tion, in ^vllich not a past but an existing state of things is made
GQ ON CHRISTIAN DOCTTJNE. [dOOK U.
Chap. xxix.— To what extent natural science is an ezegetical aid.
45. There is also a species of narrative resembling description, in ^vllich not a past but an existing state of things is made known to those who are ignorant of it. To this species belongs all that has been written about the situation of places, and the nature of animals, trees, herbs, stones, and other bodies. And of this species I have treated above, and have sho^vn that this kind of knowledge is serviceable in solving the difficulties of
Scripture, not that these objects are to be used conformably to certain signs as nostrums or the instruments of superstition ; for that kind of knowledge I have already set aside as distinct from the lawful and free kind now spoken of. For it is one thing to say : If you bruise down this herb and drink it, it will remove the pain from your stomach ; and another to say
If you hang this herb round your neck, it will remove the pain from your stomach. In the former case the wholesome mixture is approved of, in the latter the superstitious charm is condemned ; although indeed, where incantations and invocations and marks are not used, it is frequently doubtful whether the thing that is tied or fixed in any way to the body to cure it, acts by a natural virtue, in which case it may be freely used ; or acts by a sort of charm, in which case it becomes the
Christian to avoid it the more carefully, the more efficacious it may seem to be. But when the reason why a thing is of virtue does not appear, the intention with which it is used is of great importance, at least in healing or in tempering bodies, whether in medicine or in agriculture.
4G. The knowledge of the stars, again, is not a matter of narration, but of description. Very few of these, however, are mentioned in Scripture. And as the course of the moon, which is regularly employed in reference to celebrating the anniversary of our Lord's passion, is known to most people ; so the rising and setting and other movoincuts of the rest of the heavenly bodies are thoroughly known to very few. And this knowledge, although in itself it involves no superstition, renders very little, indeed almost no assistance, in the interpretation of Holy Scripture, and by engaging the attention unprofitably is a hindrance ratlicr ; and as it is closely related to the very pernicious error uf the diviners of the fiites, it is more