De studio divinarum scripturarum.
What Truly Deserves the Name Divine
Not all writings about God or invisible blessings are divine; pagan philosophers speak soundly on God and the soul, while Scripture mostly treats earthly events, yet the Church calls Scripture divine.
Writings that speak either about God or about invisible blessings aren't all, and aren't alone, to be called divine. In the books of the Gentiles we find many things written with sound enough reasoning about the eternity of God and the immortality of souls, about the everlasting rewards of the virtues and the punishments of evils — books no one doubts are unworthy of such a title. On the other hand, when we run through the whole sequence of the Old and New Testaments, we see that it's woven together almost entirely from the condition of present life and from events transacted in time, and only rarely are any things clearly brought low by the sweetness of eternal blessings and the joys of heavenly life. Nevertheless, the Catholic faith is accustomed to call these writings divine.
Whitewashed Walls and Hidden Honey
Philosophical writings cover error with eloquent falsehood like whitewashed mud, while divine words are like a honeycomb—simple outside, full of inner sweetness—and alone free from all falsehood.
The writings of the philosophers, like a whitewashed mud wall, flourish outwardly with the brilliance of eloquence, which, whenever they pretend to the appearance of truth, by mixing in false things, as if overlaid with some color, cover over the mud of error. On the contrary, divine words are most aptly compared to a honeycomb, which both appear dry because of the simplicity of language and yet are full of sweetness within. From this it's clear why they've rightly obtained such a title: they alone are found so free from the taint of falsehood that they're shown to contain nothing contrary to truth.
The Church's Canon and Beyond
Divine scriptures are those received by the universal Church's authority, yet many other religious writings, though not formally approved, are also counted among divine utterances because they agree with the faith.
The divine scriptures are those which, published by the cultivators of the Catholic faith, the authority of the universal Church has received to be counted and read among the number of divine books, for the strengthening of that same faith. Besides this, there are any number of other short works written by men of religious life and by wise people at various times. Although they are not approved by the authority of the universal Church, they are nevertheless reckoned among the divine utterances, because they do not differ from the Catholic faith and even teach some useful things — works we can perhaps show better by listing than by defining.
Read the original Latin
Scripturae quae vel de Deo sive de bonis invisibilibus loquuntur, nec omnes nec solae divinae appellandae sunt. in libris gentilium multa de aeternitate Dei et animarum immortalitate, de virtutum praemiis sempiternis poenisque malorum satis probabili ratione scripta invenimus, quos tali vocabulo indignos esse nemo dubitat. rursus Veteris et Novi Testamenti seriem percurrentes, totam paene de praesentis vitae statu et rebus in tempore gestis contextam cernimus, raro aliqua de dulcedine aeternorum bonorum et caelestis vitae gaudiis manifeste deprimi. tamen has scripturas divinas appellare fides catholica solet. philosophorum scripturae, quasi luteus paries dealbatus, nitore eloquii foris pollent, quae, si quando veritatis praetendunt speciem, falsa admiscendo, quasi quodam colore superducto, lutum erroris operiunt. contra, divina eloquia aptissime favo comparantur, quae et propter simplicitatem sermonis arida apparent, et intus dulcedine plena sunt. unde constat quia merito tale vocabulum sortita sunt, quae sola sic a falsitatis contagione aliena inveniuntur, ut nihil veritati contrarium continere probentur. scripturae divinae sunt quas, a catholicae fidei cultoribus editas auctoritas universalis ecclesiae ad eiusdem fidei corroborationem in numero divinorum librorum computandas recepit et legendas retinuit.
sunt praeterea alia quam plurima opuscula, a religionis viris et sapientibus diversis temporibus conscripta, quae licet auctoritate universalis ecclesiae probata non sint, tamen quia a fide catholica non discrepant et nonnulla etiam utilia docent, inter divina computantur eloquia, quae fortasse enumerando melius quam definiendo ostendimus.
Didascalicon de Studio Legendi (On the Study of Reading) companion
Hugh said begin with small daily portions. Start tomorrow.
Chosen Portion serves one short, ordered devotional reading each day — the medieval lectio pattern, free on iOS.
Hugh taught that formation comes from ordered, incremental daily reading, and Chosen Portion is that ordered daily portion delivered to your phone.
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