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| Concerning the Word of the Mind, in Which We See the Word of God, as in a Glass and an Enigma.
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Chapter 10.—Concerning the Word of the Mind, in Which
We See the Word of God, as in a Glass and an Enigma.
17. But let us now speak of those
things of which we think as known, and have in our knowledge even
if we do not think of them; whether they belong to the
contemplative knowledge, which, as I have argued, is properly to be
called wisdom, or to the active which is properly to be called
knowledge. For both together belong to one mind, and are one image
of God. But when we treat of the lower of the two distinctly and
separately, then it is not to be called an image of God, although
even then, too, some likeness of that Trinity may be found in it;
as we showed in the thirteenth book. We speak now, therefore, of
the entire knowledge of man altogether, in which whatever is known
to us is known; that, at any rate, which is true; otherwise it
would not be known. For no one knows what is false, except when he
knows it to be false; and if he knows this, then he knows what is
true: for it is true that that is false. We treat, therefore, now
of those things which we think as known, and which are known to us
even if they are not being thought of. But certainly, if we would
utter them in words, we can only do so by thinking them. For
although there were no words spoken, at any rate, he who thinks
speaks in his heart. And hence that passage in the book of Wisdom:
“They said within themselves, thinking not aright.”971
| 971 Wisdom 2.1" id="iv.i.xvii.x-p3.1" parsed="|Wis|2|1|0|0" osisRef="Bible:Wis.2.1">Wisd. ii. 1 | For the
words, “They said within themselves,” are explained by the
addition of “thinking.” A like passage to this is that in the
Gospel,—that certain scribes, when they heard the Lord’s words
to the paralytic man, “Be of good cheer, my son, thy sins are
forgiven thee,” said within themselves, “This man
blasphemeth.” For how did they “say within themselves,”
except by thinking? Then follows, “And when Jesus saw their
thoughts, He said, Why think ye evil in your thoughts?”972
So far
Matthew. But Luke narrates the same thing thus: “The scribes and
Pharisees began to think, saying, Who is this that speaketh
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? But when Jesus
perceived their thoughts, He, answering, said unto them, What think
ye in your hearts?”973
That which in the book of Wisdom
is, “They said, thinking,” is the same here with, “They
thought, saying.” For both there and here it is declared, that
they spake within themselves, and in their own heart, i.e.
spake by thinking. For they “spake within themselves,” and it
was said to them, “What think ye?” And the Lord Himself says of
that rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully, “And he
thought within himself, saying.”974
18. Some thoughts, then, are
speeches of the heart, wherein the Lord also shows that there is a
mouth, when He says, “Not that which entereth into the mouth
defileth a man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, that
defileth a man.” In one sentence He has comprised two diverse
mouths of the man, one of the body, one of the heart. For
assuredly, that from which they thought the man to be defiled,
enters into the mouth of the body; but that from which the Lord
said the man was defiled, proceedeth out of the mouth of the heart.
So certainly He Himself explained what He had said. For a little
after, He says also to His disciples concerning the same thing:
“Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not understand,
that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and
is cast out into the draught?” Here He most certainly pointed to
the mouth of the body. But in that which follows He plainly speaks
of the mouth of the heart, where He says, “But those things which
proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile
the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,”975
etc. What is
clearer than this explanation? And yet, when we call thoughts
speeches of the heart, it does not follow that they are not also
acts of sight, arising from the sight of knowledge, when they are
true. For when these things are done outwardly by means of the
body, then speech and sight are different things; but when we think
inwardly, the two are one,—just as sight and
hearing are two things mutually distinct in the bodily senses, but
to see and hear are the same thing in the mind; and hence, while
speech is not seen but rather heard outwardly, yet the inward
speeches, i.e. thoughts, are said by the holy Gospel to have
been seen, not heard, by the Lord. “They said within themselves,
This man blasphemeth,” says the Gospel; and then subjoined,
“And when Jesus saw their thoughts.” Therefore He saw, what
they said. For by His own thought He saw their thoughts, which they
supposed no one saw but themselves.
19. Whoever, then, is able to
understand a word, not only before it is uttered in sound, but also
before the images of its sounds are considered in thought,—for
this it is which belongs to no tongue, to wit, of those which are
called the tongues of nations, of which our Latin tongue is
one;—whoever, I say, is able to understand this, is able now to
see through this glass and in this enigma some likeness of that
Word of whom it is said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.”976
For of necessity, when we speak
what is true, i.e. speak what we know, there is born from
the knowledge itself which the memory retains, a word that is
altogether of the same kind with that knowledge from which it is
born. For the thought that is formed by the thing which we know, is
the word which we speak in the heart: which word is neither Greek
nor Latin, nor of any other tongue. But when it is needful to
convey this to the knowledge of those to whom we speak, then some
sign is assumed whereby to signify it. And generally a sound,
sometimes a nod, is exhibited, the former to the ears, the latter
to the eyes, that the word which we bear in our mind may become
known also by bodily signs to the bodily senses. For what is to nod
or beckon, except to speak in some way to the sight? And Holy
Scripture gives its testimony to this; for we read in the Gospel
according to John: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of
you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one upon another,
doubting of whom He spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ breast
one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore
beckons to him, and says to him, Who is it of whom He speaks?”977
Here he
spoke by beckoning what he did not venture to speak by sounds. But
whereas we exhibit these and the like bodily signs either to ears
or eyes of persons present to whom we speak, letters have been
invented that we might be able to converse also with the absent;
but these are signs of words, as words themselves are signs in our
conversation of those things which we think.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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