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Chapter 16Erud.1.16

Qualiter christiano conuenit omnia librorum genera legere.

Jerome on Plucking What Is Useful from Pagan Books

Jerome teaches that Christians may read pagan philosophers and secular books, converting what is useful to godly teaching and cutting away what pertains to idols, love of the world, and error, just as a captive woman's hair and nails are shaved before marriage, and the Apostle urges testing all things and holding fast to what is good.

Furthermore, on the manner of reading the books of the pagans, Jerome says in the book about the thrifty and the luxurious: 'This,' he says, 'we are accustomed to do when we read the philosophers, when the books of secular wisdom come into our hands.' If we find anything useful in them, we convert it to our own teaching. But if there is anything superfluous about idols, about love, about the care of secular things, we shave these things down, we bring baldness upon them, and in the manner of trimming nails we cut them away with the sharpest iron.' Jerome says this. In Deuteronomy, just as the same one says to the great orator, it is commanded by the Lord that the head and eyebrows of a captive woman be shaved, and all the hairs and nails of her body be cut off, and thus she is to be taken in marriage. So what is it so wonderful, he says, if I too desire to make the captive woman Israelite from a handmaid, on account of the charm of her eloquence and the beauty of her limbs, and if anything in her is dead from idolatry or pleasure or the lusts of error, I cut it off or shave it away, and from her I bring forth home-born servants, mingled for the purest body, for the Lord of hosts?' Jerome says this. To which agrees that word of the Apostle in his first letter to the Thessalonians: 'Test everything; hold fast to what is good.'

Reading for Education, Not for Pleasure

Jerome, Gratian, Gregory, and Bede are cited to show that secular letters may be read not for delight in fictions but for education, so that errors are deterred and useful things are turned to sacred learning, and that bishops must not neglect their evangelical office for grammar.

From this, the same Jerome writes to Pammachius and Oceanus: 'If only,' he says, 'I had every volume of every treatise, so that by diligence in learning I might make up for the slowness of my natural ability.' But I do not follow the errors of Origen on that account, since I know that everything he said was wrong.1 Therefore, as Gratian says, 'Some read secular letters for pleasure, because they delight in the fictions of poets and the ornament of words; but some learn them for education, so that by reading they might detest the errors of the pagans and turn whatever useful things they have found in them to the service of sacred learning.' . . They turn them to good use, and so learn them praiseworthily. Whence blessed Gregory rebukes a certain bishop — not because he had learned those subjects, but because, against his episcopal office, he was expounding grammar to the people in place of the evangelical reading. And from this, Bede on the Book of Kings: 'It disturbs,' he says, 'the sharpness of readers and compels them to fail, whoever thinks that they should be forbidden in every way from reading secular books.'

The Example of Moses, Daniel, and Paul

Bede and Jerome argue that just as Moses learned Egyptian wisdom and Daniel Chaldean learning, and Paul quoted pagan poets, so Christians may take whatever is useful from secular writings, learning them not to follow but to judge and refute error.

In these writings, whatever useful things are found at the same time, it is permissible to take as one's own. Otherwise, Moses and Daniel would never have allowed themselves to be educated in the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians and the Chaldeans — whose superstitions and luxuries they shuddered at — nor would that teacher of the nations himself have inserted certain verses of the poets into his own writings or sayings.✦✦ These are Bede's words. On this point Jerome also says, commenting on the epistle to Titus: 'The youths who refuse to eat from the table and wine of the king of Babylon, lest they be defiled — if they knew that the wisdom and teaching of the Babylonians were sin, they would never agree to learn what was not permitted.'✦ They learn, however, not in order to follow, but in order to judge and refute. Because if someone unskilled in mathematics wishes to write against astrologers, they'll be exposed to ridicule; and likewise, if someone disputing against philosophers is ignorant of the philosophers' doctrines, they'll look equally foolish. Let him learn, therefore, with that spirit the Chaldean teaching with which Moses had learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians.✦ These are Jerome's words.

Pagan Testimony as Confirmation of Prophetic Truth

Jerome and Augustine show that pagans wrote many things consonant with Christian teaching, and that enemy testimony is especially strong; yet such testimony is useful for refuting pagan vanity, not for establishing authority, since even evil spirits have sometimes spoken truth under compulsion.

There's yet another reason for reading the books of the pagans, namely because… they wrote many things that are fitting and consistent with Christian teaching. And as Augustine says: 'No testimony is stronger than one brought forth by an enemy.' Whence Jerome, as above: 'If ever,' he says, 'we are compelled to recall the letters of secular writers and to learn certain things from them that we once neglected, it is not of our own will but, so to speak, of the most pressing necessity, so that we may prove that those things which were predicted long ages ago by the holy prophets are contained in the writings of the Greeks, the Latins, and other nations.' These are Jerome's words. And he does not say this so that our faith should rest on their words, but because the more alien they were from the faith, the more their statements about the articles of faith are to be marveled at — though it is more credible that they said these things through an evil spirit than through a good one. For evil spirits have often spoken words or foretold certain things, compelled by some necessity. Whence Augustine says against the Manicheans: 'If the Sibyl or Orpheus or any other seers or philosophers of the nations are said to have predicted anything true about God, it is indeed of some value for refuting the vanity of the pagans, but not for establishing the authority of those writers.'

The Distance Between Sacred Scripture and Pagan Writings

Augustine, pseudo-Clement, Hugh of St. Victor, and Jerome teach that those firmly grounded in Scripture may also draw upon secular learning and even apocryphal writings with freedom of judgment, provided they shun what is false and feigned.

For just as great a distance as there is, regarding Christ's coming, between the preaching of angels and the confession of demons, so great is the distance between the curiosity of sacrilegious scriptures and the authority of the prophets. Augustine says this. Peter says in the Epistle of Clement how we also ought to make use of testimonies from those books. 'When,' he says, 'someone has taken from the divine Scriptures a complete and firm rule of truth, it will not be absurd if he also contributes something from common learning and the liberal studies — which he perhaps touched upon in boyhood — toward the assertion of true doctrine, provided however that where he has learned what is true, he shuns what is false and feigned.' For these reasons as well it is permissible to read the books of heretics — but only those, as was said above, who are already well trained in the understanding of the divine Scriptures and most firmly strengthened in the faith of the articles, or in the articles of faith. Whence Hugh, in the same place, book three: 'Do not multiply detours until you have learned the paths; but run through confidently, when you have come to fear no error.' So also in such matters apocryphal writings can be read with freedom of judgment or reading. Whence Jerome, in the prologue to the history of Joachim and Anne: 'Those things,' he says, 'which I have read concerning the birth of the blessed Virgin in the little book of Leuncius — just as I declare them to be doubtful, so I do not plainly affirm them to be false.'

The Hierarchy of Authority in the Church

Jerome affirms that Marian miracles may be read without danger if one believes God able to do such things, and then a hierarchy of authority is established: Scripture holds supreme authority, followed by decretals and conciliar canons, and then the writings of the Catholic doctors.

I say freely — and I think no believer will deny it — that the holy... ...birth of holy Mary was preceded by many miracles, and even more followed after it. So if the things written there are true — or even if someone made them up — those who believe God was able to do these things can, without danger to their soul, believe and read them, with their faith intact. These are the words of Jerome. And all these writings carry no binding authority in the Church, but everywhere hold only a general authority — that is to say... ...the sacred books of the prophets, the apostles, and the evangelists; the decretal letters of the supreme pontiffs; the canons of the councils; and also the writings of the Catholic doctors. According to Augustine, as was shown earlier above, the sacred books hold the first and highest authority. The decretal letters, however — as Gratian says — are placed on an equal footing by right alongside the canons of the councils.

Authority and Knowledge in the Doctors and Bishops

Gratian distinguishes between defining legal cases, which requires both knowledge and authority, and expounding Scripture, which requires knowledge alone; the Lord gave Peter both the keys of authority and the knowledge of discernment.

The writings of the sacred doctors are, in some respects, preferred and in others set aside. As Gratian says in the first part of the Canons, distinction 28: 'One thing is to set a limit to legal cases; another is to carefully expound the sacred Scriptures.'23 Defining matters of law requires not only knowledge but also authority. Thus the Lord, before He said to Peter, 'Whatever you bind on earth,' and so forth—✦4 gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven; in the other, giving him the knowledge of discernment.✦56 . . In the other.7

The Power of Binding and Loosing

Ecclesiastical judgment requires both knowledge and power, since all cases end either in the acquittal of the innocent or the condemnation of the guilty, and both outcomes demand not only discernment but also authority.

. . the power of casting out . . or of receiving. Since, then, all matters reach their end either in the acquittal of the innocent or in the condemnation of the delinquent, these two things require not only knowledge but also power. .

Exceeders in Learning and the Order of Rank

Gratian concludes that even if expositors of Scripture surpass bishops in learning, they yield to them in judicial decisions, since rank carries authority that learning alone does not confer.

. It is clear that the duties of those in authority either accompany or demand their presence, and that the expositors of the divine Scriptures, even if they surpass the bishops in learning, nevertheless—because they have not attained the summit of their rank—are placed before them in the exposition of the sacred Scriptures, but in cases to be decided, they earn their place after them, according to their position. This is from Gratian.

Read the original Latin

Porro de modo legendi libros gentilium dicit ieronimus in libro de frugi et luxurioso: ‘Hoc,’ inquit, ‘facere solemus, quando philosophos legimus, quando libri sapiencie secularis ad nostras ueniunt manus. Siquid in eis utile reperimus, ad nostrum dogma conuertimus. Si quid uero superfluum de ydolis, de amore, de cura secularium rerum, hec radimus, hiis caluicium inducimus et in unguium morem ferro acutissimo desecamus.’ Hec ieronimus. In deuteronomio quippe, sicut idem dicit ad magnum oratorem, precipitur a domino ‘mulieris captiue radendum caput et supercilia, omnesque pilos et ungues corporis amputandos et sic eam habendam coniugio. Quid ergo,’ inquit, ‘mirum, si et ego sapienciam secularem propter eloquii uenustatem et membrorum pulchritudinem de ancilla atque captiua israelitem facere cupio et si quid in ea mortuum est ydolatrie uel uoluptatis et erroris libidinum uel precido uel rado uel mixtus purissimo corpori uernaculos domino sabaoth ex ea genero.’ Hec ieronimus. Cui consonat illud apostoli Ia ad thessalonicenses vo: ‘Omnia probate; quod bonum est, tenete.’

hinc et idem ieronimus ad pammachium et occeanum: ‘utinam,’ inquit, ‘omnium uolumina tractorum haberem, ut ingenij tarditatem erudicionis diligencia conpensarem. Sed originis errores ideo non sequor, quoniam omnia que dixit, perperam scio.’ Itaque, sicut dicit gracianus, ‘quidam seculares litteras legunt ad uoluptatem, quia poetarum figmentis et ornatu uerborum delectantur; quidam uero ad erudicionem eas addiscunt, ut errores gentilium legendo detestentur et utilia, que in eis inuenerint, ad usum erudicionis sacre . . . inuertunt et ideo laudabiliter eas addiscunt. unde beatus gregorius quemdam episcopum reprehendit, non quia illas didicerat, sed quia contra officium episcopale pro euangelica lectione populo gramaticam exponebat.’ Hinc et beda super librum regum: ‘Turbat,’ inquit, ‘acumen legencium ac deficere cogit, qui eos a legendis secularibus libris omni modo existimat prohibendos.

In quibus, simul si qua inueniuntur utilia, quasi sua sumere licet. Alioquin moyses et daniel sapiencia et litteris egypciorum et caldeorum non paterentur erudiri, quorum tamen supersticiones et delicias horrebant, nec ipse magister gencium aliquos uersus poetarum suis uel scriptis indidisset uel dictis.’ Hec beda. De hoc eciam dicit Jeronimus super epistolam ad tytum: ‘Pueri, qui de mensa et vino regis babylonis comedere nolunt, ne polluantur, utique si sapienciam atque doctrinam babyloniorum scirent esse peccatum, nunquam acquiescerent discere, quod non licebat. Discunt autem, non ut sequantur, sed ut iudicent atque conuincant. quoniam, si quisquam aduersum mathematicos uelit scribere inperitus matheseos, risui patebit et similiter aduersus philosophos disputans, si ignorat dogmata philosophorum. Discat ergo ea mente doctrinam caldeicam, qua moyses omnem sapienciam egipciorum didicerat.’ Hec ieronimus.

Accedit etiam alia causa libros gentilium legendi, quia sc. multa scripserunt, que conueniunt et consonant christiano dogmati. Et ut dicit augustinus: ‘nullum est forcius testimonium, quam ab inimico prolatum.’ unde ieronimus, ubi supra: ‘Si quando,’ inquit, ‘cogimur secularium litterarum recordari et aliqua ex hiis discere, que olim omisimus, non est nostre uoluntatis, sed ut ita dicam, grauissime necessitatis, ut probemus ea, que a sanctis prophetis ante secula multa predicta sunt, tam grecorum quam latinorum aliarum et gencium litteris contineri.’ Hec ieronimus. nec hoc ideo dicit, quod eorum dictis debeat inniti fides nostra, sed quia tanto magis a fide fuerunt alieni, tanto magis eorum dicta de articulis fidei sunt admiranda, licet magis credantur ea dixisse per spiritum malignum quam per spiritum bonum. Spiritus enim maligni multociens uerba dixerunt uel predixerunt aliqua necessitate conpulsi. unde dicit augustinus contra manicheos: ‘Si quid ueri de deo sibilla uel orpheus aliiue gencium vates aut philosophi predixisse perhibentur, ualet quidem aliquid ad paganorum vanitatem reuincendam, non tamen ad istorum auctoritatem conplendam.

Quantum enim distat de christi aduentu inter predicacionem angelorum et confessionem demonum, tantum inter curiositatem sacrilegarum scripturarum et auctoritatem prophetarum.’ hec augustinus. Qualiter eciam uti debeamus illorum librorum testimoniis, dicit petrus in epistola clementis. ‘Cum,’ inquit, ‘e diuinis scripturis integram quisquam et firmam regulam veritatis susceperit, absurdum non erit, si aliquid eciam ex erudicione communi ac liberalibus studiis, que forte in puericia attigit, ad assercionem ueri dogmatis conferat, ita tamen, ut ubi uera didicerit, falsa et simulata declinet.’ Hiis eciam de causis est licitum legere libros hereticorum, hiis dumtaxat, ut supra dictum est, qui iam in sensu diuinarum scripturarum optime sunt exercitati et in fide articulorum siue in articulis fidei constantissime roborati. unde hugo, ubi supra, libro iiio: ‘Noli multiplicare diuerticula, quoadusque semitas didiceris, securus autem discurre, cum errare non timueris.’ Sic eciam et in talibus apocripha possunt legi cum libertate iudicandi siue legendi. unde ieronimus in prologo hystorie ioachim et anne: ‘Ea,’ inquit, ‘que de natiuitate beate uirginis in libello leuncij legi, sicut dubia esse pronuncio, ita liquido falsa esse non affirmo.

Illud autem libere dico, quod neminem fidelium negaturum puto, sanctam sc. sancte marie natiuitatem multa miracula precessisse, maximeque consequuta fuisse. Itaque si sint illa, que ibi scripta sunt, uera siue ab aliquo conficta, salua fide ab hiis, qui ista deum facere potuisse credunt, sine periculo anime sue credi et legi possunt.’ hec ieronimus. Et hec omnia nullam habent auctoritatem in ecclesia, sed sunt ubique generalem auctoritatem habencia, videl. libri sacri prophetarum et apostolorum et euangelistarum, epistole decretales summorum pontificum et canones conciliorum et scripta quoque doctorum catholicorum. libri sacri primam et summam auctoritatem habent secundum augustinum, sicut alias superius est ostensum. Decretales autem epistole, sicut dicit gratianus, iure pari exequantur conciliorum canonibus.

Scripta uero sacrorum doctorum in quibusdam eis preferuntur et in quibusdam postponuntur. ut enim dicit gracianus in prima parte canonum distinctione xxa: ‘aliud est causis terminum imponere, aliud sacras scripturas diligenter exponere. Negociis quippe diffiniendis non solum sciencia sed etiam potestas est necessaria. unde dominus, antequam diceret petro: quodcunque ligaueris super terram etc. , dedit ei claues regni celorum: in altera dans ei scienciam discernendi . . . in altera .

. . potestatem eiciendi . . . uel recipiendi. cum ergo quelibet negocia finem accipiant uel in absolucione innocentium uel in condempnacione delinquencium, hec autem duo non scienciam tantum sed etiam potestatem . .

. comitantur uel exigunt presidencium, apparet, quod diuinarum scripturarum tractatores, etsi sciencia pontificibus premineant, tamen, quia dignitatis eorum apicem non sunt adepti, in sacrarum scripturarum exposicionibus eis preponuntur, in causis uero diffiniendis secundum locum post eos merentur.’ Hec gracianus.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Dan.1.4 — youths in whom there was no blemish, but who were handsome in appearance, skillful in all wisdom, knowledgeable in learning, and discerning in understanding, and who had the ability to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
  2. ↩Acts.17.28;Titus.1.12;1Cor.15.33 — For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.' Titus.1.12 — One of them, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.' 1Cor.15.33 — Do not be deceived: bad company corrupts good character.
  3. ↩Dan.1.5-Dan.1.16 — The king appointed for them a daily provision from the king's delicacies and from his wine, and to raise them for three years, so that at the end of that time they might stand before the king. Dan.1.6 — And among them, from the sons of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Dan.1.7 — The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel he gave Belteshazzar, to Hananiah he gave Shadrach, to Mishael he gave Meshach, and to Azariah he gave Abednego. Dan.1.8 — But Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine of his feasts; so he asked the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Dan.1.9 — And God gave Daniel favor and compassion before the chief of the eunuchs. Dan.1.10 — The chief official said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. Why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men of your own age? Then I would be endangering my head before the king." Dan.1.11 — Then Daniel said to Melzar, whom the chief of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Dan.1.12 — Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us some vegetables to eat, and water to drink. Dan.1.13 — Then let our appearance be seen before you, and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's delicacies; and as you see, deal with your servants. Dan.1.14 — So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. Dan.1.15 — And at the end of ten days their appearance looked better and healthier in flesh than all the young men who were eating the king's food. Dan.1.16 — So the steward took away their delicacies and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
  4. ↩Acts.7.22 — And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
  5. ↩Matt.16.19 — I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
  6. ↩Matt.16.19 — I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The phrase 'originis errores' likely refers to errors concerning the origin of souls or creation, possibly associated with Origen. The precise doctrinal reference is uncertain.
  2. 2 ↩The numeral 'xxa' is uncertain — possibly XXVIII (28) or XXI (21). Rendered as 28 following the most likely reading.
  3. 3 ↩Gratian's distinction between judicial authority and scriptural exposition is being cited to frame the relative authority of canonical doctors versus Scripture.
  4. 4 ↩Allusion to Matthew 16:19 ('Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven'). Final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  5. 5 ↩The two gifts — keys (authority) and knowledge of discernment — correspond to the two powers distinguished in Gratian's citation above: potestas and scientia.
  6. 6 ↩'in altera' — ablative, with implied noun (e.g., 'parte' or understood from context as 'in the other [gift/action]'). Rendered as 'in the other' to preserve the parallel structure.
  7. 7 ↩'altera' — ablative singular, with an implied noun (likely 'parte' or 'actione'). Rendered as 'in the other' to preserve the elliptical parallel with the preceding sentence.

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