Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/486

 450 Readings in European History 189. Abe- There are many seeming contradictions and even obscuri- lard's t j es j n t h e innumerable writings of the church fathers. Our Yea and Nay (summarized), respect for their authority should not stand in the way of an effort on our part to come at the truth. The obscurity and contradictions in ancient writings may be explained upon many grounds, and may be discussed without impugning the good faith and insight of the fathers. A writer may use different terms to mean the same thing, in order to avoid a monotonous repetition of the same word. Common, vague words may be employed in order that the common people may understand ; and sometimes a writer sacrifices perfect accuracy in the interest of a clear general statement. Poeti- cal, figurative language is often obscure and vague. Not infrequently apocryphal works are attributed to the saints. Then, even the best authors often introduce the erroneous views of others and leave the reader to distinguish between the true and the false. Sometimes, as Augustine confesses in his own case, the fathers ventured to rely upon the opinions of others. Doubtless the fathers might err ; even Peter, the prince of the apostles, fell into error; what wonder that the saints do not always show themselves inspired ? The fathers did not themselves believe that they, or their companions, were always right. Augustine found himself mistaken in some cases and did not hesitate to retract his errors. He warns his admirers not to look upon his letters as they would upon the Scriptures, but to accept only those things which, upon examination, they find to be true. All writings belonging to this class are to be read with full freedom to criticise, and with no obligation to accept unquestioningly ; otherwise the way would be blocked to nil discussion, and posterity be deprived of the excellent intel- lectual exercise of debating difficult questions of language and presentation. But an explicit exception must be made in the case of the Old and New Testaments. In the Scriptures, when anything strikes us as absurd, we may not say that the writer erred, but that the scribe made a blunder in copying the manuscripts, or that there is an error in interpretation, or