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St. Augustine
On Christian Doctrine
IntraText CT - Text
BOOK II.
chap. 6. Use of the obscurities in Scripture which arise from its figurative language
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chap
.
6
.
Use
of
the
obscurities
in
Scripture
which
arise
from
its
figurative
language
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
.
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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