{"id":"01KJR8Q6CNF3A4REZJ63AJKSMD","cid":"bafkreic3cnfbondud6xadfm62gu2fu44mds5sdfy4vzhaj2ymawwzp6u3u","type":"text_chunk","properties":{"char_end":256751,"char_start":248796,"chunk_index":35,"chunk_total":89,"estimated_tokens":1989,"source_file_key":"confessions","text":"silence, belong to soul and mind subject to variation. And should these\r\nthings be falsely written of Him, all the rest also would risk the\r\ncharge, nor would there remain in those books any saving faith for\r\nmankind. Since then they were written truly, I acknowledged a perfect\r\nman to be in Christ; not the body of a man only, nor, with the body, a\r\nsensitive soul without a rational, but very man; whom, not only as being\r\na form of Truth, but for a certain great excellence of human nature and\r\na more perfect participation of wisdom, I judged to be preferred before\r\nothers. But Alypius imagined the Catholics to believe God to be so\r\nclothed with flesh, that besides God and flesh, there was no soul at all\r\nin Christ, and did not think that a human mind was ascribed to Him. And\r\nbecause he was well persuaded that the actions recorded of Him could\r\nonly be performed by a vital and a rational creature, he moved the more\r\nslowly towards the Christian Faith. But understanding afterwards that\r\nthis was the error of the Apollinarian heretics, he joyed in and was\r\nconformed to the Catholic Faith. But somewhat later, I confess, did I\r\nlearn how in that saying, The Word was made flesh, the Catholic truth\r\nis distinguished from the falsehood of Photinus. For the rejection of\r\nheretics makes the tenets of Thy Church and sound doctrine to stand out\r\nmore clearly. For there must also be heresies, that the approved may be\r\nmade manifest among the weak.\r\n\r\nBut having then read those books of the Platonists, and thence been\r\ntaught to search for incorporeal truth, I saw Thy invisible things,\r\nunderstood by those things which are made; and though cast back, I\r\nperceived what that was which through the darkness of my mind I was\r\nhindered from contemplating, being assured \"That Thou wert, and wert\r\ninfinite, and yet not diffused in space, finite or infinite; and that\r\nThou truly art Who art the same ever, in no part nor motion varying;\r\nand that all other things are from Thee, on this most sure ground alone,\r\nthat they are.\" Of these things I was assured, yet too unsure to enjoy\r\nThee. I prated as one well skilled; but had I not sought Thy way in\r\nChrist our Saviour, I had proved to be, not skilled, but killed. For now\r\nI had begun to wish to seem wise, being filled with mine own punishment,\r\nyet I did not mourn, but rather scorn, puffed up with knowledge. For\r\nwhere was that charity building upon the foundation of humility, which\r\nis Christ Jesus? or when should these books teach me it? Upon these, I\r\nbelieve, Thou therefore willedst that I should fall, before I studied\r\nThy Scriptures, that it might be imprinted on my memory how I was\r\naffected by them; and that afterwards when my spirits were tamed through\r\nThy books, and my wounds touched by Thy healing fingers, I might discern\r\nand distinguish between presumption and confession; between those who\r\nsaw whither they were to go, yet saw not the way, and the way that\r\nleadeth not to behold only but to dwell in the beatific country. For\r\nhad I first been formed in Thy Holy Scriptures, and hadst Thou in the\r\nfamiliar use of them grown sweet unto me, and had I then fallen upon\r\nthose other volumes, they might perhaps have withdrawn me from the solid\r\nground of piety, or, had I continued in that healthful frame which I had\r\nthence imbibed, I might have thought that it might have been obtained by\r\nthe study of those books alone.\r\n\r\nMost eagerly then did I seize that venerable writing of Thy Spirit; and\r\nchiefly the Apostle Paul. Whereupon those difficulties vanished away,\r\nwherein he once seemed to me to contradict himself, and the text of his\r\ndiscourse not to agree with the testimonies of the Law and the Prophets.\r\nAnd the face of that pure word appeared to me one and the same; and I\r\nlearned to rejoice with trembling. So I began; and whatsoever truth\r\nI had read in those other books, I found here amid the praise of Thy\r\nGrace; that whoso sees, may not so glory as if he had not received, not\r\nonly what he sees, but also that he sees (for what hath he, which he\r\nhath not received?), and that he may be not only admonished to behold\r\nThee, who art ever the same, but also healed, to hold Thee; and that he\r\nwho cannot see afar off, may yet walk on the way, whereby he may arrive,\r\nand behold, and hold Thee. For, though a man be delighted with the law\r\nof God after the inner man, what shall he do with that other law in his\r\nmembers which warreth against the law of his mind, and bringeth him\r\ninto captivity to the law of sin which is in his members? For, Thou art\r\nrighteous, O Lord, but we have sinned and committed iniquity, and have\r\ndone wickedly, and Thy hand is grown heavy upon us, and we are justly\r\ndelivered over unto that ancient sinner, the king of death; because\r\nhe persuaded our will to be like his will whereby he abode not in Thy\r\ntruth. What shall wretched man do? who shall deliver him from the body\r\nof his death, but only Thy Grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, whom\r\nThou hast begotten co-eternal, and formedst in the beginning of Thy\r\nways, in whom the prince of this world found nothing worthy of death,\r\nyet killed he Him; and the handwriting, which was contrary to us, was\r\nblotted out? This those writings contain not. Those pages present not\r\nthe image of this piety, the tears of confession, Thy sacrifice, a\r\ntroubled spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, the salvation of the\r\npeople, the Bridal City, the earnest of the Holy Ghost, the Cup of our\r\nRedemption. No man sings there, Shall not my soul be submitted unto God?\r\nfor of Him cometh my salvation. For He is my God and my salvation, my\r\nguardian, I shall no more be moved. No one there hears Him call, Come\r\nunto Me, all ye that labour. They scorn to learn of Him, because He is\r\nmeek and lowly in heart; for these things hast Thou hid from the wise\r\nand prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. For it is one thing,\r\nfrom the mountain's shaggy top to see the land of peace, and to find no\r\nway thither; and in vain to essay through ways unpassable, opposed and\r\nbeset by fugitives and deserters, under their captain the lion and the\r\ndragon: and another to keep on the way that leads thither, guarded by\r\nthe host of the heavenly General; where they spoil not who have deserted\r\nthe heavenly army; for they avoid it, as very torment. These things did\r\nwonderfully sink into my bowels, when I read that least of Thy Apostles,\r\nand had meditated upon Thy works, and trembled exceedingly.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBOOK VIII\r\n\r\n\r\nO my God, let me, with thanksgiving, remember, and confess unto Thee Thy\r\nmercies on me. Let my bones be bedewed with Thy love, and let them say\r\nunto Thee, Who is like unto Thee, O Lord? Thou hast broken my bonds in\r\nsunder, I will offer unto Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. And how\r\nThou hast broken them, I will declare; and all who worship Thee, when\r\nthey hear this, shall say, \"Blessed be the Lord, in heaven and in earth,\r\ngreat and wonderful is his name.\" Thy words had stuck fast in my heart,\r\nand I was hedged round about on all sides by Thee. Of Thy eternal life I\r\nwas now certain, though I saw it in a figure and as through a glass. Yet\r\nI had ceased to doubt that there was an incorruptible substance, whence\r\nwas all other substance; nor did I now desire to be more certain of\r\nThee, but more steadfast in Thee. But for my temporal life, all was\r\nwavering, and my heart had to be purged from the old leaven. The Way,\r\nthe Saviour Himself, well pleased me, but as yet I shrunk from going\r\nthrough its straitness. And Thou didst put into my mind, and it seemed\r\ngood in my eyes, to go to Simplicianus, who seemed to me a good servant\r\nof Thine; and Thy grace shone in him. I had heard also that from his\r\nvery youth he had lived most devoted unto Thee. Now he was grown into\r\nyears; and by reason of so great age spent in such zealous following of\r\nThy ways, he seemed to me likely to have learned much experience; and\r\nso he had."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KJR8NK5DAD726FMQ6JCHGZ5R","peer_label":"confessions","peer_type":"text","predicate":"derived_from"},{"peer":"01KJR8M0JHPZXCPKJ34HTYXSWW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KJR8RM469XEEVHNJNEGV2NDW","peer_label":"alypius","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.782Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8S6TT952D733PVCA0SNDW","peer_label":"catholic faith","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"religious_doctrine","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.782Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RXJ8GZHFHZ3YNXZ62TGA","peer_label":"apostle paul","predicate":"extracted_entity","properties":{"entity_type":"person","extracted_at":"2026-03-02T21:55:48.782Z"}},{"peer":"01KJR8RE392KZXBVTQNPQM266C","peer_label":"holy 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