Blessed Augustine of Hippo

On Christian Doctrine

5th c.

Classic translation

Dogmatic & Doctrinal · English translation, 1890

Contents

• On Christian Doctrine
• Introductory Note by the Editor
• Contents of Christian Doctrine
• Preface
• Containing a General View of the Subjects Treated in Holy Scripture
• Introduction
• The Interpretation of Scripture Depends on the Discovery and Enunciation of the…
• What a Thing Is, and What A Sign
• Some Things Are for Use, Some for Enjoyment
• Difference of Use and Enjoyment
• The Trinity the True Object of Enjoyment
• In What Sense God is Ineffable
• What All Men Understand by the Term God
• God to Be Esteemed Above All Else, Because He is Unchangeable Wisdom
• All Acknowledge the Superiority of Unchangeable Wisdom to That Which is Variable
• To See God, the Soul Must Be Purified
• Wisdom Becoming Incarnate, a Pattern to Us of Purification
• In What Sense the Wisdom of God Came to Us
• The Word Was Made Flesh
• How the Wisdom of God Healed Man
• Faith is Buttressed by the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, and is…
• Christ Purges His Church by Medicinal Afflictions
• Christ, by Forgiving Our Sins, Opened the Way to Our Home
• The Keys Given to the Church
• Bodily and Spiritual Death and Resurrection
• The Resurrection to Damnation
• Neither Body Nor Soul Extinguished at Death
• God Alone to Be Enjoyed
• Man Needs No Injunction to Love Himself and His Own Body
• No Man Hates His Own Flesh, Not Even Those Who Abuse It
• A Man May Love Something More Than His Body, But Does Not Therefore Hate His…
• The Command to Love God and Our Neighbor Includes a Command to Love Ourselves
• The Order of Love
• How We Are to Decide Whom to Aid
• We Are to Desire and Endeavor That All Men May Love God
• Whether Angels Are to Be Reckoned Our Neighbors
• God Uses Rather Than Enjoys Us
• In What Way God Uses Man
• In What Way Man Should Be Enjoyed
• Christ the First Way to God
• The Fulfillment and End of Scripture is the Love of God and Our Neighbor
• That Interpretation of Scripture Which Builds Us Up in Love is Not Perniciously…
• Dangers of Mistaken Interpretation
• Love Never Faileth
• He Who is Mature in Faith, Hope and Love, Needs Scripture No Longer
• What Manner of Reader Scripture Demands
• Book II
• Introduction (i)
• Signs, Their Nature and Variety
• Of the Kind of Signs We Are Now Concerned With
• Among Signs, Words Hold the Chief Place
• Origin of Writing
• Scripture Translated Into Various Languages
• Use of the Obscurities in Scripture Which Arise From Its Figurative Language
• Steps to Wisdom: First, Fear; Second, Piety; Third, Knowledge; Fourth…
• The Canonical Books
• How We Should Proceed in Studying Scripture
• Unknown or Ambiguous Signs Prevent Scripture From Being Understood
• Knowledge of Languages, Especially of Greek and Hebrew, Necessary to Remove…
• A Diversity of Interpretations is Useful. Errors Arising From Ambiguous Words
• How Faulty Interpretations Can Be Emended
• How the Meaning of Unknown Words and Idioms is to Be Discovered
• Among Versions a Preference is Given to the Septuagint and the Itala
• The Knowledge Both of Language and Things is Helpful for the Understanding of…
• Origin of the Legend of the Nine Muses
• No Help is to Be Despised, Even Though It Come From a Profane Source
• Two Kinds Of Heathen Knowledge
• The Superstitious Nature of Human Institutions
• Superstition of Astrologers
• The Folly of Observing the Stars in Order to Predict the Events of a Life
• Why We Repudiate Arts of Divination
• The Intercourse and Agreement With Demons Which Superstitious Observances…
• In Human Institutions Which Are Not Superstitious, There Are Some Things…
• What Human Contrivances We Are to Adopt, and What We Are to Avoid
• Some Departments of Knowledge, Not of Mere Human Invention, Aid Us in…
• To What Extent History is an Aid
• To What Extent Natural Science is an Exegetical Aid
• What the Mechanical Arts Contribute to Exegetics
• Use of Dialectics. Of Fallacies
• Valid Logical Sequence is Not Devised But Only Observed by Man
• False Inferences May Be Drawn From Valid Reasonings, and Vice Versa
• It is One Thing to Know the Laws of Inference, Another to Know the Truth of…
• The Science of Definition is Not False, Though It May Be Applied to Falsities
• The Rules of Eloquence Are True, Though Sometimes Used to Persuade Men of What…
• Use of Rhetoric and Dialectic
• The Science of Numbers Not Created, But Only Discovered, by Man
• To Which of the Above-Mentioned Studies Attention Should Be Given, and in What…
• Whatever Has Been Rightly Said by the Heathen, We Must Appropriate to Our Uses
• What Kind of Spirit is Required for the Study of Holy Scripture
• Sacred Scripture Compared With Profane Authors
• Book III
• Introduction (i, 2)
• Summary of the Foregoing Books, and Scope of That Which Follows
• Rule for Removing Ambiguity by Attending to Punctuation
• How Pronunciation Serves to Remove Ambiguity. Different Kinds of Interrogation
• How Ambiguities May Be Solved
• It is a Wretched Slavery Which Takes the Figurative Expressions of Scripture in…
• Utility of the Bondage of the Jews
• The Useless Bondage of the Gentiles
• The Jews Liberated From Their Bondage in One Way, the Gentiles in Another
• Who is in Bondage to Signs, and Who Not
• How We Are to Discern Whether a Phrase is Figurative
• Rule for Interpreting Phrases Which Seem to Ascribe Severity to God and the…
• Rule for Interpreting Those Sayings and Actions Which Are Ascribed to God and…
• Same Subject, Continued
• Error of Those Who Think That There is No Absolute Right and Wrong
• Rule for Interpreting Figurative Expressions
• Rule for Interpreting Commands and Prohibitions
• Some Commands Are Given to All in Common, Others to Particular Classes
• We Must Take Into Consideration the Time at Which Anything Was Enjoyed or…
• Wicked Men Judge Others by Themselves
• Consistency of Good Men in All Outward Circumstances
• David Not Lustful, Though He Fell Into Adultery
• Rule Regarding Passages of Scripture in Which Approval is Expressed of Actions…
• Rule Regarding the Narrative of Sins of Great Men
• The Character of the Expressions Used is Above All to Have Weight
• The Same Word Does Not Always Signify the Same Thing
• Obscure Passages Are to Be Interpreted by Those Which Are Clearer
• One Passage Susceptible of Various Interpretations
• It is Safer to Explain a Doubtful Passage by Other Passages of Scripture Than…
• The Knowledge of Tropes is Necessary
• The Rules of Tichonius the Donatist Examined
• The First Rule of Tichonius
• The Second Rule of Tichonius
• The Third Rule of Tichonius
• The Fourth Rule of Tichonius
• The Fifth Rule of Tichonius
• The Sixth Rule of Tichonius
• The Seventh Rule of Tichonius
• Book IV
• Introduction (i, 3)
• This Work Not Intended as a Treatise on Rhetoric
• It is Lawful for a Christian Teacher to Use the Art of Rhetoric
• The Proper Age and the Proper Means for Acquiring Rhetorical Skill
• The Duty of the Christian Teacher
• Wisdom of More Importance Than Eloquence to the Christian Teacher
• The Sacred Writers Unite Eloquence With Wisdom
• Examples of True Eloquence Drawn From the Epistles of Paul and the Prophecies…
• The Obscurity of the Sacred Writers, Though Compatible With Eloquence, Not to…
• How, and With Whom, Difficult Passages Are to Be Discussed
• The Necessity for Perspicuity of Style
• The Christian Teacher Must Speak Clearly, But Not Inelegantly
• The Aim of the Orator, According to Cicero, is to Teach, to Delight, and to…
• The Hearer Must Be Moved as Well as Instructed
• Beauty of Diction to Be in Keeping With the Matter
• The Christian Teacher Should Pray Before Preaching
• Human Directions Not to Be Despised, Though God Makes the True Teacher
• Threefold Division of The Various Styles of Speech
• The Christian Orator is Constantly Dealing With Great Matters
• The Christian Teacher Must Use Different Styles on Different Occasions
• Examples of the Various Styles Drawn From Scripture
• Examples of the Various Styles, Drawn From the Teachers of the Church…
• The Necessity of Variety in Style
• How the Various Styles Should Be Mingled
• The Effects Produced by the Majestic Style
• How the Temperate Style is to Be Used
• In Every Style the Orator Should Aim at Perspicuity, Beauty, and Persuasiveness
• The Man Whose Life is in Harmony With His Teaching Will Teach With Greater…
• Truth is More Important Than Expression. What is Meant by Strife About Words
• It is Permissible for a Preacher to Deliver to the People What Has Been Written…
• The Preacher Should Commence His Discourse With Prayer to God
• Apology for the Length of the Work