Tractates on the Gospel of John
10 ST. AUGUSTINE itself, but as a means to promote understanding and effect action in the life of the listener. Persuading was, of course, vitally important; if the soul did not respond to the knowledge it acquired, with God's grace aiding it, it could not achieve salvation and the Tractates would have been futile. Cicero's three styles also admirably suited the three goals;^' the subdued style for teaching intelligently,^^ the moderate style to give aesthetic pleasure, and the grand style to stir passionate feelings of the heart and to persuade the listeners to be converted to the truth.^^ Since all three purposes existed in any one Tractate, a blending of the styles was desirable,^^ and the good preacher was able to shift as the needs of his speech required.
Allegorical Exegesis
(lo) Augustine's primary approach to exegesis, certainly for the Gospel of John, was allegorical, or perhap . better, symbolical or spiritual. He did not deny the validity of other methods of interpretation nor hesitate to apply them so that a particular text might be explained literally or historically, etiologically or by analogy, as well as symbolically. Scripture is of unfathomable depth and carries many meanings all at once. To interpret a passage symbolically is not to deny its literal or historical truth, but to see that fact as a sign representing a deeper inner spiritual truth or truths. So, for example, there were six jars of water at Cana ^^ which in historical fact were changed into six jars of wine; the miracle did occur and does attest Christ's divinity. But that miracle is also a sign of
31. DDC 4.17.34 and 18.35. 32. This was the style Augustine thought best suited for his day-to-day work. See DDC 4.18.36 and Brown, Augustine, 255.
33. Augustine's commitment to seeking perfection often affected his style. This is reflected even in the treatises. Brown, Augustine, 248—249, describes his defense of married life in the DeBono Coniugali as "conscientious," whereas the De Sancta Virginitate is "lyrical," and the defense of nuns raped in the sack of Rome in the De Civitate Dei 2.2.88 shows traces of "outraged gallantry." 34. DDC 4.22.51. 35. See Tractate 8.1 and 9, passim. Cf. Tractate 24.2.