35. See Tractate 8.1 and 9, passim. Cf. Tractate 24.2. (continued)
INTRODUCTION 11 spiritual realities and these may be more important in our lives than the fact of the miracle. These spiritual realities were what Augustine sought to explicate.
(ii) The emphasis on hidden meanings was inevitable in Augustine for two reasons, one secular and one Christian. Augustine was educated in the literary culture of upper class late Roman society. This literary culture was stirred in his times by a vigorous revival of the high literary standards of the classical tradition, and, at the same time, it was narrowed by its emphasis on hidden meanings, rare and difficult vocabulary, and elaborate style. The allegorical method itself was confined to the study of strictly religious texts and was used therein by pagans, Hebrews, and Christians. But the search for deeper and less obvious meanings was part of the literary tradition of late Roman culture. In addition, at least for Augustine, symbolical interpretation was inescapable because of the fallen condition of man's soul. The human intellect is incapable of knowing God directly except for occasional flashes of awareness. The fallen intellect works indirectly through signs. The Bible alone provides the bridge between this dislocated human consciousness and direct awareness.
Symbolical exegesis is the methodology that enables interpretation of the signs. In John's Gospel, even more than the
36. See, e.g., Tractate 49.2 where the three resurrections that are read about in the New Testament symbolize the return of the sinner to spiritual life, that is, tlie re-entry of divine strength into the soul. See also Pontet, 567—568; Van der Meer, 438—439; and for a good, basic discussion of this whole topic, H. -I Marrou, Saint Augustin et la fin de la culture antique (Paris,
1938), 478-494, 646-651. 37. See Brown, Augustine, 259—261, and The World of Late Antiquity (London, 1971), 115-118; Marrou, Saint Augustin et la fin, 494-498. 38. See, e.g., DDC 1.2.2., 2.1. to 3.4 and 7.10 and 1 1 ; Tractates 15.1, 24.6, and 26.12. On Augustine's theory of signs, both in general and in its application to scriptural exegesis see, R. Ayers, Language, Logic, and Reason in the
Church Fathers (Hildesheim, 1979), 67-78, and his "Language Theory and Analysis in Augustine," Scottish Journal of Theology 29 (1976) 1-12; B.Jackson, "The Theory of Signs in St. Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana" REAug 15 (1969) 9-49; R. Markus, "St., Augustine on Signs," Phronesis 2 (1957) 6083; and Van der Meer, 298-31 1. 39. See Brown, Augustine, 261—263, and, e.g.. Tractates 7.21, 9.3, 10.12, 15.18—21, 174, and 24.6.