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ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
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by St Augustine of Hippo |
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Argument
Having completed his exposition of things, the author now proceeds
to discuss the subject of
signs. He first defines what a sign is, and shows that there are
two classes of signs, the natural and
the conventional. Of conventional signs (which are the only class
here noticed), words are the
most numerous and important, and are those with which the
interpreter of Scripture is chiefly
concerned. The difficulties and obscurities of Scripture spring
chiefly from two sources, unknown
and ambiguous signs. The present book deals only with unknown
signs, the ambiguities of
language being reserved for treatment in the next book. The
difficulty arising from ignorance of
signs is to be removed by learning the Greek and Hebrew languages,
in which Scripture is written,
by comparing the various translations, and by attending to the
context. In the interpretation of
figurative expressions, knowledge of things is as necessary as
knowledge of words; and the
various sciences and arts of the heathen, so far as they are true
and useful, may be turned to
account in removing our ignorance of signs, whether these be
direct or figurative. Whilst exposing
the folly and futility of many heathen superstitions and
practices, the author points out how all
that is sound and useful in their science and philosophy may be
turned to a Christian use. And in
conclusion, he shows the spirit in which it behoves us to address
ourselves to the study and
interpretation of the sacred books.
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Ch 1. Signs, their nature and variety |
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1. As when I was writing about things, I introduced the subject
with a warning against attending to anything but what they are in
themselves, even though they are signs of something else, so now,
when I come in its turn to discuss the subject of signs, I lay
down this direction, not to attend to what they are in themselves,
but to the fact that they are signs, that is, to what they
signify. For a sign is a thing which, over and above the
impression it makes on the senses, causes something else to come
into the mind as a consequence of itself: as when we see a
footprint, we conclude that an animal whose footprint this is has
passed by; and when we see smoke, we know that there is fire
beneath; and when we hear the voice of a living man, we think of
the feeling in his mind; and when the trumpet sounds, soldiers
know that they are to advance or retreat, or do whatever else the
state of the battle requires.
2. Now some signs are natural, others conventional. Natural signs
are those which, apart from any intention or desire of using them
as signs, do yet lead to the knowledge of something else, as, for
example, smoke when it indicates fire. For it is not from any
intention of making it a sign that it is so, but through attention
to experience we come to know that fire is beneath, even when
nothing but smoke can be seen. And the footprint of an animal
passing by belongs to this class of signs. And the countenance of
an angry or sorrowful man indicates the feeling in his mind,
independently of his will: and in the same way every other emotion
of the mind is betrayed by the telltale countenance, even though
we do nothing with the intention of making it known. This class of
signs however, it is no part of my design to discuss at present.
But as it comes under this division of the subject, I could not
altogether pass it over. It will be enough to have noticed it thus
far.
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Ch 2. In what way man should be enjoyed |
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3. Conventional signs, on the other hand, are those which living
beings mutually exchange for
the purpose of showing, as well as they can, the feelings of their
minds, or their perceptions, or
their thoughts. Nor is there any reason for giving a sign except
the desire of drawing forth and
conveying into another's mind what the giver of the sign has in
his own mind. We wish, then, to
consider and discuss this class of signs so far as men are
concerned with it, because even the signs
which have been given us of God, and which are contained in the
Holy Scriptures, were made
known to us through men--those, namely, who wrote the Scriptures.
The beasts, too, have certain
signs among themselves by which they make known the desires in
their mind. For when the
poultry-cock has discovered food, he signals with his voice for
the hen to run to him, and the
dove by cooing calls his mate, or is called by her in turn; and
many signs of the same kind are
matters of common observation. Now whether these signs, like the
expression or the cry of a man
in grief, follow the movement of the mind instinctively and apart
from any purpose, or whether
they are really used with the purpose of signification, is another
question, and does not pertain to
the matter in hand. And this part of the subject I exclude from
the scope of this work as not
necessary to my present object.
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Ch 3. Christ the first way to God |
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4. Of the signs, then, by which men communicate their thoughts to
one another, some relate to the sense of sight, some to that of
hearing, a very few to the other senses. For, when we nod, we give
no sign except to the eyes of the man to whom we wish by this sign
to impart our desire. And some convey a great deal by the motion
of the hands: and actors by movements of all their limbs give
certain signs to the initiated, and, so to speak, address their
conversation to the eyes: and the military standards and flags
convey through the eyes the will of the commanders. And all these
signs are as it were a kind of visible words. The signs that
address themselves to the ear are, as I have said, more numerous,
and for the most part consist of words. For though the bugle and
the flute and the lyre frequently give not only a sweet but a
significant sound, yet all these signs are very few in number
compared with words. For among men words have obtained far and
away the chief place as a means of indicating the thoughts of the
mind. Our Lord, it is true, gave a sign through the odour of the
ointment which was poured out upon His feet; and in the sacrament
of His body and blood He signified His will through the sense of
taste; and when by touching the hem of His garment the woman was
made whole, the act was not wanting in significance. But the
countless multitude of the signs through which men express their
thoughts consist of words. For I have been able to put into words
all those signs, the various classes of which I have briefly
touched upon, but I could by no effort express words in terms of
those signs.
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Ch 4. The fulfilment and end
of Scripture is the love of God and our neighbour |
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5. But because words pass away as soon as they strike upon
the air, and last no longer than their
sound, men have by means of letters formed signs of words. Thus
the sounds of the voice are
made visible to the eye, not of course as sounds, but by means of
certain signs. It has been found
impossible, however, to make those signs common to all nations
owing to the sin of discord
among men, which springs from every man trying to snatch the chief
place for himself. And that
celebrated tower which was built to reach to heaven was an
indication of this arrogance of spirit;
and the ungodly men concerned in it justly earned the punishment
of having not their minds only,
but their tongues besides, thrown into confusion and discordance.
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Ch 5. That interpretation of
Scripture which builds us up in love is not perniciously deceptive
nor mendacious, even though it be faulty. The interpreter, however
should be corrected. |
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6. And hence it happened that even Holy Scripture, which
brings a remedy for the terrible
diseases of the human will, being at first set forth in one
language, by means of which it could at
the fit season be disseminated through the whole world, was
interpreted into various tongues, and
spread far and wide, and thus became known to the nations for
their salvation. And in reading it,
men seek nothing more than to find out the thought and will of
those by whom it was written, and
through these to find out the will of God, in accordance with
which they believe these men to
have spoken.
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Ch 6. Dangers of mistaken interpretation |
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7. But hasty and careless readers are led astray by many and
manifold obscurities and
ambiguities, substituting one meaning for another; and in some
places they cannot hit upon even a
fair interpretation. Some of the expressions are so obscure as to
shroud the meaning in the
thickest darkness. And I do not doubt that all this was divinely
arranged for the purpose of
subduing pride by toil, and of preventing a feeling of satiety in
the intellect, which generally holds
in small esteem what is discovered without difficulty. For why is
it, I ask, that if any one says that
there are holy and just men whose life and conversation the Church
of Christ uses as a means of
redeeming those who come to it from all kinds of superstitions,
and making them through their
imitation of good men members of its own body; men who, as good
and true servants of God,
have come to the baptismal font laying down the burdens of the
world, and who rising thence do,
through the implanting of the Holy Spirit, yield the fruit of a
twofold love, a love, that is, of God
and their neighbour;--how is it, I say, that if a man says this,
he does not please his hearer so much
as when he draws the same meaning from that passage in Canticles,
where it is said of the Church,
when it is being praised under the figure of a beautiful woman,
"Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep
that are shorn, which came up from the washing, whereof every one
bears twins, and none is
barren among them?" Does the hearer learn anything more than when
he listens to the same
thought expressed in the plainest language, without the help of
this figure? And yet, I don't know
why, I feel greater pleasure in contemplating holy men, when I
view them as the teeth of the
Church, tearing men away from their errors, and bringing them into
the church's body, with all
their harshness softened down, just as if they had been torn off
and masticated by the teeth. It is
with the greatest pleasure, too, that I recognize them under the
figure of sheep that have been
shorn, laying down the burthens of the world like fleeces, and
coming up from the washing, i.e., from baptism, and all bearing
twins, i.e., the twin commandments of love, and none among them
barren in that holy fruit.
8. But why I view them with greater delight under that aspect
than if no such figure were drawn from the sacred books, though
the fact would remain the same and the knowledge the same, is
another question, and one very difficult to answer. Nobody,
however, has any doubt about the facts, both that it is pleasanter
in some cases to have knowledge communicated through figures and
that what is attended with difficulty in the seeking gives greater
pleasure in the finding.--For those who seek but do not find
suffer from hunger. Those, again, who do not seek at all because
they have what they require just beside them often grow languid
from satiety. Now weakness from either of these causes is to be
avoided. Accordingly the Holy Spirit has, with admirable wisdom
and care for our welfare, so arranged the Holy Scriptures as by
the plainer passages to satisfy our hunger, and by the more
obscure to stimulate our appetite. For almost nothing is dug out
of those obscure passages which may not be found set forth in the
plainest language elsewhere. |
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