Augustines Interpretation of Scripture in De Doctrina Christiana

There are certain rules for the interpretation of Scripture which I think might
with great advantage be taught to earnest students of the word, that they may profit not
only from reading the works of others who have laid open the secrets of the sacred
writings, but also from themselves opening such secrets to others. These rules I propose
to teach to those who are able and willing to learn.
From the preface to Augustines De Doctrina Christina, 397 A.D.*
It has been said that the doctrinal developments of Western Christianity over the
past 1600 years are nothing more than a series of footnotes to the work of Augustine of
Hippo.1 The enormous impact of Augustines books, letters, and sermons turned Western
theology into Augustinian theology; the thought of Augustine became the dogma of the
church. The bishops work influenced Anselm and Aquinas, Calvin and Luther, Tillich
and Barth and all those before and since who have acted to shape the thinking of the
church. But aside from his autobiographical Confessions, Augustine was most proud of
his four-volume De Doctrina Christiana, a manual for the proper interpretation of
Scripture. City of God helped reshape society and the culture after the fall of Rome. De
Doctrina Christiana helped reshape Christians and the church.
Augustine was 43 years old when he began writing De Doctrina Christiana in
397 A.D., six years after being ordained priest at the North African seaport church of
Hippo of Regius, where he spent the final forty years of his life preaching, teaching, and
ministering to the people. It was a critical time in the history of Western Europe. Rome
was being pressured by the Vandals and Visigoths. The Great Empire was being
threatened by advancing outsiders. And while the church was suffering through the
cultural and political upheaval, it was the heretical and schismatic assaults from within
1

*
All passages from De Doctrina Christiana come directly from the text as found online under On
Christian Doctrine, available from http://people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN212/augustinescripture.html.
Roy W. Battenhouse, A Companion to the Study of St. Augustine (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1955), 4. The author claims that whoever would know the structural ideas of the Christian tradition
and Western philosophy which have shaped our minds for fifteen centuries must know St. Augustine.

that were doing the most damage. Arianism was spreading in Gaul. Montanism and
Manichaeism were growing in North Africa. Donatism claimed to be genuine
Christianity.
The pillars of the church and the state were shaking. Every pagan philosopher,
every heretical Christian, and every schismatic believer asserted that he alone possessed
the truth. But nothing seemed to be completely truthful. Nothing appeared to be totally
certain. Nobody seemed to have absolute authority.2
It is in this environment that Augustine was moved to write De Doctrina
Christiana. His intention was to bulldoze the lies with truth. He aimed to give the church
and its leaders confidence in the midst of uncertainty. He wanted to uphold Holy
Scripture as the standard, the ultimate authority from the Creator of the universe, and give
preachers, teachers, and common believers the proper tools to interpret and apply the
Sacred Writings.
His model was to equip church leaders with the same sound doctrine or sound
teaching that the Apostle Paul had passed on to young preachers Timothy and Titus. Paul
urges his true son in our common faith in Titus 1:9 to hold on to the message just as it
was taught so he could encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose
it. He told Timothy in his second letter to the young evangelist to keep what Paul had
told him as the pattern of sound teaching (1:13). He warned in that same letter that men
would soon not put up with sound doctrine (4:3). And Augustine believed his work, On
Christian Doctrine, would benefit the Christians of his day, and ultimately the church, in
the same manner. 3
Although Augustines view of biblical interpretation was broad and flexible, it
was at the same time thoroughly systematic. He attempts to boil his methods down to just
a couple of maxims in the opening lines of Book One of De Doctrina Christiana, There
are two things on which all interpretation of scripture depends: the process of discovering
what we need to learn, and the process of presenting what we have learnt. For
2

Mervin Monroe Deems, Augustines Use of Scripture, Church History 14 (Spring 1945):188.
Roland J. Teske, De Doctrina Christiana, review of R. P. H. Greens translation of De Doctrina
Christiana by St. Augustine, Journal of Early Christian Studies. 461.
3

Augustine, interpreting the Bible isnt enough. One doesnt only study the Scriptures for
self sanctification and personal knowledge. Rather, the truth gained from that personal
study should be communicated to others. In fact, if its not shared with the community,
Augustine believes it was never truly possessed to begin with. Augustine has in mind
biblical interpretation by those who apply themselves to sound teaching, in other words
Christian teaching, on behalf of others as well as themselves.
Augustine believed his method of interpretation to be infallible. In another
passage from the preface, the bishop writes,
the man who is in possession of the rules which I here attempt to lay down, if he
meet with an obscure passage in the books which he reads, will not need an interpreter
to lay open the secret to him, but, holding fast by certain rules, and following up
certain indications, will arrive at the hidden sense without any error, or at least without
falling into any gross absurdity.

It is the aim of this project to present Augustines approach to biblical

interpretation, mainly as defined in De Doctrina Christianas principle of the analogy of
faith: recognizing that Scripture, even when it is difficult to understand, is still the
absolute authority for man from his Creator; interpreting the Bible by reading it in faith,
studying it in the context of the entire canon, and using clear passages to shed light on
obscure ones; and then proclaiming it to the church and to the global community as
saving truth.

The Absolute Authority of Scripture

Augustine held that the Bible contained infallible truth. As priest and bishop,
preacher and teacher, Augustine regarded Scripture as possessing the highest, even the
heavenly, pinnacle of authority. 4 He was unmovable in his affirmation of biblical
authority, proclaiming, What truth has declared, that we follow.5 Scripture must be
4

Battenhouse, 296. The quote is taken from Augustines Epistle LXXXII to Jerome, regarding
concerns that Jeromes work may impugn the infallibility of Scripture.
5
Ibid, 183. The quote is taken from Augustines On Baptism, written against the Donatists.

without error since it is the truth of God moving upon and through the holy writers who
composed the works. Augustine was emphatic on this point: Its authority has come from
God through the apostles and bishops, and therefore no canonical writing can be wrong.
The manuscript may be at fault, or the translation wrong, or the reader may not have
understood. But Scripture cannot be wrong! 6 Copyists may err, authorship could be
questionable, versions might differ, manuscripts could vary, punctuation or pronunciation
may be debated, but Scripture is absolutely true and contains absolute authority.7
This view was radically different from those he opposed, not only in
philosophical circles, but also in the church. He refused to be satisfied by appealing to
ancient church Fathers or even to one of the Church Councils. He demanded to be
allowed to examine any and every question in the light of Scripture.
And Augustine believed this was the only way to approach the interpretation of
the Bible. Only after acknowledging the authority of the Word will one be allowed to
understand the Word. Only after confessing the infallibility of Scripture will ones life be
changed by it. It was all very clear to Augustine.
An example of his adherence to this principle can be found in one of his sermons
on 1 John. Augustine takes the three words in 1 John 4:8, God is love, and says,
How can you not be sinning against God when you sin against love? God is love!
The words are not mine, they are from Gods Scripture before you. This is a canonical
epistle, read in every nation, maintained by universal authority, on which the world
itself has been built up. Here you are told by the Spirit of God, God is love. Now, if
you dare, act against God, and refuse to love your brother. 8

Of course, even for Augustine, recognizing the Bible as absolute authority for
every aspect of ones life and the life of the church and finding it easy to interpret and to
apply are two different things.
6

Deems, 192. The quote is taken from Augustines Reply to Faustus the Manichaean.
Ibid, 200.
8
Clifton C. Black, Serving the Food of Full-Grown Adults: Augustines Interpretation of Scripture
and the Nurture of Christians, Interpretation 52 (Oct 1998): 344.
7

Sometimes Difficult to Understand

Augustine wrote of his first encounter with the Bible in Confessions in 397 A.D:
What I came upon was something not grasped by the proud, not revealed either to
children, something utterly humble in the hearing but sublime in the doing, and
shrouded deep in mystery. My conceit was repelled by the simplicity, and I had not the
mind to penetrate into their depths.9

Augustine recognized there are many portions of the Bible that are just difficult to
understand. Of the Man of Lawlessness passage in 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8 Augustine
wrote, I must confess, the meaning of this completely escapes me. According to De
Doctrina Christiana, there are two reasons for the obscurities in Scripture.
One, the Fall of man, our relation to Adam as members of the human race, is
partly why God reveals his Word and his will for us through sometimes obscure signs and
allegory. Augustine claims that mankind fell in Genesis 3 from direct knowledge from
God to indirect knowledge through these signs. Our direct connection to the Creator was
broken by sin. Sin clouds the Scriptures and clouds our human eyes. Weve lost our
ability to communicate directly with God.10 So it is only through the clumsiness of
indirect figurative language now that God can communicate with his creation. The Bible
itself has become the bridge that carries us over the gulf that separates us from God. The
language and imagery of the Scriptures are, for us during this time, the very countenance
of God. The Word is the lightning flash through the heavy darkness of that
separation.11 Its not always direct. Its not always clear. But its as good as it can be until

Anne-Marie La Bonnardiere. Augustines Biblical Initiation, in Augustine and the Bible, ed.
Pamela Bright (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999), 9. Augustines shock was in
reaction to the differences in literary style and philosophical depth between the Bible and Cicero, whom he
had read and cherished since childhood.
10
Robert W. Bernard. The Rhetoric of God in the Figurative Exegesis of Augustine, in Biblical
Hermeneutics in Historical Perspective, ed. Mark S. Burrows and Paul Rorem (Grand Rapids, MI, 1999),
91-92.
11
Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967), 262. The
bishop believed that wise men, pagan as well as Christian, could experience the Word in this way.

sin, death, Satan, and all the evil forces that separate us from God can be finally
destroyed.
Augustine also believes that God purposefully veils some of Scripture to
challenge the minds of his children and keep them from becoming bored. In Chapter Six
of Book II he writes: The Holy Spirit has, with admirable wisdom and care for our
welfare, so arranged the Holy Scriptures as by the plainer passages to satisfy our hunger,
and by the more obscure to stimulate our appetite.
This thought goes directly to the culture of the turn of the fifth century. It was
much nobler to comprehend the deeper truths of any literary work, religious or pagan,
through strenuous study and painful struggle than to understand anything, regardless of
its depth, right off the bat. There was more honor and dignity in the chase than in the kill.
De Doctrina Christiana is loaded with similar thoughts:
The presentation of truth through signs has great power to feed and fan that ardent
love, by which, as under some law of gravitation, we flicker upwards, or inwards, to
our place of rest. Things presented in this way move and kindle our affection far more
than if they were set forth in bald statements. When the soul is brought to material
signs of spiritual realities, and moves from them to the things they represent, it gathers
strength just by this very act of passing from the one to the other, like the flame of a
torch, that burns all the more brightly as it moves.12

Westerners of Augustines day thrived on the obscure, hidden meanings; rare and
difficult words; and vague and implicit ambiguity. The sheer difficulty of a work of
literature made it much more valuable. And so its with delight that Augustine speaks of
the Bible as an inexhaustible storehouse of wisdom:
For such is the depth of the Christian Scriptures that, even if I were attempting to
study them and nothing else, from boyhood to decrepit old age, with the utmost
leisure, the most unwearied zeal, and with talents greater than I possess, I would still
be making progress in discovering their treasures. 13

12
13

Ibid, 263,
Ibid.

Of course, his critics argue that Augustine went too far in his allegorical approach
to the hidden meanings of Scripture. He was so intent on drawing spiritual lessons out of
every single word in the Bible that he sometimes resembled nothing more than a
magician, producing the gospel message from the unlikeliest of passages. For example,
the five porches at the pool of Bethesda were the five books of Moses, the water in the
pool represented the Jews, and the troubling of that water was the suffering of Christ.
Nathaniels fig tree stood for his sins because the leaves reminded him of Adam and Eve.
Zacchaeus sycamore tree is the cross of Jesus because if you climb the tree, or the cross,
you will certainly see the Christ. In the Psalms, the expression Sons of Korah meant
Christians, because Korah means baldness and Jesus was crucified at the Place of the
Skull.14 One could get dizzy following Augustines logic on interpreting the significance
of the 153 fish in John 21 or the 40 days Jesus and Moses and Elijah each fasted in the
wilderness. He went so far as to interpret Noahs drunkenness as a symbol of Christs
passion: Noah and Jesus both suffered; they both drank the cup, Noah literally and Jesus
figuratively; and the ark and the cross were both made of wood.15
Despite the stretches made by Augustine and most all preachers before and after
him, the point remains that, for the bishop of Hippo, the Bible is so far above and beyond
human minds that if its to be made available to us at all, it must be in a series of signs
and allegory. Figurative language, sometimes difficult to comprehend, is the way God
communicates with his children.

Interpreting the Scriptures

Book II of De Doctrina Christiana gives us plenty of insight into what Augustine
believed the interpreter of Scripture needed for the task in the way of skills and tools.
Despite his admitted deficiencies in biblical language --- he knew nothing of the Hebrew

14

David Bentley-Taylor, Augustine: Wayward Genius (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1980), 91.
15
Ibid, 203.

language and much less than he should have of Greek---the bishop stresses the
importance of a working knowledge of both. The ideal interpreter also has a broad
general education in the fields of grammar and rhetoric to aid in proper language and the
force of argument, history in order to organize and relate the biblical story to the story of
the world, and the arts so as to better comprehend the various ways people and cultures
have communicated throughout time. Augustine mentions some sort of an early Bible
dictionary that would be helpful in understanding unknown places and animals, plants
and trees, and stones and metals, and other species of things which are mentioned in
Scripture.16
The exegete should also understand the philosophy of the pagans. Even
philosophers can be read with profit if its done in the proper way. In Book II, chapter 40
Augustine instructs Christians to consider the use of secular wisdom in bringing honor to
God and to the Kingdom:
Remember the Egyptians not only offered idols and terrible oppression, which the
Israelite people hated and fled, but they owned vessels and ornaments of gold and
silver, and fine clothing besides, which the Israelites took for themselves in secret as
they left Egypt, claiming it all for a better use.

Its acceptable for the Christian student of Scripture to rob Egypt of its gold, to
take whats valuable from secular authors and leave behind what may be idolatrous or
dangerous.17
But a careful reading of De Doctrina Christiana reveals that Augustine is not so
much concerned with giving his readers the tools necessary for sound exegesis as he is
with making certain they have the right motives and the proper attitude.

16

W. Montgomery, St. Augustine: Aspects of His Life and Thought (New York: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1914), 182-183. Augustine refers to what Eusebius has done in regard to the history of the past
with a view to the questions arising in Scripture that need a knowledge of history for their solution.
17
James J. ODonnell, Augustine: Elements of Christianity, online article on the University of
Pennsylvania website, August 2000, available from http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/twayne/aug2.html;
Internet, 10-11.

10

Study within the Community of Faith

Going back to Augustines unyielding posture toward Scripture as the absolute
truth and authority of God, the interpreter must believe that what the Bible describes is
fact. Even with his propensity toward outrageous allegorizing, the bishop always begins
with trust in the facts of the Word. You should first believe, he says in a sermon on
Abrahams near sacrifice of Isaac, that what you read happened as it is stated; lest, the
foundation of fact being removed, you should seek to build, as it were, in the air. 18 As
much as the bishop relied on allegory, it must never trump the literal sense of any
Scripture.
More than that, though, Augustine sees the Bible being read, studied, interpreted,
understood, and applied with life-changing impact in the context of the entire faith
community. For almost 40 years Augustine served as priest and bishop to the church at
Hippo, carrying on all the tasks of the monastery, the parish, and the diocese. He trained
workers for the church in his clerical school. He sat in on church courts. He appealed for
mercy to the secular courts on behalf of the areas criminals. He cared diligently for the
regions poor. And he preached the Word almost every day. 19
It was in the church that Augustine saw the Holy Spirit at work and the truth of
God preached and lived for the whole world. He wanted the holiness and the power of the
Word to be real, visible, and attractive; not some abstract, unreachable idea. And it is in
the context of the body of Christ, his church, where God is most present with his people.
He loved the people. And the people loved him. They would stand in the
sweltering church at Hippo for two or three hours at a time---on at least a couple of
occasions Augustine preached so long he could hear his parishioners stomachs
growling---four or five days a week. They would applaud and cheer as he emphasized his
strongest points and moan their disapproval toward stickier matters. This is the give and
take of biblical interpretation,

by the people and for the people,

that Augustine

championed. Of

18
19

Montgomery, 185.
Battenhouse, 49.

11

the church setting Augustine wrote, The Lord is above; but the Lord, the Truth, is also
here.20
The Bible is read and understood in the context of the churchs prayers and songs,
its teachings and beliefs, and its disciplines and habits.
The interpretation of Scripture meant nothing if it didnt work to build up the
body of Christ. According to Augustine, thats the entire purpose of exegesis. Thats
where the bishop drew the line on proper and improper study: on a persons intent or
motivation to build or tear down the church. De Doctrina Christiana makes it clear in
Book I,
Whoeverputs such an interpretation upon them (Scriptures) as does not tend to
build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as
he ought. If, on the other hand, a man draws a meaning from them that may be used
for the building up of love, even though he does not happen upon the precise meaning
which the author whom he reads intended to express in that place, his error is not
pernicious, and he is wholly clear.

The grace from Augustine depended on a persons inclination to interpret the

Bible in the truth of the faith as it is exemplified by love in order to build up the church.
To use James J. ODonnells phrase, having a correct opinion about the meaning of a
word in Scripture is a good thing, but ultimately irrelevant; having a correct opinion
about the need to love God and his church is not only a good thing, but ultimately the
only thing to be expected from Scripture.21
The bishops longtime associate and clerk, Possidius, wrote after Augustines
death in 430 A.D. that everyone who knew him understood that he lived uprightly and
wisely in the faith, hope, and love of the church. However, he adds, greater profit was

20

Hans Von Campenhausen, The Fathers of the Church: A Combined Edition (Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson Publishers, 2000), 272. It is in and with the Church that Augustine believes Scripture grows
and expands in meaning and application.
21
ODonnell, 7.

12

derived by those who were able to hear and see him speak when he was present in
church.22
Study Scriptures as a Whole
Augustine viewed the Bible as a single communication from God, not a collection
of separate Holy books. If the Bible is the revealed Word of God, then every word of the
Bible is part of that revelation. Even his outlandish allegories pointed to his stance that
there were no throwaway lines in Scripture. Every single word in every single sentence
was put there by the Holy Spirit for a reason, to reveal on at least one level---and possibly
many others---the Creators will for his people. Therefore, the whole of Scripture should
be read thoroughly. Augustine himself only began serious study of the Bible after his
thirtieth birthday, yet by the time he became a bishop in his early forties he could quote
from memory virtually every book of Scripture. He didnt memorize the entire canon. But
he had no trouble memorizing those things he found significant.
De Doctrina Christiana describes Scripture as a narrative of the past, a prophesy
of the future, and a description of the present. Theres no room to leave any of it out.
Of course, this clashes with the current historical critical ways to interpret the
Bible. Modern commentators try to reconstruct the train of the writers thought---what
was he saying to his particular historical reader at that particular historical moment in
time?---without much comparison to other biblical texts and maybe even less reflection
on related biblical topics. Augustine, though, maintains the thread of every word of every
verse hes studying with that passages relationship to a broad view of the Old and New
Testaments.23 The Old points to the New while the New reveals the Old.
This view of Scripture also makes it difficult to interpret the Bible in light of
current cultural or social trends or practices. It seems very easy for us to pick and choose
what we believe in the Bible is imperative for Gods children today and what was only

22

Von Campenhausen, 276.

Black, 343. Augustines view gives much more emphasis to the infallible inspiration of the Holy
Spirit to every word, every jot and tittle, of the Old and New Testaments than most historical critics.
23

13

figurative speech or a cultural reference to Roman Empire society in the first century. The
decisions we make on adultery, fasting, modesty, or womens roles in the church dont
necessarily come from Scripture. They come first from what our culture deems
acceptable and comfortable, and then that viewpoint is read back into our interpretation.
De Doctrina Christianas Book III, chapter 15 states,
As men are prone to estimate sins not by reference to their inherent sinfulness, but
rather by reference to their own customs, it frequently happens that a man will think
blamable nothing except what the men of his own country and time are accustomed to
condemn, and nothing worthy of approval except what is sanctioned by the custom of
his companions. And thus it comes to pass that if Scripture either enjoins what is
opposed to the custom of the hearers, or condemns what is not so opposed, and if at
the same time the authority of the Word has a hold upon their minds, they think that
expression is figurative.

Its why you never hear sermons against mixed-bathing in Florida or against
cigarettes in North Carolina. But a proper view of the whole of Scripture as the Word of
God protects both sides of that misinterpretation tool.
Study the Obscure in Light of the Clear
Some biblical passages are obscure. For Augustine it is part of the wonder and
mystery of Scripture that makes it so thrilling. But he lays down a general rule of
interpretation in Book II, chapter 14 of De Doctrina Christiana in regard to those
portions of the Bible where diversity of understanding is a problem:
Draw examples from the plainer expressions to throw light upon those that are more
obscure, and use the evidence of passages about which there is no doubt, to remove all
hesitation in regard to the doubtful passages.

The best way to do that is to memorize as much of the Scriptures as one can. Be
familiar with the language of Scripture and the nuance of Gods Word. Reading the Bible
through, and more than once, as De Doctrina Christiana suggests, makes one aware of
just how plainly written and easily understood the majority of the text is. And the more

14

knowledge one has of the easy passages, the more he is able to shed light on the difficult
ones. Augustine suggests committing to memory especially the words and phrases we
dont understand so that when we come across an easier passage that relates to it, well be
aware of the connection and better able to study it right away in the proper context. In
this manner, Book III, chapter five states that the soul may drink in eternal light and not
be placed in subjection to the flesh by the blind adherence to the letter of the text.
Augustine does offer rules for identifying allegory and signs and making sense of
cloudy passages. He suggests taking our thoughts and ideas first to God in prayer. He
believes that sacred tradition---the Rule of Faith---should be placed above any
questionable personal interpretation. He writes that one should maintain an attitude of
deep humility and reverence toward Scripture in realizing that we are only limited
creatures attempting to grasp the limitless Creator. Uprightness of character and a pure
faith are also needed, while knowledge of the whole of Scripture is a must.
The most helpful suggestion, in a practical way, in telling the difference between a
passage that should be taken literally and one thats written in a figurative manner is
found in Book III, chapter nine. Augustine says anything in the Bible that cannot in a
literal sense be attributed either to an upright character or to a pure faith should be
understood as figurative. In other words, if at first glance Scripture appears to allow or
even reward immoral behavior, any evil, any lack of faith, or if it contradicts sacred
tradition, the passage must be interpreted figuratively.24
Augustines rules of interpretation are really just guidelines. He understood as
well as anyone that all exegesis of Scripture is tentative and incomplete. It is imperfect
because Gods children are imperfect. The only question that means anything to the
bishop is whether the Word is acting in the readers soul and whether the reader is
seeking to build up the body of Christ.

24

Steven N. Filippo, Scripture Through the Eyes of St. Augustine, in This Rock online journal,
September 2000, available from http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0009fea5.asp; Internet, 3.

15

Preach the Word!

In the opening lines of Book IV, written nearly 30 years after the completion of
the first three books, Augustine restates the purpose of De Doctrina Christiana, The
entire treatment is based on two factors: the method of discovering what we are to
understand, and the method of teaching what has been understood.
It would be absurd to Augustine to even imagine a biblical scholar who claims to
be an atheist or an exegete who is involved only for the historical study or to get a grade
or a degree. It is critical for the bishop that Bible interpreters dont just sit on their
knowledge but that they share it. They transmit it to the church and to the outside
community. Its taken for granted that Scripture transforms the reader. And its
understood by Augustine that this change causes the interpreter to want to pass along the
truth in order to similarly impact others.
Augustine saw his role as preacher, and the role of all preachers, as feeding the
flock. The scriptural idea of breaking bread or feeding the multitude drives his view of
preaching. I go to feed so that I can give you to eat, he writes. I am the servant, the
bringer of food, not the master of the house. I lay out before you that from which I also
draw my life.25 He told Jerome, If I do gain any stock of knowledge, I pay it out
immediately to the people of God.26
As would be expected, his rules for proclaiming the message of the Bible have
much more to do with attitude and mindset than with the particulars of delivery or style.
Christian preaching should be eloquent, yes, but never at the expense of the truth. Clear
communication is more important than elegance. From an ancient point of view this was
nothing short of heresy. But to Augustine, it was paramount to his theology of
proclamation. In Book IV, Chapter Ten he asks, What is the use of a perfect speech that
the audience cannot follow, when there is no reason for speaking at all if the people we
are talking to do not understand us? The sermon has to reach the congregation.
25
26

Brown, 252.
Ibid.

16

Substance and relevance must win out over popularity. Augustine points to Cyprian in
Book IV, Chapter 14 as an example of how sound Christian teaching restrains the tongue
from rhetorical excess and places it under the discipline of a more dignified and moderate
eloquence. Just as Augustine believes every word of every line in Scripture is placed
there by the Holy Spirit for a divine cause, so every syllable of every sermon must have
behind it true meaning and purpose.
Thus, Augustines sermons made great use of short sentences and direct language.
His sermons were simple, but brilliant. Church historian Hans Von Campenhausen
observes that, despite their simplicity, Augustines homilies always displayed something
of the character of shot silk which, however folded, always glistens somewhere.27
Above all of this, though, is the preachers relationship with God and with his
church. One who approaches the text from a position of fear or hostility will be deaf to
Scriptures call and blind in guiding others into the deep mysteries of the Bible.
Augustine says in Book IV Chapter 30 that every proclamation should begin with prayer
and that the preacher of the Word of God must be in touch with God in order to preach
well. The expositor should practice what he preaches. And he should be completely at
home with the Bible, the language of God.
His motivation should be to build up the body of Christ, to nurture and love Gods
people. Again, grace is afforded to the proclamation of the Word, just as its granted to
the interpretation, as long as the motives are pure. SMUs Clifton Black sums up
Augustines view of the relationship between the preachers heart and his message this
way:
There is more penetrating scriptural exegesis in the steady recitation of the Psalms by
a single unschooled grandmother to children of wandering minds and runny noses
than in a hundred sermons generated by a biblical scholar whose sights are set no
higher than his own promotion. The one nurtures love; the other engorges pride. 28
27

Von Campenhausen, 221. The author describes Augustine as being gifted to say the deepest
things intelligibly, the complicated simply, and never being banal even with what is simple.
28
Black, 349. The author believes this is the essence of understanding the role of Scripture and its
transformative power: allowing it to shape the ways we view ourselves, our neighbors, and our benevolent
projects. In this way, we recognize that the love of God and the love of neighbor are inseparably
entwined.

17

Conclusion
Augustines De Doctrina Christiana became a classic in Western religion and culture. It
was read at mealtime in common households and studied extensively in the monasteries,
so much so that it became the church leaders handbook for the proper exposition of Holy
Scripture. The ideas that the Bible is best understood under the construct of absolute
authority, inseparable from the context of the church, and while serving that faith
community in love came to influence and shape the interpretation and proclamation of
Scripture, especially in the Western church, for over a thousand years.
I give thanks to God that I have been able to expound in these four books, with
whatever trivial ability, not what sort of person I myself am---for I have many failings--but what sort of person he should be who works at the business of sound instruction--Christian instruction---not just for his own benefit but for that of others.
From the closing lines of De Doctrina Christiana, Book IV, Chapter 31

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