Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series • VOLUME 1
Augustine — Confessions & Letters
SECTION 121
Chapter III.--He Begins from the Creation of the World--Not Understanding the Hebrew Text.
Chapter III.--He Begins from the Creation of the World--Not Understanding the Hebrew Text. 5. Let me hear and understand how in the beginning Thou didst make the heaven and the earth. [1024] Moses wrote this; he wrote and departed,--passed hence from Thee to Thee. Nor now is he before me; for if he were I would hold him, and as…
715 wordsSECTION 122Chapter V.--God Created the World Not from Any Certain Matter, But in His Own Word.
Chapter V.--God Created the World Not from Any Certain Matter, But in His Own Word. 7. But how didst Thou make the heaven and the earth, and what was the instrument of Thy so mighty work? For it was not as a human worker fashioning body from body, according to the fancy of his mind, in somewise able to assign a form which it pe…
771 wordsSECTION 123Chapter VII.--By His Co-Eternal Word He Speaks, and All Things are Done.
Chapter VII.--By His Co-Eternal Word He Speaks, and All Things are Done. 9. Thou callest us, therefore, to understand the Word, God with Thee, God, [1032] which is spoken eternally, and by it are all things spoken eternally. For what was spoken was not finished, and another spoken until all were spoken; but all things at once a…
756 wordsSECTION 124Chapter IX.--Wisdom and the Beginning.
Chapter IX.--Wisdom and the Beginning. 11. In this Beginning, O God, hast Thou made heaven and earth,--in Thy Word, in Thy Son, in Thy Power, in Thy Wisdom, in Thy Truth, wondrously speaking and wondrously making. Who shall comprehend? who shall relate it? What is that which shines through me, and strikes my heart without injur…
706 wordsSECTION 125Chapter XII.--What God Did Before the Creation of the World.
Chapter XII.--What God Did Before the Creation of the World. 14. Behold, I answer to him who asks, "What was God doing before He made heaven and earth?" I answer not, as a certain person is reported to have done facetiously (avoiding the pressure of the question), "He was preparing hell," saith he, "for those who pry into myste…
830 wordsSECTION 126Chapter XV.--There is Only a Moment of Present Time.
Chapter XV.--There is Only a Moment of Present Time. 18. And yet we say that "time is long and time is short;" nor do we speak of this save of time past and future. A long time past, for example, we call a hundred years ago; in like manner a long time to come, a hundred years hence. But a short time past we call, say, ten days …
814 wordsSECTION 127Chapter XVI.--Time Can Only Be Perceived or Measured While It is Passing.
Chapter XVI.--Time Can Only Be Perceived or Measured While It is Passing. 21. And yet, O Lord, we perceive intervals of times, and we compare them with themselves, and we say some are longer, others shorter. We even measure by how much shorter or longer this time may be than that; and we answer, "That this is double or treble, …
853 wordsSECTION 128Chapter XIX.--We are Ignorant in What Manner God Teaches Future Things.
Chapter XIX.--We are Ignorant in What Manner God Teaches Future Things. 25. Thou, therefore, Ruler of Thy creatures, what is the method by which Thou teachest souls those things which are future? For Thou hast taught Thy prophets. What is that way by which Thou, to whom nothing is future, dost teach future things; or rather of …
911 wordsSECTION 129Chapter XXIII.--That Time is a Certain Extension.
Chapter XXIII.--That Time is a Certain Extension. 29. I have heard from a learned man that the motions of the sun, moon, and stars constituted time, and I assented not. [1048] For why should not rather the motions of all bodies be time? What if the lights of heaven should cease, and a potter's wheel run round, would there be no…
793 wordsSECTION 130Chapter XXIV.--That Time is Not a Motion of a Body Which We Measure by Time.
Chapter XXIV.--That Time is Not a Motion of a Body Which We Measure by Time. 31. Dost Thou command that I should assent, if any one should say that time is "the motion of a body?" Thou dost not command me. For I hear that no body is moved but in time. This Thou sayest; but that the very motion of a body is time, I hear not; Tho…
935 wordsSECTION 131Chapter XXVII.--Times are Measured in Proportion as They Pass by.
Chapter XXVII.--Times are Measured in Proportion as They Pass by. 34. Persevere, O my mind, and give earnest heed. od is our helper; He made us, and not we ourselves. [1052] Give heed, where truth dawns. Lo, suppose the voice of a body begins to sound, and does sound, and sounds on, and lo! it ceases,--it is now silence, and th…
1,147 wordsSECTION 132Chapter XXVIII.--Time in the Human Mind, Which Expects, Considers, and Remembers.
Chapter XXVIII.--Time in the Human Mind, Which Expects, Considers, and Remembers. 37. But how is that future diminished or consumed which as yet is not? Or how doth the past, which is no longer, increase, unless in the mind which enacteth this there are three things done? For it both expects, and considers, and remembers, that …
859 wordsSECTION 133Chapter XXX.--Again He Refutes the Empty Question, "What Did God Before the Creation of the World?"
Chapter XXX.--Again He Refutes the Empty Question, "What Did God Before the Creation of the World?" 40. And I will be immoveable, and fixed in Thee, in my mould, Thy truth; nor will I endure the questions of men, who by a penal disease thirst for more than they can hold, and say, "What did God make before He made heaven and ear…
837 wordsSECTION 134Book XII.
Book XII. ------------------------ He continues his explanation of the first Chapter of Genesis according to the Septuagint, and by its assistance he argues, especially, concerning the double heaven, and the formless matter out of which the whole world may have been created; afterwards of the interpretations of others not disa…
742 wordsSECTION 135Chapter IV.--From the Formlessness of Matter, the Beautiful World Has Arisen.
Chapter IV.--From the Formlessness of Matter, the Beautiful World Has Arisen. 4. What, then, should it be called, that even in some ways it might be conveyed to those of duller mind, save by some conventional word? But what, in all parts of the world, can be found nearer to a total formlessness than the earth and the deep? For,…
982 wordsSECTION 136Chapter VIII.--Heaven and Earth Were Made "In the Beginning;" Afterwards the World, During Six Days, from Shapeless Matter.
Chapter VIII.--Heaven and Earth Were Made "In the Beginning;" Afterwards the World, During Six Days, from Shapeless Matter. 8. But that heaven of heavens was for Thee, O Lord; but the earth, which Thou hast given to the sons of men, [1083] to be seen and touched, was not such as now we see and touch. For it was invisible and "w…
832 wordsSECTION 137Chapter XI.--What May Be Discovered to Him by God.
Chapter XI.--What May Be Discovered to Him by God. 11. Already hast Thou told me, O Lord, with a strong voice, in my inner ear, that Thou art eternal, having alone immortality. [1089] Since Thou art not changed by any shape or motion, nor is Thy will altered by times, because no will which changes is immortal. This in Thy sight…
800 wordsSECTION 138Chapter XII.--From the Formless Earth God Created Another Heaven and a Visible and Formed Earth.
Chapter XII.--From the Formless Earth God Created Another Heaven and a Visible and Formed Earth. 15. Which things considered as much as Thou givest, O my God, as much as Thou excitest me to "knock," and as much as Thou openest unto me when I knock, [1099] two things I find which Thou hast made, not within the compass of time, s…
786 wordsSECTION 139Chapter XV.--He Argues Against Adversaries Concerning the Heaven of Heavens.
Chapter XV.--He Argues Against Adversaries Concerning the Heaven of Heavens. 18. "Will you say that these things are false, which, with a strong voice, Truth tells me in my inner ear, concerning the very eternity of the Creator, that His substance is in no wise changed by time, nor that His will is separate from His substance? …
1,299 wordsSECTION 140Chapter XVI.--He Wishes to Have No Intercourse with Those Who Deny Divine Truth.
Chapter XVI.--He Wishes to Have No Intercourse with Those Who Deny Divine Truth. 23. With such as grant that all these things which Thy truth indicates to my mind are true, I desire to confer a little before Thee, O my God. For let those who deny these things bark and drown their own voices with their clamour as much as they pl…
1,182 wordsSECTION 141Chapter XVIII.--What Error is Harmless in Sacred Scripture.
Chapter XVIII.--What Error is Harmless in Sacred Scripture. 27. All which things having been heard and considered, I am unwilling to contend about words, [1132] for that is profitable to nothing but to the subverting of the hearers. [1133] But the law is good to edify, if a man use it lawfully; [1134] for the end of it "is char…
711 wordsSECTION 142Chapter XX.--Of the Words, "In the Beginning," Variously Understood.
Chapter XX.--Of the Words, "In the Beginning," Variously Understood. 29. From all these truths, of which they doubt not whose inner eye Thou hast granted to see such things, and who immoveably believe Moses, Thy servant, to have spoken in the spirit of truth; from all these, then, he taketh one who saith, "In the beginning God …
901 wordsSECTION 143Chapter XXII.--He Discusses Whether Matter Was from Eternity, or Was Made by God. [1140]
Chapter XXII.--He Discusses Whether Matter Was from Eternity, or Was Made by God. [1140] 31. For, should any one endeavour to contend against these last two opinions, thus,--"If you will not admit that this formlessness of matter appears to be called by the name of heaven and earth, then there was something which God had not ma…
865 wordsSECTION 144Chapter XXIV.--Out of the Many True Things, It is Not Asserted Confidently that Moses Understood This or That.
Chapter XXIV.--Out of the Many True Things, It is Not Asserted Confidently that Moses Understood This or That. 33. But which of us, amid so many truths which occur to inquirers in these words, understood as they are in different ways, shall so discover that one interpretation as to confidently say "that Moses thought this," and…
1,175 wordsSECTION 145Chapter XXVI.--What He Might Have Asked of God Had He Been Enjoined to Write the Book of Genesis.
Chapter XXVI.--What He Might Have Asked of God Had He Been Enjoined to Write the Book of Genesis. 36. And yet, O my God, Thou exaltation of my humility, and rest of my labour, who hearest my confessions, and forgivest my sins, since Thou commandest me that I should love my neighbour as myself, I cannot believe that Thou gavest …
1,152 wordsSECTION 146Chapter XXIX.--Concerning the Opinion of Those Who Explain It "At First He Made."
Chapter XXIX.--Concerning the Opinion of Those Who Explain It "At First He Made." 40. But he who does not otherwise understand, "In the beginning He made," than if it were said, "At first He made," can only truly understand heaven and earth of the matter of heaven and earth, namely, of the universal, that is, intelligible and c…
814 wordsSECTION 147Chapter XXX.--In the Great Diversity of Opinions, It Becomes All to Unite Charity and Divine Truth.
Chapter XXX.--In the Great Diversity of Opinions, It Becomes All to Unite Charity and Divine Truth. 41. In this diversity of true opinions let Truth itself beget concord; [1162] and may our God have mercy upon us, that we may use the law lawfully, [1163] the end of the commandment, pure charity. [1164] And by this if any one as…
995 wordsSECTION 148Book XIII.
Book XIII. ------------------------ Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Gen. I.) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally,…
1,027 wordsSECTION 149Chapter III.--Genesis I. 3,--Of "Light,"--He Understands as It is Seen in the Spiritual Creature.
Chapter III.--Genesis I. 3,--Of "Light,"--He Understands as It is Seen in the Spiritual Creature. 4. But what Thou saidst in the beginning of the creation, "Let there be light, and there was light," [1176] I do not unfitly understand of the spiritual creature; because there was even then a kind of life, which Thou mightest illu…
891 wordsSECTION 150Chapter VII.--That the Holy Spirit Brings Us to God.
Chapter VII.--That the Holy Spirit Brings Us to God. 8. Hence let him that is able now follow Thy apostle with his understanding where he thus speaks, because Thy love "is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us;" [1182] and where, "concerning spiritual gifts," he teacheth and showeth unto us a more …
1,105 wordsSECTION 151Chapter IX.--Why the Holy Spirit Was Only "Borne Over" The Waters.
Chapter IX.--Why the Holy Spirit Was Only "Borne Over" The Waters. 10. But was not either the Father or the Son "borne over the waters?" If we understand this to mean in space, as a body, then neither was the Holy Spirit; but if the incommutable super-eminence of Divinity above everything mutable, then both Father, and Son, and…
1,522 wordsSECTION 152Chapter XII.--Allegorical Explanation of Genesis, Chap. I., Concerning the Origin of the Church and Its Worship.
Chapter XII.--Allegorical Explanation of Genesis, Chap. I., Concerning the Origin of the Church and Its Worship. 13. Proceed in thy confession, say to the Lord thy God, O my faith, Holy, Holy, Holy, O Lord my God, in Thy name have we been baptized, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in Thy name do we baptize, Father, Son, and Holy Gh…
981 wordsSECTION 153Chapter XIV.--That Out of the Children of the Night and of the Darkness, Children of the Light and of the Day are Made.
Chapter XIV.--That Out of the Children of the Night and of the Darkness, Children of the Light and of the Day are Made. 15. And so say I too, O my God, where art Thou? Behold where Thou art! In Thee I breathe a little, when I pour out my soul by myself in the voice of joy and praise, the sound of him that keeps holy-day. [1241]…
1,544 wordsSECTION 154Chapter XVI.--That No One But the Unchangeable Light Knows Himself.
Chapter XVI.--That No One But the Unchangeable Light Knows Himself. 19. For altogether as Thou art, Thou only knowest, Who art unchangeably, and knowest unchangeably, and willest unchangeably. And Thy Essence Knoweth and Willeth unchangeably; and Thy Knowledge Is, and Willeth unchangeably; and Thy Will Is, and Knoweth unchangea…
781 wordsSECTION 155Chapter XVIII.--Of the Lights and Stars of Heaven--Of Day and Night, Ver. 14.
Chapter XVIII.--Of the Lights and Stars of Heaven--Of Day and Night, Ver. 14. 22. Thus, O Lord, thus, I beseech Thee, let there arise, as Thou makest, as Thou givest joy and ability,--let "truth spring out of the earth, and righteousness look down from heaven," and let there be "lights in the firmament." [1294] Let us break our…
1,507 wordsSECTION 156Chapter XIX.--All Men Should Become Lights in the Firmament of Heaven.
Chapter XIX.--All Men Should Become Lights in the Firmament of Heaven. 24. But first, "Wash you, make you clean;" [1315] put away iniquity from your souls, and from before mine eyes, that the dry land may appear. "Learn to do well; judge the fatherless; plead for the widow," [1316] that the earth may bring forth the green herb …
742 wordsSECTION 157Chapter XX.--Concerning Reptiles and Flying Creatures (Ver. 20),--The Sacrament of Baptism Being Regarded.
Chapter XX.--Concerning Reptiles and Flying Creatures (Ver. 20),--The Sacrament of Baptism Being Regarded. 26. Let the sea also conceive and bring forth your works, and let the waters bring forth the moving creatures that have life. [1338] For ye, who "take forth the precious from the vile," [1339] have been made the mouth of G…
745 wordsSECTION 158Chapter XXI.--Concerning the Living Soul, Birds, and Fishes (Ver. 24)--The Sacrament of the Eucharist Being Regarded.
Chapter XXI.--Concerning the Living Soul, Birds, and Fishes (Ver. 24)--The Sacrament of the Eucharist Being Regarded. 29. And hereby, in Thy Word, not the depth of the sea, but the earth parted from the bitterness of the waters, [1346] bringeth forth not the creeping and flying creature that hath life, [1347] but the living sou…
1,292 wordsSECTION 159Chapter XXII.--He Explains the Divine Image (Ver. 26) of the Renewal of the Mind.
Chapter XXII.--He Explains the Divine Image (Ver. 26) of the Renewal of the Mind. 32. For behold, O Lord our God, our Creator, when our affections have been restrained from the love of the world, by which we died by living ill, and began to be a "living soul" by living well; [1369] and Thy word which Thou spakest by Thy apostle…
1,508 wordsSECTION 160Chapter XXIV.--Why God Has Blessed Men, Fishes, Flying Creatures, and Not Herbs and the Other Animals (Ver. 28).
Chapter XXIV.--Why God Has Blessed Men, Fishes, Flying Creatures, and Not Herbs and the Other Animals (Ver. 28). 35. But what is this, and what kind of mystery is it? Behold, Thou blessest men, O Lord, that they may "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth;" [1389] in this dost Thou not make a sign unto us that we may…
919 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.