§. VII.

THE FLOWERS OF THE TREE,

The dignity and other noble conditions of Holy Scripture.

§. VIII.

THE FRUITS OF THE TREE,

The use and purpose of Holy Scripture.

No sober person should hold views against reason, no Christian against Scripture, and no peaceable person against the Church. St. Augustine, On the Trinity, Book 4, Chapter 6.

Heresies are born only when the good Scriptures are not understood well, and what is not understood well in them is asserted even rashly and boldly. The same author, Tractate 18 on John, after the beginning.

I determined to turn my mind to the Holy Scriptures, that I might see what they were like: And behold, I see something not open to the proud, nor unveiled to children, but humble in its approach, sublime in its outcome, and veiled in mysteries. The same author, Book 3 of Confessions, Chapter 5.