the Apostle Paul because he is our great orator. For when
CHAP. VIL] the eloquence of PAUL. 131 is weak, and I am not weak ? wlio is offended, and I burn not ? " In fine, this whole passage, as if panting for breath, winds up with a period of two members : " If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities." And I cannot sufficiently express how beautiful and delightful it is wdien after this outburst he rests himself, and gives the hearer rest, by interposing a slight narrative. For he goes on to say : " The God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not." And then he tells very briefly the danger he had been in, and the way he escaped it.
1 4. It would be tedious to pursue the matter further, or to point out the same facts in regard to other passages of Holy
Scripture. Suppose I had taken the further trouble, at least in regard to the passages I have quoted from the apostle's writings, to point out figures of speech which are taught in the art of rhetoric ? Is it not more likely that serious men would think I had gone too far, than that any of the studious would think I had done enough ? All these things when taught by masters are reckoned of great value ; great prices are paid for them, and the vendors puff them magniloquently. And I fear lest I too should smack of that puffery while thus descanting on matters of this kind. It was necessary, however, to reply to the ill-taught men who think our authors contemptible; not because they do not possess, but because they do not display, the eloquence which these men value so highly.
15. But perhaps some one is thinking that I have selected the Apostle Paul because he is our great orator. For when he says, "Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge,"^ he seems to speak as if granting so much to his detractors, not as confessing that he recognised its truth.
If he had said, " I am indeed rude in speech, but not in knowledge," we could not in any way have put another meaning upon it. He did not hesitate plainly to assert his knowledge, because without it he could not have been the teacher of the Gentiles. And certainly if we bring forward anything of his as a model of eloquence, we take it from those
• 2 Cor. xi. 6.
132 ON Cnr.ISTIAN DOCTRT^'E. [cook IV.
epistles which even his very detractors, who thought his bodily presence weak and his speech contemptible, confessed to be weighty and powerful^
I see, then, that I must say something about the eloquence of the prophets also, where many things are concealed under a metapliorical style, which the more completely they seem buried under figures of speech, give the greater pleasure w^hen brought to light. In this place, however, it is my duty to select a passage of such a kind that I shall not be compelled to explain the matter, but only to commend the style. And I shall do so, quoting principally from the book of that prophet who says that he was a shepherd or herdsman, and was called by God from that occupation, and sent to prophesy to the people of God.'^ I shall not, however, follow the Septuagint translators, who, being tliemselves under the guidance of the
Holy Spii'it in their translation, seem to have altered some passages with the view of directing the reader's attention more particularly to the investigation of the spiritual sense ; (and hence some passages are more obscure, because more figurative, in their translation ;) but I shall follow the translation made from the Hebrew into Latin by the presbyter Jerome, a man thorouglily acquainted with both tongues.
IG.'when, then, this rustic, or quondam rustic prophet, was denouncing the godless, the proud, the luxurious, and therefore the most neglectful of brotherly love, he called aloud, saying : " Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are heads and chiefs of the people, entering with pomp into the house of Israel ! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see ; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great ; then go down to Gath of the Philistines, and to all the best kingdoms of these : is their border greater than your border ? Ye that are set apart for the day of evil, and that come near to the seat of oppression ; that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch yourselves upon couches ; that eat the lamb of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd ; that chant to the sound of the viol. They thought that they had instruments of music like David ; drinking wine in bowls, and anointing themselves with the costliest ointment: and they
» 2 Cor. X. 10. ' Amos i. 1, vii. 14.