Christian.net

(Augustine, Christian Doctrine. part 9)

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.

Chap. 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 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.

Chap. 5.--Wisdom of more importance than eloquence to the Christian
teacher

  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.

Chap. 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, 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.


Chap. 7.--Examples of true eloquence drawn from the epistles of Paul and
the prophecies of Amos

  11. For who would not see what the apostle meant to say, and how wisely
he has said it, in the following passage: "We glory in tribulations also:
knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and
experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us"? Now
were any man unlearnedly learned (if I may use the expression) to contend
that the apostle had here followed the rules of rhetoric, would not every
Christian, learned or unlearned, laugh at him? And yet here we find the
figure which is called in Greek "klimax" (climax,) and by some in Latin
gradatio, for they do not care to call it scala (a ladder), when the
words and ideas have a connection of dependency the one upon the other,
as we see here that patience arises out of tribulation, experience out of
patience, and hope out of experience. Another ornament, too, is found
here; for after certain statements finished in a single tone of voice,
which we call clauses and sections (membra et caesa), but the Greeks
"koola" and "kommata", there follows a rounded sentence (ambitus sive
circuitus) which the Greeks call "periodos", the clauses of which are
suspended on the voice of the speaker till the whole is completed by the
last clause. For of the statements which precede the period; this is the
first clause, "knowing that tribulation worketh patience;" the second,
"and patience, experience;" the third, "and experience, hope." Then the
period which is subjoined is completed in three clauses, of which the
first is, "and hope maketh not ashamed;" the second, "because the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts;" the third, "by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us." But these and other matters of the same kind are taught
in the art of elocution. As then I do not affirm that the apostle was
guided by the rules of eloquence, so I do not deny that his wisdom
naturally produced, and was accompanied by, eloquence.
  12. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, again, he refutes certain
false apostles who had gone out from the Jews, and had been trying to
injure his character; and being compelled to speak of himself though he
ascribes this as folly to himself how wisely and how eloquently he
speaks! But wisdom is his guide, eloquence his attendant; he follows the
first, the second follows him, and yet he does not spurn it when it comes
after him. "I say again," he says, "Let no man think me a fool: if
otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.
That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were

foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after
the flesh, I will glory also. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye
yourselves are wise. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a
man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man
smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had
been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold (I speak foolishly), I am
bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are
they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak
as a fool), I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes above
measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times
received I forty stripes save one, thrice was I beaten with rods, once
was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been
in the deep; in journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of
robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Besides those things which are without, that which comets upon me daily,
the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is
offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the
things which concern my infirmities." The thoughtful and attentive
perceive how much wisdom there is in these words. And even a man sound
asleep must notice what a stream of eloquence flows through them.
  13. Further still, the educated man observes that those sections which
the Greeks call "kommata", and the clauses and periods of which I spoke a
short time ago, being intermingled in the most beautiful variety, make up
the whole form and features (so to speak) of that diction by which even
the unlearned are delighted and affected. For, from the place where I
commenced to quote, the passage consists of periods: the first the
smallest possible, consisting of two members; for a period cannot have
less than two members, though it may have more: "I say again, let no man
think me a fool." The next has three members: "if otherwise, yet as a
fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little." The third has four
members: "That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it
were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting." The fourth has two:
"Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also." And the
fifth has two: "For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are
wise." The sixth again has two members: "for ye suffer, if a man bring
you into bondage." Then follow three sections (caesa): "if a man devour
you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself." Next three clauses
(membra): if "a man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning
reproach, as though we had been weak." Then is subjoined a period of
three members: "Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold (I speak foolishly), I
am bold also." After this, certain separate sections being put in the
interrogatory form, separate sections are also given as answers, three to
three: "Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they

the seed of Abraham? so am I." But a fourth section being put likewise in
the interrogatory form, the answer is given not in another section
(caesum) but in a clause (membrum): "Are they the ministers of Christ? (I
speak as a fool.) I am more." Then the next four sections are given
continuously, the interrogatory form being most elegantly suppressed: "in
labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more
frequent, in deaths oft." Next is interposed a short period; for, by a
suspension of the voice, "of the Jews five times" is to be marked off as
constituting one member, to which is joined the second, "received I forty
stripes save one." Then he returns to sections, and three are set down:
"Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck." Next comes a clause: "a night and a day I have been in the
deep." Next fourteen sections burst forth with a vehemence which is most
appropriate: "In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of
robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings
often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."
After this comes in a period of three members: "Besides those things
which are without, that which comets upon me daily, the care of all the
churches." And to this he adds two clauses in a tone of inquiry: "Who is
weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?" In fine, this
whole passage, as if panting for breath, winds up with a period of two
members: "If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern
mine infirmities." And I cannot sufficiently express how beautiful and
delightful it is when after this outburst he rests himself, and gives the
hearer rest, by interposing a slight narrative. For he goes on to say:
"The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for
evermore, knoweth that I lie not." And then he tells, very briefly the
danger he had been in, and the way he escaped it.
  14. It would be tedious to pursue the matter further, or to point out
the same facts in regard to other passages of Holy Scripture. Suppose I
had taken the further trouble, at least in regard to the passages I have
quoted from the apostle's writings, to point out figures of speech which
are taught in the art of rhetoric? Is it not more likely that serious men
would think I had gone too far, than that any of the studious would think

I had done enough? All these things when taught by masters are reckoned
of great value; great prices are paid for them, and the vendors puff them
magniloquently. And I fear lest I too should smack of that puffery while
thus descanting on matters of this kind. It was necessary, however, to
reply to the ill-taught men who think our authors contemptible; not
because they do not possess, but because they do not display, the
eloquence which these men value so highly.
  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," 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 speech, but not in knowledge," we
could not in any way have put another meaning upon it. He did not
hesitate plainly to assert his knowledge, because without it he could not
have been the teacher of the Gentiles. And certainly if we bring forward
anything of his as a model of eloquence, we take it from those epistles
which even his very detractors, who thought his bodily presence weak and
his speech contemptible, confessed to be weighty and powerful.
  I see, then, that I must say something about the eloquence of the
prophets also, where many things are concealed under a metaphorical
style, which the more completely they seem buried under figures of
speech, give the greater pleasure when brought to light. In this place,
however, it is my duty to select a passage of such a kind that I shall
not be compelled to explain the matter, but only to commend the style.
And I shall do so, quoting principally from the book of that prophet who
says that he was a shepherd or herdsman, and was called by God from that
occupation, and sent to prophesy to the people of God. I shall not,
however, follow the Septuagint translators, who, being themselves under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their translation, seem to have
altered some passages with the view of directing the reader's attention
more particularly to the investigation of the spiritual sense; (and hence
some passages are more obscure, because more figurative, in their
translation;) but I shall follow the translation made from the Hebrew
into Latin by the presbyter Jerome, a man thoroughly acquainted with both
tongues.
  16. When, then, this rustic, or quondam rustic prophet, was denouncing
the godless, the proud, the luxurious, and therefore the most neglectful
of brotherly love, he called aloud, saying: "Woe to you who are at ease
in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are heads and chiefs
of the people, entering with pomp into the house of Israel! Pass ye unto
Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down
to Gath of the Philistines, and to all the best kingdoms of these: is
their border greater than your border? Ye that are set apart for the day
of evil, and that come near to the seat of oppression; that lie upon beds
of ivory, and stretch yourselves upon couches; that eat the lamb of the
flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd; that chant to the

sound of the viol. They thought that they had instruments of music like
David; drinking wine in bowls, and anointing themselves with the
costliest ointment: and they were not grieved for the affliction of
Joseph." Suppose those men who, assuming to be themselves learned and
eloquent, despise our prophets as untaught and unskilful of speech, had
been obliged to deliver a message like this, and to men such as these,
would they have chosen to express themselves in any respect
differently--those of them, at least, who would have shrunk from raving
like madmen?
  17. For what is there that sober ears could wish changed in this
speech? In the first place, the invective itself; with what vehemence it
throws itself upon the drowsy senses to startle them into wakefulness:
"Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountains of
Samaria, who are heads and chiefs of the people, entering with pomp into
the house of Israel!" Next, that he may use the favours of God, who has
bestowed upon them ample territory, to show their ingratitude in trusting
to the mountain of Samaria, where idols were worshipped: "Pass ye unto
Calneh," he says, "and see, and from thence go ye to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines, and to all the best kingdoms of
these: is their border greater than your border?" At the same time also
that these things are spoken of, the style is adorned with names of
places as with lamps, such as "Zion," "Samaria," "Calneh," "Hamath the
great," and "Gath of the Philistine." Then the words joined to these
places are most appropriately varied: "ye are at ease," "ye trust," "pass
on," "go," "descend."
  18. And then the future captivity under an oppressive king is announced
as approaching, when it is added: "Ye that are set apart for the day of
evil, and come near to the seat of oppression." Then are subjoined the
evils of luxury: "ye that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch yourselves
upon couches; that eat the lamb from the flock, and the calves out of the
midst of the herd." These six clauses form three periods of two members
each. For he does not say: "Ye who are set apart for the day of evil, who
come near to the seat of oppression, who sleep upon beds of ivory, who
stretch yourselves upon couches, who eat the lamb from the flock, and
calves out of the herd." If he had so expressed it, this would have had
its beauty: six separate clauses running on, the same pronoun being
repeated each time, and each clause finished by a single effort of the
speaker's voice. But it is more beautiful as it is, the clauses being
joined in pairs under the same pronoun, and forming three sentences, one
referring to the prophecy of the captivity: "Ye that are set apart for
the day of evil, and come near the seat of oppression;" the second to
lasciviousness: "ye that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch yourselves
upon couches;" the third to gluttony: "who eat the lamb from the flock,
and the calves out of the midst of the herd." So that it is at the

discretion of the speaker whether he finish each clause separately and
make six altogether, or whether he suspend his voice at the first, the
third, and the fifth, and by joining the second to the first, the fourth
to the third, and the sixth to the fifth, make three most elegant periods
of two members each: one describing the imminent catastrophe; another,
the lascivious couch; and the third, the luxurious table.
  19. Next he reproaches them with their luxury in seeking pleasure for
the sense of hearing. And here, when he had said, "Ye who chant to the
sound of the viol," seeing that wise men may practice music wisely, he,
with wonderful skill of speech, checks the flow of his invective, and not
now speaking to, but of, these men, and to show us that we must
distinguish the music of the wise from the music of the voluptuary, he
does not say, "Ye who chant to the sound of the viol, and think that ye
have instruments of music like David;" but he first addresses to
themselves what it is right the voluptuaries should hear, "Ye who chant
to the sound of the viol;" and then, turning to others, he intimates that
these men have not even skill in their art: "they thought that they had
instruments of music like David; drinking wine in bowls, and anointing
themselves with the costliest ointment." These three clauses are best
pronounced when the voice is suspended on the first two members of the
period, and comes to a pause on the third.
  20. But now as to the sentence which follows all these: "and they were
not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Whether this be pronounced
continuously as one clause, or whether with more elegance we hold the
words, "and they were not grieved," suspended on the voice, and then add,
"for the affliction of Joseph," so as to make a period of two members; in
any case, it is a touch of marvelous beauty not to say, "and they were
not grieved for the affliction of their brother;" but to put Joseph for
brother, so as to indicate brothers in general by the proper name of him
who stands out illustrious from among his brethren, both in regard to the
injuries he suffered and the good return he made. And, indeed, I do not
know whether this figure of speech, by which Joseph is put for brothers
in general, is one of those laid down in that art which I learnt and used
to teach. But how beautiful it is, and how it comes home to the
intelligent reader, it is useless to tell any one who does not himself
feel it.
  21. And a number of other points bearing on the laws of eloquence could
be found in this passage which I have chosen as an example. But an
intelligent reader will not be so much instructed by carefully analysing
it as kindled by reciting it with spirit. Nor was it composed by man's
art and care, but it flowed forth in wisdom and eloquence from the divine
mind; wisdom not aiming at eloquence, yet eloquence not shrinking from
wisdom. For if, as certain very eloquent and acute men have perceived and
said, the rules which are laid down in the art of oratory could not have

been observed, and noted, and reduced to system, if they had not first
had their birth in the genius of orators, is it wonderful that they
should be found in the messengers of Him who is the author of all genius?
Therefore let us acknowledge that the canonical writers are not only wise
but eloquent also, with an eloquence suited to a character and position
like theirs.

Chap. 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 those
passages where, with a view to exercise and train the minds of their
readers, and to break in upon the satiety and stimulate the zeal of those
who are willing to learn, and with a view also to throw a veil over the
minds of the godless either that they may be converted to piety or shut
out from a knowledge of the mysteries, from one or other of these reasons
they have expressed themselves with a useful and wholesome obscurity.
They have indeed expressed themselves in such a way that those who in
after ages understood and explained them aright have in the Church of God
obtained an esteem, not indeed equal to that with which they are
themselves regarded, but coming next to it. The expositors of these
writers, then, ought not to express themselves in the same way, as if
putting forward their expositions as of the same authority; but they
ought in all their deliverances to make it their first and chief aim to
be understood, using as far as possible such clearness of speech that
either he will be very dull who does not understand them, or that if what
they say should not be very easily or quickly understood, the reason will
lie not in their manner of expression, but in the difficulty and subtilty
of the matter they are trying to explain.

Chap. 9.--How, and with whom, difficult passages are to be discussed

  23. For there are some passages which are not understood in their
proper force, or are understood with great difficulty, at whatever
length, however clearly, or with whatever eloquence the speaker may
expound them; and these should never be brought before the people at all,
or only on rare occasions when there is some urgent reason. In books,
however, which are written in such a style that, if understood, they, so
to speak, draw their own readers, and if not understood, give no trouble
to those who do not care to read them, and in private conversations, we
must not shrink from the duty of bringing the truth which we ourselves
have reached within the comprehension of others, however difficult it may
be to understand it, and whatever labour in the way of argument it may
cost us. Only two conditions are to be insisted upon, that our hearer or
companion should have an earnest desire to learn the truth, and should
have capacity of mind to receive it in whatever form it may be
communicated, the teacher not being so anxious about the eloquence as

about the clearness of his teaching.

Chap. 10.--The necessity for perspicuity of style

  24. Now a strong desire for clearness sometimes leads to neglect of the
more polished forms of speech, and indifference about what sounds well,
compared with what dearly expresses and conveys the meaning intended.
Whence a certain author, when dealing with speech of this kind, says that
there is in it "a kind of careful negligence." Yet while taking away
ornament, it does not bring in vulgarity of speech; though good teachers
have, or ought to have, so great an anxiety about teaching that they will
employ a word which cannot be made pure Latin without becoming obscure or
ambiguous, but which when used according to the vulgar idiom is neither
ambiguous nor obscure) not in the way the learned, but rather in the way
the unlearned employ it. For if our translators did not shrink from
saying, "Non congregabo conventicula eorum de sanguinibus" (I shall not
assemble their assemblies of blood), because they felt that it was
important for the sense to put a word here in the plural which in Latin
is only used in the singular; why should a teacher of godliness who is
addressing an unlearned audience shrink from using "ossum" instead of
"os", if he fear that the latter might be taken not as the singular of
"ossa", but as the singular of "ora", seeing that African ears have no
quick perception of the shortness or length of vowels? And what advantage
is there in purity of speech which does not lead to understanding in the
hearer, seeing that there is no use at all in speaking, if they do not
understand us for whose sake we speak? He, therefore, who teaches will
avoid all words that do not teach; and if instead of them he can find
words which are at once pure and intelligible, he will take these by
preference; if, however, he cannot, either because there are no such
words, or because they do not at the time occur to him, he will use words
that are not quite pure, if only the substance of his thought be conveyed
and apprehended in its integrity.
  25. And this must be insisted on as necessary to our being understood,
not only in conversations, whether with one person or with several, but
much more in the case of a speech delivered in public: for in
conversation any one has the power of asking a question; but when all are
silent that one may be heard, and all faces are turned attentively upon
him, it is neither customary nor decorous for a person to ask a question
about what he does not understand; and on this account the speaker ought
to be especially careful to give assistance to those who cannot ask it.
Now a crowd anxious for instruction generally shows by its movements if
it understands what is said; and until some indication of this sort be

given, the subject discussed ought to be turned over and over, and put in
every shape and form and variety of expression, a thing which cannot be
done by men who are repeating words prepared beforehand and committed to


(continued in part 10...)


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