Since Tim had so graciously introduced St Augustine into a discussion about mystery/paradox over at Mike's place, I thought I would indulge myself for a moment or two. This is entirely for my own amusement and not for your edification... it is a long way from being presentable, these are mainly rough drafts of something, but there you have it for the time being...
Short version: yadda yadda, we all know that the Trinity is a mystery, and so are some bits of the bible...
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Long version: do we know why the Trinity is a mystery, and what does that have to do with reading the bible? Auggie in the Confessions:
So now, when another shall say: Moses meant as I do, and another says, Nay, he meant as I do; I suppose that with more reverence I may say: Why meant he not as both you mean, if you both mean truly? (conf 12.31)
Aside: What is to keep us from falling into an endless variety of interpretations, and without shutting out those interpretations which may be different from our own, and yet as Augustine would say, they are “true”? Augustine himself allows for many different interpretations of Genesis, as long as they are compatible with God as Trinity. In this way there is a limit to the range of interpretations. The task of interpretation is really the task of Trinitarian theology. Secondly, false interpretations will say something false about the nature of humanity which is made in God’s image, especially as humanity is seen in its original state in the creation story, prior to the fall.
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With all of these various interpretations, all of which Augustine claims are true, the only appeal left is to place them under a principle which is capable of unifying them, of giving them a logic.
In this diversity of true opinions, let truth itself procure reconcilement, and out God have mercy upon us, that we may use the law lawfully, even the end of the commandment, pure charity… (12.30)
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Augustine is not about to give an answer to the question of which one out of all the possible interpretations is the "correct" one. Should someone ask him at this point in the argument, they have missed the logic of the work. The correct answer is not finite, it does not need to oppose one position to another. It has moved beyond this to the divine, where what is a contradiction for finite logic is the logic of the divine unity in Trinity. Charity is the answer, and God is love. Humanity's end as contemplating the divine is the end of the argument, it is the locus of the highest charity which joins distinctions, even in itself. The God who inspired the Scriptures has allowed there to be truths which appear as contradictory to finite minds.
…God who is One, hath tempered these holy Scriptures to the meanings of a many, that were to see true things and yet diverse. (12.31)
God himself, who is one and three, has allowed His Scriptures to bear his Trinitarian image – there can be differences of meaning within the text, as long as these all bear witness to the nature of God, and in the spirit of charity. The ones who will this as their end can be led through the Scriptures without contradiction, as the meanings they perceive can still serve this end. It is not impossible for the divine to bear what appears as a contradiction - Christ has already done it in its fundamental form – impossibly joining the contradiction of god and humanity, eternity and time, death and resurrection.
The two necessary elements in the further interpretation are presented: when things are related to the human mind per signa one can doubt either the veracity of the sign itself, or the meaning intended by the agent of the sign. To proceed in the argument, one must have both reason and faith. Rather than proceeding with a confession which attempts to further knowledge simply in terms evident to natural reason, Augustine is trying to take reason, add to it a properly willed relation to the divine authority of Scripture, and through this to move beyond the limits of finite thought. The purpose of Scripture is not to give him the type of knowledge of the finite he was looking for in the Manichees or the astrologers. He is rather using Scripture to present to the mind objects which would not naturally fall into its gaze. In so doing the finite mind thinks the objects it sees in Scripture, and conforms its own activities of thinking and willing to them. thus both the intellect and the will are moving to higher objects.
So what are you supposed to be doing when you read this part of the Confessions? You are supposed to be thinking in Trinitarian terms – how difference and unity can exist at once, held together by charity. This is Augustine’s project – to see how we can move to - I won’t say an understanding of, nor a belief in, but rather a vision of God the Trinity. Revelation of the inward relations of the Godhead itself: difference and unity in the principle of charity.
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