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ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
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by St Augustine of Hippo |
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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 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
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 zealous
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 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.
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Ch 1. This work not intended as a
treatise on rhetoric |
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1. 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 of the mode of ascertaining,
next of 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 if possible to bring them all within
the compass of one book, and so finish the whole work in four
books.
2. In the first place, then, I wish by this preamble to put a stop
to the expectations of readers who may think that I am about to
lay 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.
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Ch 2. It is lawful for a Christian
teacher to use the art of rhetoric |
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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 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 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 imbuing 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 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 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?
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Ch 3. The proper age and the proper
means for acquiring rhetorical skill |
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4. But the theories and rules on this subject (to which, when you
add a tongue thoroughly 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
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 sayings any one
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 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 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 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
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
labour 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
elegance, 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 learnt them, or
whether they had never even met with them. For it is because they
are eloquent that they
exemplify these rules; it is not that they use them in order to be
eloquent.
5. 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? And what 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 learnt 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 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 citybred men, even
when illiterate, seize upon the faults
of rustics.
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Ch 4. The duty of the Christian teacher |
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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 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 vigour of speech is
needed. Here entreaties and reproaches, exhortations and
upbraidings, 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.
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Ch 5. Wisdom of more importance than
eloquence to the Christian teacher |
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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 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. And this opinion is held even by those who think that the
art of rhetoric should be taught: for they confess that "though
wisdom without eloquence is 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 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 apprehends 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 assuredly he
will prove of greater service if 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 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
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
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.
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Ch 6.The sacred writers unite eloquence
with wisdom |
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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 understand these writers, though
their eloquence is then less apparent, I have no doubt but that it
is of the same kind as 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.
10. 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
those 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 mould 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 peculiarly 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.
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