[asa] Augustine on the flood

Hi all,

I recently bought a copy of Augustine's City of God, and was flipping through different sections before actually purchasing it. I came across his commentary on the flood and was intrigued by the fact that questions about the historicity and scale of the flood are not new (shows how much I have to learn). In particular, I found this quote rather interesting:

"No one ought to imagine, however, that this account was written for no purpose, or that we are to look here solely for a reliable historical record without any allegorical meaning, or conversely, that those events are entirely unhistorical....Surely it is only a twisted mind that would maintain that books which have been so scrupulously preserved for thousands of years, which have been safeguarded by such a concern for so well-ordered a transmission, that such books were written without serious purpose, or that we should consult them simply for historical facts?"

What strikes me here is not so much the fact that Augustine is willing to consider both historical and non-historical interpretations of the story, but rather the implicit deemphasis of the value of historical facts. That is to say, he implies that if the value of the story were only (merely) historical in nature, that no one would have bothered to put so much time and effort into preserving the story; and that by extension, he regards it as an obvious assumption that the story should be *expected* to contain non-historical components to it. Interesting contrast to our own "scientific" mindsets. Wonder how this also shapes Augustine's viewpoints on New Testament history (guess I will have to keep reading to find out? :) )

Any thoughts on this?

In Christ,
Christine

"For we walk by faith, not by sight" ~II Corinthians 5:7

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Received on Tue Jul 14 13:44:31 2009