This is true, even though the things to be de- fined or divided are not true. For even false- hood itself is defined when we say that false- hood is the declaration of a state of things which is not as we declare it to be; and this definition is true, although falsehood itself cannot be true. We can also divide it, say- ing that there are two kinds of falsehood, one in regard to things that cannot be true at all, the other in regard to things that are not, though it is possible they might be, true. For example, the man who says that seven and three are eleven, says what cannot be true under any circumstances; but he who says that it rained on the kalends of January, al- though perhaps the fact is not so, says what posssibly might have been. The definition and division, therefore, of what is false maybe perfectly true, although what is false cannot, of course, itself be true.
CHAP. 36. THE RULES OF ELOQUENCE ARE TRUE, THOUGH SOMETIMES USED TO PER- SUADE MEN OF WHAT IS FALSE.
54. There are also certain rules for a more copious kind of argument, which is called eloquence, and these rules are not the less true that they can be used for persuading men of what is false; but as they can be used to en- force the truth as well, it is not the faculty itself that is to be blamed, but the perversity of those who put it to a bad use. Nor is it owing to an arrangement among men that the expression of affection conciliates the hearer, or that a narrative, when it is short and clear, is effective, and that variety arrests men's attention without wearying them. And it is the same with other directions of the same kind, which, whether the cause in which they are used be true or false, are themselves true just in so far as they are effective in pro- ducing knowledge or belief, or in moving men's minds to desire and aversion. And men rather found out that these things are so, than arranged that they should be so.
CHAP. 37. USE OF RHETORIC AND DIALECTIC.
55. This art, however, when it is learnt, is not to be used so much for ascertaining the meaning as for setting forth the meaning when it is ascertained. But the art previously spoken of, which deals with inferences, and definitions, and divisions, is of the greatest assistance in the discovery of the meaning, pro- vided only that men do not fall into the error of supposing that when they have learnt these things they have learnt the true secret of a happy life. Still, it sometimes happens that men find less difficulty in attaining the ob- Chap. XXXIX.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
55.
ject for the sake of which these sciences are learnt, than in going through the very intri- cate and thorny discipline of such rules. It is just as if a man wishing to give rules for walking should warn you not to lift the hin- der foot before you set down the front one, and then should describe minutely the way you ought to move the hinges of the joints and knees. For what he says is true, and one cannot walk in any other way; but men find it easier to walk by executing these move- ments than to attend to them while they are going through them, or to understand when they are told about them. Those, on the other hand, who cannot walk, care still less about such directions, as they cannot prove them by making trial of them. And in the same way a clever man often sees that an inference is unsound more quickly than he apprehends the rules for it. A dull man, on the other hand, does not see the unsoundness, but much less does he grasp the rules. And in regard to all these laws, we derive more pleas- ure from them as exhibitions of truth, than assistance in arguing or forming opinions, ex- cept perhaps that they put the intellect in bet- ter training. We must take care, however, that they do not at the same time make it more inclined to mischief or vanity, — that is to say, that they do not give those who have learnt them an inclination to lead people astray by plausible speech and catching ques- tions, or make them think that they have at- tained some great thing that gives them an advantage over the good and innocent.
CHAP. 38. — THE SCIENCE OF NUMBERS NOT CREATED, BUT ONLY DISCOVERED, BY MAN.
56. Coming now to the science of number, it is clear to the dullest apprehension that this was not created by man, but was discovered by investigation. For, though Virgil could at his own pleasure make the first syllable of Italia long, while the ancients pronounced it short, it is not in any man's power to deter- mine at his pleasure that three times three are not nine, or do not make a square, or are not the triple of three, nor one and a half times the number six, or that it is not true that they are not the double of any number because odd numbers1 have no half. Whether, then, numbers are considered in themselves, or as applied to the laws of figures, or of sounds, or of other motions, they have fixed laws which were not made by man, but which the acuteness of ingenious men brought to light.
57. The man, however, who puts so high a value on these things as to be inclined to boast himself one of the learned, and who does not rather inquire after the source from which those things which he perceives to be true de- rive their truth, and from which those others which he perceives to be unchangeable also derive their truth and unchangeableness, and who, mounting up from bodily appearances to the mind of man, and finding that it too is changeable (for it is sometimes instructed, at other times uninstructed), although it holds a middle place between the unchangeable truth above it and the changeable things beneath it, does not strive to make all things redound to the praise and love of the one God from whom he knows that all things have their being; — the man, I say, who acts in this way may seem to be learned, but wise he cannot in any sense be deemed.
CHAP. 39. TO WHICH OF THE ABOVE-MEN- TIONED STUDIES ATTENTION SHOULD BE GIVEN, AND IN WHAT SPIRIT.
58. Accordingly, I think that it is well to warn studious and able young men, who fear God and are seeking for happiness of life, not to venture heedlessly upon the pursuit of the branches of learning that are in vogue beyond the pale of the Church of Christ, as if these could secure for them the happiness they seek; but soberly and carefully to discriminate among them. And if they find any of those which have been instituted by men varying by reason of the varying pleasure of their founders, and unknown by reason of errone- ous conjectures, especially if they involve en- tering into fellowship with devils by means of leagues and covenants about signs, let these be utterly rejected and held in detestation. Let the young men also withdraw their atten- tion from such institutions of men as are un- necessary and luxurious. But for the sake of the necessities of this life we must not neglect the arrangements of men that enable us to carry on intercourse with those around us. I think, however, there is nothing useful in the other branches of learning that are found among the heathen, except information about objects, either past or present, that relate to the bodily senses, in which are included also the experiments and conclusions of the useful mechanical arts, except also the sciences of reasoning and of number. And in regard to all these we must hold by the maxim, " Not too much of anything; " especially in the case of those which, pertaining as they do to the senses, are subject to the relations of space and time.2 2 Ne quid nitm's. — Terence, A tidria, act i. scene 1.
554 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
[Book II- 59. What, then, some men have done in regard to all words and names found in Script- ure, in the Hebrew, and Syriac, and Egyp- tian, and other tongues, taking up and inter- preting separately such as were left in Script- ure without interpretation; and what Euse- bius has done in regard to the history of the past with a view to the questions arising in Scripture that require a knowledge of history for their solution; — what, I say, these men have done in regard to matters of this kind, making it unnecessary for the Christian to spend his strength on many subjects for the sake of a few items of knowledge, the same, I think, might be done in regard to other matters, if any competent man were willing in a spirit of benevolence to undertake the labor for the advantage of his brethren. In this way he might arrange in their several classes, and give an account of the unknown places, and animals, and plants, and trees, and stones, and metals, and other species of things that are mentioned in Scripture, taking up these only, and committing his account to writing. This might also be done in relation to numbers, so that the theory of those num- bers, and those only, which are mentioned in Holy Scripture, might be explained and written down. And it may happen that some or all of these things have been done already (as I have found that many things I had no notion of have been worked out and committed to writing by good and learned Christians), but are either lost amid the crowds of the care- less, or are kept out of sight by the envious. And I am not sure whether the same thing can be done in regard to the theory of reason- ing; but it seems to me it cannot, because this runs like a system of nerves through the whole structure of Scripture, and on that ac- count is of more service to the reader in dis- entangling and explaining ambiguous pas- sages, of which I shall speak hereafter, than in ascertaining the meaning of unknown signs, the topic I am now discussing.
CHAP. 40. WHATEVER HAS BEEN RIGHTLY SAID BY THE HEATHEN, WE MUST APPROPRIATE TO OUR USES.
60. Moreover, if those who are called phi- losophers, and especially the Platonists, have said aught that is true and in harmony with our faith, we are not only not to shrink from it, but to claim it for our own use from those who have unlawful possession of it. For, as the Egyptians had not only the idols and heavy burdens which the people of Israel hated and fled from, but also vessels and ornaments of gold and silver, and garments, which the same people when going out of Egypt appro- priated to themselves, designing them for a better use, not doing this on their own author- ity, but by the command of God, the Egyp- tians themselves, in their ignorance, providing them with things which they themselves were not making a good use of; * \n the same way all branches of heathen learning have not only false and superstitious fancies and heavy burdens of unnecessary toil, which every one of us, when going out under the leadership of Christ from the fellowship of the heathen, ought to abhor and avoid; but they contain also liberal instruction which is better adapted to the use of the truth, and some most excellent precepts of morality; and some truths in regard even to the worship of the One God are found among them. Now these are, so to speak, their gold and silver, which they did not create themselves, but dug out of the mines of God's providence which are everywhere scattered abroad, and are per- versely and unlaw/ully prostituting to the wor- ship of devils. These, therefore, the Chris- tian, when he separates himself in spirit from the miserable fellowship of these men, ought to take away from them, and to devote to their proper use in preaching the gospel. Their garments, also, — that is, human institutions such as are adapted to that intercourse with men which is indispensable in this life, — we must take and turn to a Christian use.
61. And what else have many good and faithful men among our brethren done? Do we not see with what a quantity of gold and silver and garments Cyprian, that most per- suasive teacher and most blessed martyr, was, loaded when he came out of Egypt? How much Lactantius brought with him? And Victorinus, and Optatus, and Hilary, not to speak of living men! How much Greeks out of number have borrowed! And prior to all these, that most faithful servant of God, Moses, had done the same thing; for of him it is written that he was learned in all the wis- dom of the Egyptians.2 And to none of all these would heathen superstition (especially in those times when, kicking against the yoke of Christ, it was persecuting the Christians) have ever furnished branches of knowledge it held useful, if it had suspected they were about to turn them to the use of worshipping the One God, and thereby overturning the vain worship of idols. But they gave their gold and their silver and their garments to the people of God as they were going out of Egypt, not knowing how the things they gave would be turned to the service of Christ. For 2 Acts vii. 22.
Chap. XLIT.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
555 what was done at the time of the exodus was no doubt a type prefiguring what happens now. And this I say without prejudice to any other interpretation that may be as good, or better.
CHAP. 41. WHAT KIND OF SPIRIT IS REQUIRED FOR THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.
62. But when the student of the Holy Scriptures, prepared in the way I have indi- cated, shall enter upon his investigations, let him constantly meditate upon that saying of the apostle's, " Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." * For so he will feel that, whatever may be the riches he brings with him out of Egypt, yet unless he has kept the pass- over, he cannot be safe. Now Christ is our passover sacrificed for us,2 and there is noth- ing the sacrifice of Christ more clearly teaches us than the call which He himself addresses to those whom He sees toiling in Egypt under Pharaoh: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 3 To whom is it light but to the meek and lowly in heart, whom knowledge doth not puff up, but char- ity edifieth? Let them remember, then, that those who celebrated the passover at that time in type and shadow, when they were ordered to mark their door-posts with the blood of the lamb, used hyssop to mark them with.4 Now this is a meek and lowly herb, and yet nothing is stronger and more penetrating than its roots; that being rooted and grounded in love, we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,5 — that is, to comprehend the cross of our Lord, the breadth of which is indicated by the transverse wood on which the hands are stretched, its length by the part from the ground up to the cross-bar on which the whole body from the head downwards is fixed, its height by the part from the cross- bar to the top on which the head lies, and its depth by the part which is hidden, being fixed in the earth. And by this sign of the cross all Christian action is symbolized, viz., to do good works in Christ, to cling with constancy 1 Cor. viii. 1. 4 Ex. xii. 22.
5 Eph. iii. 17, 18.
to Him, to hope for heaven, and not to dese- crate the sacraments. And purified by this Christian action, we shall be able to know even " the love of Christ which passeth knowl- edge," who is equal to the Father, by whom all things, were made, " that we may be filled with all the fullness of God."6 There is be- sides in hyssop a purgative virtue, that the breast may not be swollen with that knowledge which puffeth up, nor boast vainly of the riches brought out from Egypt. " Purge me with hyssop," the psalmist says,7 " and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness." Then he immediately adds, to show that it is purifying from pride that is indicated by hys- sop, " that the bones which Thou hast broken8 may rejoice."
CHAP. 42. — SACRED SCRIPTURE COMPARED WITH PROFANE AUTHORS.
65. But just as poor as the store of gold and silver and garments which the people of Israel brought with them out of Egypt was in comparison with the riches which they after- wards attained at Jerusalem, and which reached their height in the reign of King Sol- omon, so poor is all the useful knowledge which is gathered from the books of the heathen when compared with the knowledge of Holy Scripture. For whatever man may have learnt from other sources, if it is hurtful, it is there condemned; if it is useful, it is therein contained. And while every man may find there all that he has learnt of use- ful elsewhere, he will find there in much greater abundance things that are to be found nowhere else, but can be learnt only in the wonderful sublimity and wonderful simplicity of the Scriptures.
When, then, the reader is possessed of the instruction here pointed out, so that unknown signs have ceased to be a hindrance to him; when he is meek and lowly of heart, subject to the easy yoke of Christ, and loaded with His light burden, rooted and grounded and built up in faith, so that knowledge cannot puff him up, let him then approach the con- sideration and discussion of ambiguous signs in Scripture. And about these I shall now, in a third book, endeavor to say what the Lord shall be pleased to vouchsafe.
6 Eph. iii. 19. 7 Ps. li. 7, 8. 8 Ossa humiliata, Vulgate.
BOOK III.
ARGUMENT.
THE AUTHOR, HAVING DISCUSSED IN THE PRECEDING BOOK THE METHOD OF DEALING WITH UN- KNOWN SIGNS, GOES ON IN THIS THIRD BOOK TO TREAT OF AMBIGUOUS SIGNS. SUCH SIGNS MAY BE EITHER DIRECT OR FIGURATIVE. IN THE CASE OF DIRECT SIGNS AMBIGUITY MAY ARISE FROM THE PUNCTUATION, THE PRONUNCIATION, OR THE DOUBTFUL SIGNIFICATION OF THE WORDS, AND IS TO BE RESOLVED BY ATTENTION TO THE CONTEXT, A COMPARISON OF TRANSLATIONS, OR A REFERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL TONGUE. IN THE CASE OF FIGURATIVE SIGNS WE NEED TO GUARD AGAINST TWO MISTAKES: 1. THE INTERPRETING LITERAL EX- PRESSIONS FIGURATIVELY; 2. THE INTERPRETING FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS LITERALLY. THE AUTHOR LAYS DOWN RULES BY WHICH WE MAY DECIDE WHETHER AN EXPRESSION IS LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE; THE GENERAL RULE BEING, THAT WHATEVER CAN BE SHOWN TO BE IN ITS LITERAL SENSE INCONSISTENT EITHER WITH PURITY OF LIFE OR CORRECTNESS OF DOCTRINE MUST BE TAKEN FIGURATIVELY. HE THEN GOES ON TO LAY DOWN RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF EXPRESSIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN PROVED TO BE FIGURATIVE; THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE BEING, THAT NO INTERPRETATION CAN BE TRUE WHICH DOES NOT PRO- MOTE THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE LOVE OF MAN. THE AUTHOR THEN PROCEEDS TO EXPOUND AND ILLUSTRATE THE SEVEN RULES OF TICHONIUS THE DONATIST, WHICH HE COMMENDS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE STUDENT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.
CHAP. I. SUMMARY OF THE FOREGOING BOOKS, AND SCOPE OF THAT WHICH FOLLOWS.
i. The man who fears God seeks diligently in Holy Scripture for a knowledge of His will. And when he has become meek through piety, so as to have no love of strife; when furnished also with a knowledge of languages, so as not to be stopped by unknown words and forms of speech, and with the knowledge of certain necessary objects, so as not to be ignorant of the force and nature of those which are used figuratively; and assisted, be- sides, by accuracy in the texts, which has been secured by skill and care in the matter of correction; — when thus prepared, let him proceed to the examination and solution of the ambiguities of Scripture. And that he may not be led astray by ambiguous signs, so far as I can give him instruction (it may happen, however, that either from the greatness of his intellect, or the greater clearness of the light he enjoys, he shall laugh at the methods I am going to point out as childish), — but yet, as I was going to say, so far as I can give instruction, let him who is in such a state of mind that he can be instructed by me know, that the ambiguity of Scripture lies either in proper words or in metaphorical, classes which I have already described in the second book.1 CHAP. 2. RULE FOR REMOVING AMBIGUITY BY ATTENDING TO PUNCTUATION.
2. But when proper words make Scripture ambiguous, we must see in the first place that there is nothing wrong in our punctuation or pronunciation. Accordingly, if, when atten- tion is given to the passage, it shall appear to 1 See Book ii. chap. x.
Chap. III.]
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
557 be uncertain in what way it ought to be punc- tuated or pronounced, let the reader consult the rule of faith which he has gathered from the plainer passages of Scripture, and from the authority of the Church, and of which I treated at sufficient length when I was speak- ing in the first book about things. But if both readings, or all of them (if there are more than two), give a meaning in harmony with the faith, it remains to consult the con- text, both what goes before and what comes after, to see which interpretation, out of many that offer themselves, it pronounces for and permits to be dovetailed into itself.
3. Now look at some examples. The he- retical pointing,1 " In princifiio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat, " 2 so as to make the next sentence run, "Verbum hoc erat in principio apud Deum," 3 arises out of unwillingness to confess that the Word was God. But this must be rejected by the rule of faith, which, in reference to the equality of the Trinity, directs us to say: " et Deus erat verbum; " 4 and then to add: "hoc erat in prin- cipio apud Deum." 5 4. But the following ambiguity of punctua- tion does not go against the faith in either way you take it, and therefore must be decided from the context. It is where the apostle says: "What I shall choose I wot not: for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you."6 Now it is uncertain whether we should read, ' iex duobus concupiscen- tiam habens " [having a desire for two things], or " compellor autem ex duobus" [I am in a strait betwixt two]; and so to add: " concupi- scentiam habens dissolvi, et esse cum Christo" [having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ]. But since there follows " multo cnim magis optimum " [for it is far better], it is evi- dent that he says he has a desire for that which is better; so that, while he is in a strait betwixt two, yet he has a desire for one and sees a necessity for the other; a desire, viz., to be with Christ, and a necessity to remain in the flesh. Now this ambiguity is resolved by one word that follows, which is translated enim [for]; and the translators who have omitted this particle have preferred the inter- pretation which makes the apostle seem not only in a strait betwixt two, but also to have a desire for two.7 We must therefore punctuate 1 John i. 1, 2.
2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was.
3 This Word was in the beginning with God.
4 And the Word was God.
5 The same was in the beginning with God.
6 Phil. i. 22-24.
7 Ihe Vulgate reads, multo magis melius, omitting the enim.
the sentence thus: "et quid etigam ignoro: compellor autem ex duobus''' [what I shall choose I wot not: for I am in a strait be- twixt two]; and after this point follows: " con- cupiscentiam habens dissolvi, et esse cum Chris to" [having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ]. And, as if he were asked why he has a desire for this in preference to the other, he adds: " multo enim magis optimum " [for it is far better]. Why, then, is he in a strait betwixt the two? Because there is a need for his remaining, which he adds in these terms: ' ' manere in came necessarium propter vos ' ' [nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you].