Was Saint Augustine wrong?

Question

He says that Biblical text should not be interpreted literally if it contradicts what we know from science and our God-given reason. St. Augustine says that if you do take the Bible literally that a non-Christian would scarcely be able to keep from laughing.

If one of your own saints thinks that literal interpretation of the Bible is silly, why would there be any surprise when others laugh?

Shadow_wings - Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fountainheads of Reformation teaching on salvation and grace. Source - Wikipedia

Answer 1

a great deal of science is supposition, just as the interpretation of the bible. if someone laughs, they are not knowledeable or scientific, they are simply small. If you know what you know then no one can take that away from you.
I believe in many of the things in the bible as literal. One of my main complaints of the many 'bible thumpers' is that they misuse that to their benefit. instead of taking a chapter, so as to get the meat of the message, they will choose paragraphs, or even more silly, single phrases, as meaning what the bible is saying. Now that is ludicrous and totally unscientific. even in the realms of philosophical physics of the universe, they incorporate and study all the works, beliefs, and suppositions that went before in order to arrive at their own, as far as possible, provable beliefs. No one who has not studied the bible from every aspect has the right to downplay anyone's spiritual beliefs. in this world no one has the right to ridicule anyone. a person's belief structure is just that, their own. if another disagrees, so be it, that does not mean my own beliefs or yours are any less valid.

Answer 2

Doug, First of all, believe it or not, Augustine couldn't read Greek and as a theologian to not be able to consult the original languages of the Word of God, this is a critical failure.

This means that Augustine was not able to understand what Paul or Peter or John wrote, without relying on the sayso a translator.

Augustine relied on the translation of his close ally, Jerome of Palestine. Jerome was the man who translated the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek into Latin.

Second problem with Augustine is where he got much of his theology from. Before becoming a Christian, Augustine studied two different religions/philosophies, that he allowed to influence him and brought their doctrines with him into the Church.

This is why Augustine is one of the False Apostles because the only infallible succession to him are the inspired writings as mention in 2 Pet. 1:15; 3:1; 2 Tim. 3:14-17.

Augustine has NO authority because he was NOT inspired of the Holy Spirit nor are they eyewitnesses of Jesus. John 20:22-23; Acts 1:8, 21-26

Answer 3

Augustine wrote extensively in an effort to clearly define what he meant.

He certainly took much of scripture literally, but he also had differences of opinion with other scholars of his day about various passages.

Let's not try to get too wild here by throwing this great saint at each other.

Augustine's writings serve as a good "primer" for all who wish to better understand both scripture and the entire Christian faith.

Study all of his stuff and you'll know exactly what he meant.

Take other's words for it, and you'll know nothing.

Answer 4

We Catholics certainly believe Augustine had insight far beyond that of any Joe Blow pastor today. The scholarly saint is by far the greatest doctor of the Western church, and even most Protestant scholars regard him as a virtually peerless interpreter of the scriptures - it is insulting to say that the greatest theologian of the west has a peer in every Elmer Fudd Gantry preaching in your local mega-church.

Now as to what we believe - even Catholics who follow Augustine's teachings believe the bible to be "literally" true. Where we disagree with our literalist evangelical brethren, is in what "literal" means.

For us, it is the intent of the piece of scripture, and the literary genre the biblical book belongs to. For instance, the Catholic church does not believe a man named Jonah spent three days inside a fish. Instead, we recognize the Book of Jonah belongs in a special Hebrew literary genre, a kind of satire. Jonah is making an important point in its exaggerated message, and gives this message so as to so clearly illustrate that God's concerns were not limited to the Israelites.

God says to Jonah, "You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?"

God's rebuke to Jonah is framed in - well basically - a parable, almost exactly in purpose like the parables that Jesus told. In that sense, it is LITERALLY true, in that it is exactly the message God wants to give us. It may not be the retelling of a historical event, but it is both a truth and a literal message.

Answer 5

I did not think anyone else have the same mind and understanding of the bible as I am, I differ with Saint Augustine in the fact that to me the bible is but a fictional work that has been translated over and over again from who knows what language and how someone heard it from whoever.

Answer 6

You would have to have St Augustine here to get a clarification from him as to exactly what he meant if he made such a statement. Besides which, Mr Augustine is no more an authority on what the Bible has to say than any other Pastor of a local church is today.

Some passages from the Bible are poetic in nature. Some are analogies and parables. Some are prophetic visions that use symbolic language to represent future events. But a large portion of the Bible is literal truth that has to be interpreted in the context of the historical and cultural setting as well as in the whole context of God's Word. I doubt that Mr Augustine meant that we should not believe that Jesus walked on the water or fed 5,000 people from 5 loaves of bread. I would guess that he was telling people to use a little common sense when it came to reading passages like this one.

Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

Answer 7

St. Augustine is one of Catholicism's saints not Christianity. The Bible teaches that all believers are saints.

Blessed Be

Answer 8

Some verses are literal, some symbolic, some parable, some prophetic.
An incorrect interpretation usually makes a contradiction. That's one way to tell if you are reading the Bible correctly.

Answer 9

if you think about some of the bible text - no it is NOT to be taken literally. look at all the parables. how about in Mark 10:47 0 if thine eye offend thee pluck it out. in each gospel there is the colemn passages about "Take and eat this is My Body" Jesus didn't literally slice off a piece of Himself.
look at turn the other cheek.... when someone upsets you do you literally turn th eother cheek - actually no for that would be spiteful and rude. think about it literally - you and i are arguing or you do something cruel to me - if i'm looking toward you and turn the other cheek - it's rude and would probably tick you off more. rather we are to love one another.
we are to enter the Kingdom as little children.... so literally we need to kill ourselves before we reach maturity otherwise we're not little children.....
how about your dedendants will be more than the stars inthe heavens and grains of sand -- i don't now any woman that could bear that many literal decendents of one man.....

st augustine did not say that ALL bibla text was not to be taken literally - only that which was not literal.

Answer 10

St. Augustine really said that? Rock on!
He's right.
Being an athiest, I always crack up when reading the Bible (old and new testaments) because of the contradictions between the two and because of the scientific inaccuracies (like rabbits chewing chud).
If you REALLY took the Bible literally, then your lifestyle would be a hell of a lot different.