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| Another Kind of Temptation is Curiosity, Which is Stimulated by the Lust of the Eyes.
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Chapter XXXV.—Another Kind of
Temptation is Curiosity, Which is Stimulated by the Lust of the
Eyes.
54. In addition to this there is another form
of temptation, more complex in its peril. For besides that
concupiscence of the flesh which lieth in the gratification of all
senses and pleasures, wherein its slaves who “are far from Thee
perish,”942
there
pertaineth to the soul, through the same senses of the body, a
certain vain and curious longing, cloaked under the name of
knowledge and learning, not of having pleasure in the flesh, but of
making experiments through the flesh. This longing, since it
originates in an appetite for knowledge, and the sight being the
chief amongst the senses in the acquisition of knowledge, is called
in divine language, “the lust of the eyes.”943
For seeing belongeth properly to
the eyes; yet we apply this word to the other senses also, when we
exercise them in the search after knowledge. For we do not say,
Listen how it glows, smell how it glistens, taste how it shines, or
feel how it flashes, since all these are said to be seen. And yet
we say not only,
See how it shineth, which the eyes alone can perceive; but also,
See how it soundeth, see how it smelleth, see how it tasteth, see
how hard it is. And thus the general experience of the senses, as
was said before, is termed “the lust of the eyes,” because the
function of seeing, wherein the eyes hold the pre-eminence, the
other senses by way of similitude take possession of, whensoever
they seek out any knowledge.
55. But by this is it more clearly discerned,
when pleasure and when curiosity is pursued by the senses; for
pleasure follows after objects that are beautiful, melodious,
fragrant, savoury, soft; but curiosity, for experiment’s sake,
seeks the contrary of these,—not with a view of undergoing
uneasiness, but from the passion of experimenting upon and knowing
them. For what pleasure is there to see, in a lacerated corpse,
that which makes you shudder? And yet if it lie near, we flock
thither, to be made sad, and to turn pale. Even in sleep they fear
lest they should see it. Just as if when awake any one compelled
them to go and see it, or any report of its beauty had attracted
them! Thus also is it with the other senses, which it were tedious
to pursue. From this malady of curiosity are all those strange
sights exhibited in the theatre. Hence do we proceed to search out
the secret powers of nature (which is beside our end), which to
know profits not,944
| 944 Augustin’s great end was to attain the knowledge
of God. Hence, in his Soliloquia, i. 7, we read: “Deum et
animam scire cupio. Nihilne plus? Nihil omnino.” And he only
esteemed the knowledge of physical laws so far as they would lead
to Him. (See v. sec. 7, above, and the note there.) In his De
Ordine, ii. 14, 15, etc., writing at the time of his
conversion, he had contended that the knowledge of the liberal
sciences would lead to a knowledge of the divine wisdom; but in his
Retractations (i. 3, sec. 2) he regrets this, pointing out
that while many holy men have not this knowledge, many who have it
are not holy. Compare also Enchir. c. 16; Serm.
lxviii. 1, 2; and De Civ. Dei, ix. 22. | and wherein
men desire nothing but to know. Hence, too, with that same end of
perverted knowledge we consult magical arts. Hence, again, even in
religion itself, is God tempted, when signs and wonders are eagerly
asked of Him,—not desired for any saving end, but to make trial
only.
56. In this so vast a wilderness, replete with
snares and dangers, lo, many of them have I lopped off, and
expelled from my heart, as Thou, O God of my salvation, hast
enabled me to do. And yet when dare I say, since so many things of
this kind buzz around our daily life,—when dare I say that no
such thing makes me intent to see it, or creates in me vain
solicitude? It is true that the theatres never now carry me away,
nor do I now care to know the courses of the stars, nor hath my
soul at any time consulted departed spirits; all sacrilegious oaths
I abhor. O Lord my God, to whom I owe all humble and single-hearted
service, with what subtlety of suggestion does the enemy influence
me to require some sign from Thee! But by our King, and by our pure
land chaste country Jerusalem, I beseech Thee, that as any
consenting unto such thoughts is far from me, so may it always be
farther and farther. But when I entreat Thee for the salvation of
any, the end I aim at is far otherwise, and Thou who doest what
Thou wilt, givest and wilt give me willingly to “follow”
Thee.945
57. Nevertheless, in how many most minute and
contemptible things is our curiosity daily tempted, and who can
number how often we succumb? How often, when people are narrating
idle tales, do we begin by tolerating them, lest we should give
offence unto the weak; and then gradually we listen willingly! I do
not now-a-days go to the circus to see a dog chasing a hare;946
| 946 In allusion to those venatios, or hunting
scenes, in which the less savage animals were slain. These were
held in the circus, which was sometimes planted for the occasion,
so as to resemble a forest. See Smith’s Greek and Roman
Antiquities, under “Venatio,” and vi. sec. 13, note,
above. | but if by
chance I pass such a coursing in the fields, it possibly distracts
me even from some serious thought, and draws me after it,—not
that I turn the body of my beast aside, but the inclination of my
mind. And except Thou, by demonstrating to me my weakness, dost
speedily warn me, either through the sight itself, by some
reflection to rise to Thee, or wholly to despise and pass it by, I,
vain one, am absorbed by it. How is it, when sitting at home, a
lizard catching flies, or a spider entangling them as they rush
into her nets, oftentimes arrests me? Is the feeling of curiosity
not the same because these are such tiny creatures? From them I
proceed to praise Thee, the wonderful Creator and Disposer of all
things; but it is not this that first attracts my attention. It is
one thing to get up quickly, and another not to fall, and of such
things is my life full; and my only hope is in Thy exceeding great
mercy. For when this heart of ours is made the receptacle of such
things, and bears crowds of this abounding vanity, then are our
prayers often interrupted and disturbed thereby; and whilst in Thy
presence we direct the voice of our heart to Thine ears, this so
great a matter is broken off by the influx of I know not what idle
thoughts.
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