First read the plain places. Then let them light the dark ones. Augustine will not let a man hunt figures before he knows the books, or treat an ox as only an ox when the apostle has already said what the ox means. Hebrew and Greek are not ornaments. They are the remedy when Latin translators multiply. Two renderings of Isaiah can both tell the truth: without faith you will not understand; without faith you will not abide. The Confessions then tries to measure a voice—and finds that while it sounds it is not finished, and when it is finished it is gone. We measure neither future, nor past, nor present, nor what is passing. And yet we do measure times. Aquinas takes the mind past its ordinary tools. Paul was caught up. He knew what he saw. He did not know whether he was in the body.

Today’s Readings:

Augustine of Hippo — On Christian Doctrine, Book 2, Chapters 9–12 (Sections 14–17)

Augustine of Hippo — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 27 (Section 34)

Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Question 175 (Rapture)

---

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#ThroughTheChurchFathers #ChurchFathers #Augustine #OnChristianDoctrine #Confessions #ThomasAquinas #SummaTheologica #Scripture #Languages #Time #Rapture #Theology #EarlyChurch

Fear of God is the first step; wisdom is the last. Between them Augustine sets a climb that ends in a single eye—one that will not put neighbor, or self, before the truth. Then he comes back down to the third step and names the books: the canon judged by the churches, forty-four of the Old, and the New from the four Gospels to John’s Revelation. The Confessions still cannot say what time is, only that we measure it—long verse by short syllable—until even that measure slips, and he wonders whether the protraction is of the mind itself. Aquinas sorts the prophets the same way Augustine sorts signs: the image is one gift; the light that understands it is a greater one.

### Today’s Readings:

Augustine of Hippo — On Christian Doctrine, Book 2, Chapters 7–8 (Sections 11–13)

Augustine of Hippo — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapters 25–26 (Sections 32–33)

Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 173–174 (The Reception and Degrees of Prophecy)

---

### Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#ThroughTheChurchFathers #ChurchFathers #Augustine #OnChristianDoctrine #Confessions #ThomasAquinas #SummaTheologica #Canon #Wisdom #Time #Prophecy #Theology #EarlyChurch

Today’s Readings Podcast Description

Scripture left one language so that it could enter every language. Readers hunt the mind of the writers only to find the will of God. Then the dark places arrive. Augustine will not call them accidents. Pride is worn down by toil; the mind that finds too easily grows dull. The plain texts feed hunger. The obscure ones wake appetite. Almost nothing buried in figure is not said elsewhere without figure. Fear of God is the first step toward wisdom; piety the second, so that we do not correct the book we do not yet understand; knowledge the third—and knowledge of a good hope makes a man sorrowful, not proud. Strength follows, hungering after righteousness, turning from what passes to the unchangeable Trinity.

Is time the motion of a body? No body moves except in time. That is not the same as saying motion is time. We measure both movement and standing still. Time is the measure, not the thing measured.

Then Aquinas asks what prophecy is. A physician may forecast an illness. That is not prophecy. Prophecy begins where natural causes run out and God himself lights the mind. It is not only the future. It is not a gift the prophet switches on at will. Angels may carry the message. Only God is its source. Zach could guess from schedules and clues. Kylee told him what had actually happened. Inference is one kind of knowing. Revelation is another.

### Today’s Readings:

Augustine of Hippo — On Christian Doctrine, Book 2, Chapters 5–7 (Sections 6–10)

Augustine of Hippo — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 24 (Section 31)

Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 171–172

---

### Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

Donate toward publishing Through the Church Fathers in a Year – https://www.credoministries.org (click “Donate”)

#ThroughTheChurchFathers #Augustine #Aquinas #Confessions #OnChristianDoctrine #Prophecy #Scripture #Time #Wisdom