I am reading through Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana (On Christian Doctrine). It is one of the earliest attempts by a Christian to put forth a comprehensive approach to interpreting the Bible. I found a gem of a quote, one I am thinking about putting in the preface of my thesis:
To all [my] critics I have a brief reply. I say to those who fail to understand what I write that it is not my fault that they do not understand. Suppose they wanted to see the new moon, or the old one, or a star that was very faint, and I pointed it out with my finger but their eyesight was too weak to see even my finger--surely it would be wrong for them to be annoyed with me for that reason? As for those who manage to learn and assimilate these rules but are still unable to see into the obscure passages of the divine scriptures, they must consider themselves as capable of seeing my finger but not the stars to which it points. Both types of objector should stop blaming me and pray for insight to be given them by God. Although I can move a limb to point something, I cannot improve their eyesight to make them see even my pointing finger, let alone what I want to point out.
---Preface, 5-6.
By the way, those of you interested in the history of Biblical interpretation must give this book a read.
Also, in case you haven't guessed, I was only kidding. I am not really putting this in the preface of my thesis!
(Image is entitled: Augustine refutes a heretic.)
1 comment:
Dude, I would absolutely put that quote in the intro to your thesis, and then go on to mention how humble you are! Awesome!
Are you reading it in Latin?
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