Chapter 10.—Concerning the Word of the Mind, in Which We See the Word of God, as in a Glass and an Enigma.

17. But let us now speak of those things of which we think as known, and have in our knowledge even if we do not think of them; whether they belong to the contemplative knowledge, which, as I have argued, is properly to be called wisdom, or to the active which is properly to be called knowledge. For both together belong to one mind, and are one image of God. But when we treat of the lower of the two distinctly and separately, then it is not to be called an image of God, although even then, too, some likeness of that Trinity may be found in it; as we showed in the thirteenth book. We speak now, therefore, of the entire knowledge of man altogether, in which whatever is known to us is known; that, at any rate, which is true; otherwise it would not be known. For no one knows what is false, except when he knows it to be false; and if he knows this, then he knows what is true: for it is true that that is false. We treat, therefore, now of those things which we think as known, and which are known to us even if they are not being thought of. But certainly, if we would utter them in words, we can only do so by thinking them. For although there were no words spoken, at any rate, he who thinks speaks in his heart. And hence that passage in the book of Wisdom: “They said within themselves, thinking not aright.”963    Wisd. ii. 1 For the words, “They said within themselves,” are explained by the addition of “thinking.” A like passage to this is that in the Gospel,—that certain scribes, when they heard the Lord’s words to the paralytic man, “Be of good cheer, my son, thy sins are forgiven thee,” said within themselves, “This man blasphemeth.” For how did they “say within themselves,” except by thinking? Then follows, “And when Jesus saw their thoughts, He said, Why think ye evil in your thoughts?”964    Matt. ix. 2–4 So far Matthew. But Luke narrates the same thing thus: “The scribes and Pharisees began to think, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He, answering, said unto them, What think ye in your hearts?”965    Luke v. 21, 22 That which in the book of Wisdom is, “They said, thinking,” is the same here with, “They thought, saying.” For both there and here it is declared, that they spake within themselves, and in their own heart, i.e. spake by thinking. For they “spake within themselves,” and it was said to them, “What think ye?” And the Lord Himself says of that rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully, “And he thought within himself, saying.”966    Luke xii. 17

18. Some thoughts, then, are speeches of the heart, wherein the Lord also shows that there is a mouth, when He says, “Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, that defileth a man.” In one sentence He has comprised two diverse mouths of the man, one of the body, one of the heart. For assuredly, that from which they thought the man to be defiled, enters into the mouth of the body; but that from which the Lord said the man was defiled, proceedeth out of the mouth of the heart. So certainly He Himself explained what He had said. For a little after, He says also to His disciples concerning the same thing: “Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?” Here He most certainly pointed to the mouth of the body. But in that which follows He plainly speaks of the mouth of the heart, where He says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,”967    Matt. xv. 10–20 etc. What is clearer than this explanation? And yet, when we call thoughts speeches of the heart, it does not follow that they are not also acts of sight, arising from the sight of knowledge, when they are true. For when these things are done outwardly by means of the body, then speech and sight are different things; but when we think inwardly, the two are one,—just as sight and hearing are two things mutually distinct in the bodily senses, but to see and hear are the same thing in the mind; and hence, while speech is not seen but rather heard outwardly, yet the inward speeches, i.e. thoughts, are said by the holy Gospel to have been seen, not heard, by the Lord. “They said within themselves, This man blasphemeth,” says the Gospel; and then subjoined, “And when Jesus saw their thoughts.” Therefore He saw, what they said. For by His own thought He saw their thoughts, which they supposed no one saw but themselves.

19. Whoever, then, is able to understand a word, not only before it is uttered in sound, but also before the images of its sounds are considered in thought,—for this it is which belongs to no tongue, to wit, of those which are called the tongues of nations, of which our Latin tongue is one;—whoever, I say, is able to understand this, is able now to see through this glass and in this enigma some likeness of that Word of whom it is said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”968    John i. 1 For of necessity, when we speak what is true, i.e. speak what we know, there is born from the knowledge itself which the memory retains, a word that is altogether of the same kind with that knowledge from which it is born. For the thought that is formed by the thing which we know, is the word which we speak in the heart: which word is neither Greek nor Latin, nor of any other tongue. But when it is needful to convey this to the knowledge of those to whom we speak, then some sign is assumed whereby to signify it. And generally a sound, sometimes a nod, is exhibited, the former to the ears, the latter to the eyes, that the word which we bear in our mind may become known also by bodily signs to the bodily senses. For what is to nod or beckon, except to speak in some way to the sight? And Holy Scripture gives its testimony to this; for we read in the Gospel according to John: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one upon another, doubting of whom He spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ breast one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckons to him, and says to him, Who is it of whom He speaks?”969    John xiii. 21–24 Here he spoke by beckoning what he did not venture to speak by sounds. But whereas we exhibit these and the like bodily signs either to ears or eyes of persons present to whom we speak, letters have been invented that we might be able to converse also with the absent; but these are signs of words, as words themselves are signs in our conversation of those things which we think.

CAPUT X.

17. De verbo mentis, in quo tanquam speculo et aenigmate videmus Verbum Dei. Sed nunc de iis loquamur quae nota cogitamus, et habemus in notitia etiam si non cogitemus, sive ad contemplativam scientiam pertineant, quam proprie sapientiam , sive ad activam, quam proprie scientiam nuncupandam 1070 esse disserui. Simul enim utrumque mentis est unius, et imago Dei una. Cum vero de inferiore distinctius et seorsum agitur, tunc non est vocanda imago Dei, quamvis et tunc in ea nonnulla reperiatur similitudo illius Trinitatis; quod in tertio decimo volumine ostendimus (Capp. 1, 20). Nunc ergo simul de universa scientia hominis loquimur, in qua nobis nota sunt quaecumque sunt nota: quae utique vera sunt, alioquin nota non essent. Nemo enim falsa novit, nisi cum falsa esse novit: quod si novit, verum novit; verum est enim quod illa falsa sint. De his ergo nunc disserimus quae nota cogitamus, et nota sunt nobis etiam si non cogitentur a nobis. Sed certe si ea dicere velimus, nisi cogitata non possumus. Nam etsi verba non sonent, in corde suo dicit utique qui cogitat. Unde illud est in libro Sapientiae: Dixerunt apud se cogitantes non recte (Sap. II, 1). Exposuit enim quid sit, Dixerunt apud se, cum addidit, cogitantes. Huic simile est in Evangelio, quod quidam Scribae cum audissent a Domino dictum paralytico, Confide, fili, remittuntur tibi peccata tua; dixerunt intra se, Hic blasphemat. Quid est enim, dixerunt intra se, nisi cogitando? Denique sequitur, Et cum vidisset Jesus cogitationes eorum, dixit: Utquid cogitatis mala in cordibus vestris (Matth. IX, 2-4)? Sic Matthaeus. Lucas autem hoc idem ita narrat: Coeperunt cogitare Scribae et Pharisaei, dicentes: Quis est hic qui loquitur blasphemias? Quis potest dimittere peccata, nisi solus Deus? Ut cognovit autem cogitationes eorum Jesus, respondens dixit ad illos: Quid cogitatis in cordibus vestris (Luc. V, 21, 22)? Quale est in libro Sapientiae, Dixerunt cogitantes; tale hic est, Cogitaverunt dicentes. Et illic enim et hic ostenditur, intra se atque in corde suo dicere, id est, cogitando dicere. Dixerunt quippe intra se, et dictum est eis, Quid cogitatis? Et de illo divite cujus uberes fructus ager attulit, ait ipse Dominus, Et cogitabat intra se, dicens (Id. XII, 17).

18. Quaedam ergo cogitationes locutiones sunt cordis, ubi et os esse Dominus ostendit, cum ait: Non quod intrat in os coinquinat hominem; sed quod procedit ex ore, hoc coinquinat hominem. Una sententia duo quaedam hominis ora complexus est, unum corporis, alterum cordis. Nam utique unde illi hominem putaverant inquinari, in os intrat corporis: unde autem Dominus dixit inquinari hominem, de cordis ore procedit. Ita quippe exposuit ipse quod dixerat. Nam paulo post de hac re discipulis suis: Adhuc et vos, inquit, sine intellectu estis? Non intelligitis quia omne quod in os intrat, in ventrem vadit, et in secessum emittitur? Hic certe apertissime demonstravit os corporis. At in eo quod sequitur os cordis ostendens, Quae autem, inquit, procedunt de ore, de corde exeunt, et ea coinquinant hominem. De corde enim exeunt cogitationes malae (Matth. XV, 10-20), etc. Quid hac expositione lucidius? Nec tamen quia dicimus locutiones cordis esse cogitationes, ideo non sunt etiam visiones exortae de notitiae visionibus, quando verae sunt. Foris enim cum per corpus haec fiunt, aliud est 1071 locutio, aliud visio: intus autem cum cogitamus, utrumque unum est. Sicut auditio et visio duo quaedam sunt inter se distantia in sensibus corporis, in animo autem non est aliud atque aliud videre et audire: ac per hoc cum locutio foris non videatur, sed potius audiatur, locutiones tamen interiores, hoc est, cogitationes visas dixit a Domino sanctum Evangelium, non auditas: Dixerunt, inquit, intra se, Hic blasphemat; deinde subjunxit, Et cum vidisset Jesus cogitationes eorum. Vidit ergo quae dixerunt. Vidit enim cogitatione sua cogitationes eorum, quas illi soli se putabant videre.

19. Quisquis igitur potest intelligere verbum, non solum antequam sonet, verum etiam antequam sonorum ejus imagines cogitatione volvantur: hoc enim est quod ad nullam pertinet linguam, earum scilicet quae linguae appellantur gentium, quarum nostra latina est: quisquis, inquam, hoc intelligere potest, jam potest videre per hoc speculum atque in hoc aenigmate aliquam Verbi illius similitudinem, de quo dictum est, In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum (Joan. I, 1). Necesse est enim cum verum loquimur, id est, quod scimus loquimur, ex ipsa scientia quam memoria tenemus, nascatur verbum quod ejusmodi sit omnino, cujusmodi est illa scientia de qua nascitur. Formata quippe cogitatio ab ea re quam scimus, verbum est quod in corde dicimus: quod nec graecum est, nec latinum, nec linguae alicujus alterius; sed cum id opus est in eorum quibus loquimur perferre notitiam, aliquod signum quo significetur assumitur. Et plerumque sonus, aliquando etiam nutus, ille auribus, ille oculis exhibetur, ut per signa corporalia etiam corporis sensibus verbum quod mente gerimus innotescat. Nam et innuere quid est, nisi quodam modo visibiliter dicere? Est in Scripturis sanctis hujus sententiae testimonium; nam in Evangelio secundum Joannem ita legitur: Amen, amen dico vobis, quia unus ex vobis tradet me. Aspiciebant ergo ad invicem discipuli, haesitantes de quo diceret. Erat ergo unus ex discipulis ejus recumbens in sinu Jesu, quem diligebat Jesus: innuit ergo huic Simon Petrus, et dicit ei, Quis est de quo dicit (Id. XIII, 21-24)? Ecce innuendo dixit, quod sonando dicere non audebat. Sed haec atque hujusmodi signa corporalia sive auribus sive oculis praesentibus quibus loquimur exhibemus: inventae sunt autem litterae, per quas possemus et cum absentibus colloqui: sed ista signa sunt vocum, cum ipsae voces in sermone nostro earum quas cogitamus signa sint rerum.