Epistles
Augustine's correspondence on theological, pastoral, and philosophical matters, containing important reflections on Scripture study and the virtue of humility.
Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture
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Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture
— Epistle to Volusian quoted: depraved minds corrected, small minds nourished, great minds delighted
"Here depraved minds are wholesomely corrected, small minds are nourished, and great minds are delighted"
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Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— Epistle 1 to Volusian quoted: the profundity of Christian letters
"So great," he says, "is the profundity of Christian letters, that I would make progress in them daily, if I were to attempt to learn them alone from the beginning of life (note these words) all the way to decrepit old age, with the greatest leisure, the highest zeal, and a better mind."
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Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study
— Epistle 56 to Dioscorus quoted: humility as the first, second, and third thing in grasping truth
"You should fortify no other road," he says, "to grasping and obtaining truth and sacred wisdom, than that which has been fortified by Him who, as God, sees the weakness of our steps. For the first thing is humility, the second is humility, the third is humility"
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The Fathers' Defense of the Old Testament
— Epistle 119 quoted: "I in the Sacred Scriptures know far less than I do not know"
"I," he says, "in the Sacred Scriptures themselves, know far less than I do not know."
Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses
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Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch
— Epistle 99 to Evodius cited for the canon that one thing can be a figure of two contrary things
"St. Augustine (Epistle 99 to Evodius)"
Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)
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Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good
— Cited (Epistle 28) on the world as a most sweet music of God, citing Isaiah 40 (LXX)
"Wherefore St. Augustine, Epistle 28, citing that passage of Isaiah 40 according to the Septuagint"