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ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
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by St Augustine of Hippo |
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Argument
The author divides his work into two parts, one relating to the
discovery, the other to the expression, of the true sense of
Scripture. He shows that to discover the meaning we must attend
both to things and to signs, as it is necessary to know what
things we ought to teach to the Christian people, and also the
signs of these things, that is, where the knowledge of these
things is to be sought.
In this first book he treats of things, which he divides into
three classes,--things to be enjoyed, things to be used, and
things which use and enjoy. The only object which ought to be
enjoyed is the Triune God, who is our highest good and our true
happiness. We are prevented by our sins from enjoying God; and
that our sins might be taken away, "The Word was made Flesh," our
Lord suffered, and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven,
taking to Himself as his bride the Church, in which we receive
remission of our sins. And if our sins are remitted and our souls
renewed by grace, we may await with hope the resurrection of the
body to eternal glory; if not, we shall be raised to everlasting
punishment.
These matters relating to faith having been expounded, the
author goes on to show that all objects, except God, are for use;
for, though some of them may be loved, yet our love is not to rest
in them, but to have reference to God. And we ourselves are not
objects of enjoyment to God: he uses us, but for our own
advantage. He then goes on to show that love--the love of God for
His own sake and the love of our neighbour for God's sake--is the
fulfilment and the end of all Scripture.
After adding a few words about hope, he shows, in conclusion,
that faith, hope, and love are graces essentially necessary for
him who would understand and explain aright the Holy Scriptures.
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Ch 1. The interpretation of
Scripture depends on the discovery and enunciation of the meaning,
and is to be undertaken in dependence on God's aid. |
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1. There are two things on which all interpretation of
Scripture depends: the mode of ascertaining the proper meaning,
and the mode of making known the meaning when it is ascertained.
We shall treat first of the mode of ascertaining, next of the mode
of making known, the meaning;--a great and arduous undertaking,
and one that, if difficult to carry out, it is, I fear,
presumptuous to enter upon. And presumptuous it would undoubtedly
be, if I were counting on my own strength; but since my hope of
accomplishing the work rests on Him who has already supplied me
with many thoughts on this subject, I do not fear but that He will
go on to supply what is yet wanting when once I have begun to use
what He has already given. For a possession which is not
diminished by being shared with others, if it is possessed and not
shared, is not yet possessed as it ought to be possessed. The Lord
saith, "Whosoever has, to him shall be given." If He will give,
then, to those who have; that is to say, if they use freely and
cheerfully what they have received, He will add to and perfect His
gifts. The loaves in the miracle were only five and seven in
number before the disciples began to divide them among the hungry
people. But when once they began to distribute them, though the
wants of so many thousands were satisfied, they filled baskets
with the fragments that were left. Now, just as that bread
increased in the very act of breaking it, so those thoughts which
the Lord has already vouchsafed to me with a view to undertaking
this work will, as soon as I begin to impart them to others, be
multiplied by His grace, so that, in this very work of
distribution in which I have engaged, so far from incurring loss
and poverty, I shall be made to rejoice in a marvellous increase
of wealth.
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Ch 2. What a thing is, and
what a sign |
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2. All instruction is either about things or about signs; but
things are learnt by means of signs. I now use the word "thing" in
a strict sense, to signify that which is never employed as a sign
of anything else: for example, wood, stone, cattle, and other
things of that kind. Not, however, the wood which we read Moses
cast into the bitter waters to make them sweet, nor the stone
which Jacob used as a pillow, nor the ram which Abraham offered up
instead of his son; for these, though they are things, are also
signs of other things. There are signs of another kind, those
which are never employed except as signs: for example, words. No
one uses words except as signs of something else; and hence may be
understood what I call signs: those things, to wit, which are used
to indicate something else. Accordingly, every sign is also a
thing; for what is not a thing is nothing at all. Every thing,
however, is not also a sign. And so, in regard to this distinction
between things and signs, I shall, when I speak of things, speak
in such a way that even if some of them may be used as signs also,
that will not interfere with the division of the subject according
to which I am to discuss things first and signs afterwards. But we
must carefully remember that what we have now to consider about
things is what they are in themselves, not what other things they
are signs of.
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Ch 3. Some things are for
use, some for enjoyment |
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3. There are some things, then, which are to be enjoyed, others
which are to be used, others still which enjoy and use. Those
things which are objects of enjoyment make us happy. Those things
which are objects of use assist, and (so to speak) support us in
our efforts after happiness, so that we can attain the things that
make us happy and rest in them. We ourselves, again, who enjoy and
use these things, being placed among both kinds of objects, if we
set ourselves to enjoy those which we ought to use, are hindered
in our course, and sometimes even led away from it; so that,
getting entangled in the love of lower gratifications, we lag
behind in, or even altogether turn back from, the pursuit of the
real and proper objects of enjoyment.
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Ch 4. Difference of use
and enjoyment |
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4. For to enjoy a thing is to rest with satisfaction in it for its
own sake. To use, on the other hand, is to employ whatever means
are at one's disposal to obtain what one desires, if it is a
proper object of desire; for an unlawful use ought rather to be
called an abuse. Suppose, then, we were wanderers in a strange
country, and could not live happily away from our fatherland, and
that we felt wretched in our wandering, and wishing to put an end
to our misery, determined to return home. We find, however, that
we must make use of some mode of conveyance, either by land or
water, in order to reach that fatherland where our enjoyment is to
commence. But the beauty of the country through which we pass, and
the very pleasure of the motion, charm our hearts, and turning
these things which we ought to use into objects of enjoyment, we
become unwilling to hasten the end of our journey; and becoming
engrossed in a factitious delight, our thoughts are diverted from
that home whose delights would make us truly happy. Such is a
picture of our condition in this life of mortality. We have
wandered far from God; and if we wish to return to our Father's
home, this world must be used, not enjoyed, that so the invisible
things of God may be clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made,--that is, that by means of what is material and
temporary we may lay hold upon that which is spiritual and
eternal.
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