How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
But I did not understand the first chapters and, on the assumption that the rest of the book would be equally difficult, I laid it aside to be taken up again later, when I should be more used to the style in which God's word is spoken. (IX.5.1)
We've all been here, haven't we? The fact is, not all books are written equal. And that, dear readers, is why we have our handy Tough-o-meter. It's nice to know that even someone as literate and smart as Augustine has trouble with the Scriptures, and it sounds like he's trying to reassure his readership that the Scriptures can be pretty humbling. Even to the most learned mind. It's almost like the Scriptures are written in their own special language, and Augustine's Latinate, philosophical mind is coming up blank. Remember how earlier, he was complaining about how the Scriptures read like a Fun with Dick and Jane comic? Oh, how the tables have turned.
Quote #8
For your Word is not speech in which each part comes to an end when it has been spoken, giving place to the next, so that finally the whole may be uttered. In your Word all is uttered at one and the same time, yet eternally. (XI.7.1)
Augustine does some pretty complex maneuvers in order to account for God's immutability, including making his "speech" something that does not seem to resemble speech very much at all. His analysis of Genesis in Books XI-XIII is really wrapped up in the specific language of the Bible and the "language" used by God (the creation through a speech act, the idea of the Word, etc.). "Exegesis" is a good buzzword for these sections: it means "critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible."
Quote #9
In the same way, from the words of Moses, uttered in all brevity but destined to serve a host of preachers, there gush clear streams of truth from which each of us, though in more prolix and roundabout phrases, may derive a true explanation of the creation as best he is able, some choosing one and some another interpretation. (XII.27.1)
As much as Augustine is frustrated by how he isn't able to "know" precisely what the Bible is talking about, his way of coping is to revel in how many "right answers" there are. Sorry for all the scare quotes, but Augustine is all about Truth, as in singular-Truth-with-a-capital-T, so this kind of plurality is new territory for him. We'd also like to point out that Augustine highlights Moses's brevity (Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses), and then says that it is because of such bluntness and simplicity that the language can be read in so many ways. What do you make of this notion, in light of Augustine's earlier opinions about the Bible's simple language?