Augustine: foolish talk

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Meditation:
    He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity. The proud and arrogant man—“Mocker” is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.
    —Proverbs 21:23-24
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    For when they find one belonging to the Christian body falling into error on a subject with which they themselves are thoroughly conversant, and when they see him moreover enforcing his groundless opinion by the authority of our Sacred Book, how are they likely to put trust in these Books about the resurrection of the dead, and the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, having already come to regard then as fallacious about those things they had themselves learned from observation, or from unquestionable evidences? And indeed it were not easy to tell what trouble and sorrow some rash and presumptuous men bring upon their prudent brethren, who, when they are charged with a perverse and false opinion by those who do not accept the authority of our Books, attempt to put forward these same Holy Books in defense of that which they have lightly and. falsely asserted, sometimes even quoting from memory what they think will suit their purposes, and putting forth many words without well understanding either what they say, or what they are talking about.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), On Genesis [415], tr. John Hammond Taylor, Newman Press, 1982, I.xix, p. 43 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, banish all arrogance from me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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