER MEANS FOR ACQUIRING RHETORICAL SKILL.
4. But the theories and rules on this sub- ject (to which, when you add a tongue thor- oughly skilled by exercise and habit in the use of many words and many ornaments of speech, you have what is called eloquence or oratory) may be learnt apart from these writ- ings 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 any one who cannot learn this art quickly can never thoroughly learn it at all.1 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 of more urgent necessity, or which ought evidently to take precedence of -it. For men of quick intellect and glowing temperament find it easier to be- come 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 is no want 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 is solely intent on the matters treated of; especially, of course, if in addition he practise 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 want- ing, the rules of rhetoric are either not under- stood, 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 learnt them, and who speak with fluency and ele- gance, cannot always think of them when they are speaking so as to speak in accord- ance 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 learnt them, or whether they had never even met with them. For it is because they are elo- quent that they exemplify these rules; it is not that they use them in order to be elo- quent.
5. And, therefore, as infants cannot learn to speak except by learning words and phrases from those who do speak, why should not 1 Cicero de Oratore, iii. 31; Quinctil. Inst. Orat. i. i, 2.
57^ ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book IV.
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? And what do we find from the examples them- selves to be the case in this respect? We know numbers who, without acquaintance with rhetorical rules, are more eloquent than many who have learnt these; but we know no one who is eloquent without having read and listened to the speeches and debates of elo- quent men. For even the art of grammar, which teaches correctness of speech, need not be learnt by boys, if they have 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, lay hold upon whatever is faulty in the speech of any one they listen to, and avoid it; just as city- bred men, even when illiterate, seize upon the faults of rustics.
CHAP. 4. THE DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER.
6. It is the duty, then, of the interpreter and teacher of Holy Scripture, the defender of the true faith and the opponent of error, both to teach what is right and to refute what is wrong, and in the performance of this task to conciliate the hostile, to rouse the care- less, and to tell the ignorant both what is oc- curring 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 exhibi- tion of proofs. If, however, the hearers re- quire 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 vigor of speech is needed. Here en- treaties and reproaches, exhortations and up- braidings, and all the other means of rousing the emotions, are necessary.
7. And all the methods I have mentioned are constantly used by nearly every one in cases where speech is the agency employed.
CHAP. 5. — WISDOM OF MORE IMPORTANCE THAN ELOQUENCE TO THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER.
But as some men employ these coarsely, inelegantly, and frigidly, while others use them with acuteness, elegance, and spirit, the work that I am speaking of ought to be un- dertaken 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. And this opinion is held even by those who think that the art of rheto- ric should be taught: for they confess that '' though wisdom without eloquence is of little service to states, yet eloquence without wis- dom is frequently a positive injury, and is of service never." J 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 wis- dom which comes down from the Father of Lights, how much more ought vve 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 Scripture; I do not mean by reading them much and committing them to memory, but by understanding them aright 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, is the man who, when he wishes, can repeat the words, and at the same time correctly appre- hends their meaning.
8. Now it is especially necessary for the man who is bound to speak wisely, even though he cannot speak eloquently, to retain in memory the words of Scripture. For the more he discerns the poverty of his own speech, the more he ought to draw on the riches of Scripture, so that what he says in his own words he may prove by the words of Scripture; and he himself, though 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 mode of speech. But if a man desire to speak not only with wisdom, but with eloquence also (and as- suredly he will prove of greater service if 1 Cicero, de Inventione Rhetorica, i. 1.
Chap. VII.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
577 he can do both), I would rather send him to read, and listen to, and exercise himself in imitating, eloquent men, than advise him to spend time with the teachers of rheto- ric; 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 elo- quent speakers are heard with pleasure; wise speakers with profit. And, therefore, Script- ure does not say that the multitude of the eloquent, but " the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world." x And as we must often swallow wholesome bitters, so we must always avoid unwholesome sweets. But what is better than wholesome sweetness 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 ex- pounded 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.
CHAP. 6. — THE SACRED WRITERS UNITE ELO- QUENCE WITH WISDOM.
9. Here, perhaps, some one inquires whether the authors whose divinely-inspired writings constitute the canon, which carries with it a most wholesome authority, are to be considered wise only, or eloquent as well. A question which to me, and to those who think with me, is very 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