Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series • VOLUME 2
Augustine — City of God & Christian Doctrine
SECTION 401
Chapter 13.--Same Subject, Continued.
Chapter 13.--Same Subject, Continued. 21. Whatever, then, is in accordance with the habits of those with whom we are either compelled by necessity, or undertake as a matter of duty, to spend this life, is to be turned by good and great men to some prudent or benevolent end, either directly, as is our duty, or figuratively, as i…
879 wordsSECTION 402Chapter 17.--Some Commands are Given to All in Common, Others to Particular Classes.
Chapter 17.--Some Commands are Given to All in Common, Others to Particular Classes. 25. Again, it often happens that a man who has attained, or thinks he has attained, to a higher grade of spiritual life, thinks that the commands given to those who are still in the lower grades are figurative; for example, if he has embraced a…
708 wordsSECTION 403Chapter 19.--Wicked Men Judge Others by Themselves.
Chapter 19.--Wicked Men Judge Others by Themselves. 28. But those who, giving the rein to lust, either wander about steeping themselves in a multitude of debaucheries, or even in regard to one wife not only exceed the measure necessary for the procreation of children, but with the shameless licence of a sort of slavish freedom …
1,024 wordsSECTION 404Chapter 22.--Rule Regarding Passages of Scripture in Which Approval is Expressed of Actions Which are Now Condemned by Good Men.
Chapter 22.--Rule Regarding Passages of Scripture in Which Approval is Expressed of Actions Which are Now Condemned by Good Men. 32. Therefore, although all, or nearly all, the transactions recorded in the Old Testament are to be taken not literally only, but figuratively as well, nevertheless even in the case of those which th…
1,048 wordsSECTION 405Chapter 26.--Obscure Passages are to Be Interpreted by Those Which are Clearer.
Chapter 26.--Obscure Passages are to Be Interpreted by Those Which are Clearer. Now from the places where the sense in which they are used is more manifest we must gather the sense in which they are to be understood in obscure passages. For example, there is no better way of understanding the words addressed to God, "Take hold …
1,198 wordsSECTION 406Chapter 30.--The Rules of Tichonius the Donatist Examined.
Chapter 30.--The Rules of Tichonius the Donatist Examined. 42. One Tichonius, who, although a Donatist himself, has written most triumphantly against the Donatists (and herein showed himself of a most inconsistent disposition, that he was unwilling to give them up altogether), wrote a book which he called the Book of Rules, bec…
891 wordsSECTION 407Chapter 32.--The Second Rule of Tichonius.
Chapter 32.--The Second Rule of Tichonius. 45. The second rule is about the twofold division of the body of the Lord; but this indeed is not a suitable name, for that is really no part of the body of Christ which will not be with Him in eternity. We ought, therefore, to say that the rule is about the true and the mixed body of …
876 wordsSECTION 408Chapter 34.--The Fourth Rule of Tichonius.
Chapter 34.--The Fourth Rule of Tichonius. 47. The fourth rule of Tichonius is about species and genus. For so he calls it, intending that by species should be understood a part, by genus the whole of which that which he calls species is a part: as, for example, every single city is a part of the great society of nations: the c…
1,539 wordsSECTION 409Chapter 35.--The Fifth Rule of Tichonius.
Chapter 35.--The Fifth Rule of Tichonius. 50. The fifth rule Tichonius lays down is one he designates of times,--a rule by which we can frequently discover or conjecture quantities of time which are not expressly mentioned in Scripture. And he says that this rule applies in two ways: either to the figure of speech called synecd…
1,579 wordsSECTION 410Chapter 37.--The Seventh Rule of Tichonius.
Chapter 37.--The Seventh Rule of Tichonius. 55. The seventh rule of Tichonius and the last, is about the devil and his body. For he is the head of the wicked, who are in a sense his body, and destined to go with him into the punishment of everlasting fire, just as Christ is the head of the Church, which is His body, destined to…
729 wordsSECTION 411Book IV.
Book IV. ------------------------ 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 Christ…
876 wordsSECTION 412Chapter 3.--The Proper Age and the Proper Means for Acquiring Rhetorical Skill.
Chapter 3.--The Proper Age and the Proper Means for Acquiring Rhetorical Skill. 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 the…
746 wordsSECTION 413Chapter 4.--The Duty of the Christian Teacher.
Chapter 4.--The Duty of the Christian Teacher. 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…
920 wordsSECTION 414Chapter 6.--The Sacred Writers Unite Eloquence with Wisdom.
Chapter 6.--The Sacred Writers Unite Eloquence with Wisdom. 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,…
2,220 wordsSECTION 41515. But perhaps some one is thinking that I have selected the Apostle Paul because he is our great orator. For when he says, "Though I be ru
15. But perhaps some one is thinking that I have selected the Apostle Paul because he is our great orator. For when he says, "Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge," [1945] he seems to speak as if granting so much to his detractors, not as confessing that he recognized its truth. If he had said, "I am indeed rude in s…
1,778 wordsSECTION 416Chapter 8.--The Obscurity of the Sacred Writers, Though Compatible with Eloquence, Not to Be Imitated by Christian Teachers.
Chapter 8.--The Obscurity of the Sacred Writers, Though Compatible with Eloquence, Not to Be Imitated by Christian Teachers. 22. But although I take some examples of eloquence from those writings of theirs which there is no difficulty in understanding, we are not by any means to suppose that it is our duty to imitate them in th…
1,380 wordsSECTION 417Chapter 11.--The Christian Teacher Must Speak Clearly, But Not Inelegantly.
Chapter 11.--The Christian Teacher Must Speak Clearly, But Not Inelegantly. 26. For teaching, of course, true eloquence consists, not in making people like what they disliked, nor in making them do what they shrank from, but in making clear what was obscure; yet if this be done without grace of style, the benefit does not exten…
898 wordsSECTION 418Chapter 13.--The Hearer Must Be Moved as Well as Instructed.
Chapter 13.--The Hearer Must Be Moved as Well as Instructed. 29. But for the sake of those who are so fastidious that they do not care for truth unless it is put in the form of a pleasing discourse, no small place has been assigned in eloquence to the art of pleasing. And yet even this is not enough for those stubborn-minded me…
910 wordsSECTION 419Chapter 15.--The Christian Teacher Should Pray Before Preaching.
Chapter 15.--The Christian Teacher Should Pray Before Preaching. 32. And so our Christian orator, while he says what is just, and holy, and good (and he ought never to say anything else), does all he can to be heard with intelligence, with pleasure, and with obedience; and he need not doubt that if he succeed in this object, an…
1,009 wordsSECTION 420Chapter 17.--Threefold Division of The Various Styles of Speech.
Chapter 17.--Threefold Division of The Various Styles of Speech. 34. He then who, in speaking, aims at enforcing what is good, should not despise any of those three objects, either to teach, or to give pleasure, or to move, and should pray and strive, as we have said above, to be heard with intelligence, with pleasure, and with…
1,197 wordsSECTION 421Chapter 19.--The Christian Teacher Must Use Different Styles on Different Occasions.
Chapter 19.--The Christian Teacher Must Use Different Styles on Different Occasions. 38. And yet, while our teacher ought to speak of great matters, he ought not always to be speaking of them in a majestic tone, but in a subdued tone when he is teaching, temperately when he is giving praise or blame. When, however, something is…
2,238 wordsSECTION 42243. And in the same way, writing to the Romans, he urges that the persecutions of this world should be overcome by charity, in assured relia
43. And in the same way, writing to the Romans, he urges that the persecutions of this world should be overcome by charity, in assured reliance on the help of God. And he treats this subject with both power and beauty: "We know," he says, "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called a…
709 wordsSECTION 423Chapter 21.--Examples of the Various Styles, Drawn from the Teachers of the Church, Especially Ambrose and Cyprian.
Chapter 21.--Examples of the Various Styles, Drawn from the Teachers of the Church, Especially Ambrose and Cyprian. 45. But these writings of the apostles, though clear, are yet profound, and are so written that one who is not content with a superficial acquaintance, but desires to know them thoroughly, must not only read and h…
2,425 wordsSECTION 424Chapter 22.--The Necessity of Variety in Style.
[1989] John xv. 1. [1990] Gen. ix. 20-24. [1991] Gen. xiv. 18, 19. [1992] Ps. cx. 4. [1993] Ad. Cæcilium, Ep. 63, 1, 2. [1994] Judges vi. 14-21. [1995] 1 Cor. x. 4. [1996] Num. xi. 4. [1997] Luke xii. 49. [1998] De Spiritu Sancto, lib. i. Prol. [1999] De habitu Virginum, chap. vii. [2000] 1 Cor. xv. 49. [2001] De hab…
1,196 wordsSECTION 425Chapter 25.--How the Temperate Style is to Be Used.
Chapter 25.--How the Temperate Style is to Be Used. 55. From all this we may conclude, that the end arrived at by the two styles last mentioned is the one which it is most essential for those who aspire to speak with wisdom and eloquence to secure. On the other hand, what the temperate style properly aims at, viz., to please by…
1,134 wordsSECTION 426Chapter 27.--The Man Whose Life is in Harmony with His Teaching Will Teach with Greater Effect.
Chapter 27.--The Man Whose Life is in Harmony with His Teaching Will Teach with Greater Effect. 59. But whatever may be the majesty of the style, the life of the speaker will count for more in securing the hearer's compliance. The man who speaks wisely and eloquently, but lives wickedly, may, it is true, instruct many who are a…
963 wordsSECTION 427Chapter 29.--It is Permissible for a Preacher to Deliver to the People What Has Been Written by a More Eloquent Man Than Himself.
Chapter 29.--It is Permissible for a Preacher to Deliver to the People What Has Been Written by a More Eloquent Man Than Himself. If, however, he cannot do even this, let his life be such as shall not only secure a reward for himself, but afford an example to others; and let his manner of living be an eloquent sermon in itself.…
817 wordsSECTION 428Chapter 31.--Apology for the Length of the Work.
Chapter 31.--Apology for the Length of the Work. 64. This book has extended to a greater length than I expected or desired. But the reader or hearer who finds pleasure in it will not think it long. He who thinks it long, but is anxious to know its contents, may read it in part. He who does not care to be acquainted with it need…
1,805 wordsSECTION 429Books opened; the, [223]434*
Books opened; the, [223]434* Bread, they that were full of, --who? [224]341. Breathing, the, of God, when man was made a living soul, distinguished from the breathing of Christ on His disciples, [225]259. Brutus, Junius, his unjust treatment of Tarquinius Collatinus, [226]32, [227]52, [228]53; kills his own son, [229]99. Bul…
2,208 wordsSECTION 430Elias, the coming of, before the judgment, [548]448.
Elias, the coming of, before the judgment, [548]448. Elisha and Gehazi, [549]507, [550]508. Emotions, mental, opinions of the Peripatetics and Stoics respecting, [551]167, [552]168. Emotions and affections, good and bad, [553]266, [554]267, [555]268. Emperors, the Christian, the happiness of, [556]104, etc. Empire, a great,…
2,201 wordsSECTION 431Happy man, the, described by contrast, [822]66.
Happy man, the, described by contrast, [822]66. Heaven, God shall call to, [823]445. Hebrew Bible, the, and the Septuagint, --which to be followed in computing the years of the antediluvians, [824]293, etc. Hebrew language, the original, [825]317, etc.; written character of, [826]383. Hebrews, the Epistle to the, [827]323. …
2,230 wordsSECTION 432Ninus, [1197]362.
Ninus, [1197]362. Noah, commanded by God to build an ark, [1198]306; whether after, till Abraham, any family can be found who lived according to God, [1199]309; what was prophetically signified by the sons of? [1200]309; the nakedness of, revealed by Ham, but covered by Shem and Japheth, its typical significance, [1201]310; the…
2,352 wordsSECTION 433Rome, the sack of, by the Barbarians, 1; the evils inflicted on the Christians in the sack of, --why permitted, [1509]18; the iniquities pra
Rome, the sack of, by the Barbarians, 1; the evils inflicted on the Christians in the sack of, --why permitted, [1509]18; the iniquities practised in the palmiest days of, [1510]32, etc.; the corruption which has grown up in, before Christianity, [1511]33, etc.; Cicero's opinion of the republic of, [1512]35; frost and snow incre…
2,201 wordsSECTION 434ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
Wisdom, the Book of, a prophecy of Christ in, [1876]357. Wives, how the Romans obtained their first, [1877]48. Woman, shall she retain her sex in the resurrection? [1878]495; the formation of, from a rib of sleeping Adam, a type, [1879]496. World, the, not eternal, [1880]206; the infinite ages before, not to be comprehended, …
782 wordsSECTION 435Letter, the, killeth, expounded, [1992]559, etc.
Letter, the, killeth, expounded, [1992]559, etc. Logical sequence, valid, not devised, but only observed by man, [1993]551. Lot, the, for deciding whom to aid, [1994]530. Love to God and our neighbor, includes love to ourselves, [1995]529; the order of, [1996]530; never faileth, [1997]533; its import, [1998]561. Lucus-quod m…
2,542 wordsSECTION 436Index of German Words and Phrases
Index of German Words and Phrases * (Des heiligen Kirchenvaters Augustinus zwei und zwanzig Bücher über den Gottesstaat: [3739]1 * (Vier Bücher über die christliche Lehre: [3740]1 * ,: [3741]1 * Geschichte der jüd. Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu: [3742]1 * Ueber Entstehung, Inhalt und Werth der sibyll. Bücher: [3743]1 Index of Frenc…
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Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.