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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." 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?" 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?" 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."
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 east 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,"
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." 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?" 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.
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