Teaching Christianity, books 23

1
Teaching Christianity, books 2-3

• Augustine of Hippo

2
Signs

• Bible is a book of signs
• Words are always signs
• And, some things signified by these words are
  also signs
• example God is my rock
• Word rock signifies a hard natural object
• This object in turn signifies spiritual qualities
  of God solid, sturdy, enduring, etc.

3
Types of signs

• Natural or conventional
• Natural no intention of signifying (smoke
  signifies fire)
• Conventional signifies by means of intention
• Need to understand convention (human society,
  language) to understand these signs
• Bible written by humans in human language,
  therefore composed of conventional signs
• Interpretation requires understanding human
  society
• Need to study humanly instituted arts and
  sciences (2. 39.58) liberal education

4
Types of learning needed

• Language
• Biology and other sciences
• History
• Math
• Philosophy
• Etc.
• Get riches of a pagan education, as Israelites
  took gold and silver from the Egyptians (2.40.60)
• Literate Christians should engage culture

5
Ambiguous signs

• Some signs (words, passages) in Bible are clear,
  some are unclear
• Due to spelling, translation, grammar
• Bigger category metaphors
• Metaphors require figurative interpretation
• Note anti-Jewish rhetoric (3.5.9) carnal vs.
  spiritual
• Implies supersessionism Christianity replaces
  Judaism
• Issue how to interpret ritual signs like
  circumcision, sacrifice in OT and NT

6
How to interpret figures?

• Figure anything in Bible that does not refer to
  good faith or morals (love of God and neighbor)
• Assumption God is good
• Do we have similar assumptions?
• Use allegory things are signs of higher
  spiritual things
• Clear passages explain ambiguous ones
• Have priority
• If a passage is clear and morally good at the
  literal level, do not look for a figurative
  meaning

7
For next time

• Read all of book 4 (long!)
• But skim pp. 205-215, 223-233
• Think about means of persuasion that you
  encounter
• Advertising, media
• Does truth/goodness require persuasion as
  effective as falsehood?
• How important is the goodness of the speaker as a
  form of persuasion?