How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #10
They have no knowledge of the thoughts in his mind, but they are in love with their own opinions, not because they are true, but because they are their own […] If, on the other hand, they love them because they are true, they are both theirs and mine, for they are the common property of all lovers of the truth. (XII.25.1)
We're back to that old dichotomy between opinion and truth again. Whereas before Augustine defined truth in terms of its eternal quality (it's unchanging like a rock, remember?), now he describes truth as universal. Opinion, it seems, has more to do with a person's ego than anything else, and if there's one thing this book tells us, it's that people are fallible. So one way for us to recognize if something is the truth is if it's true for everybody. Clever, huh? And Augustine gets to this idea when he talks about how the Scriptures can be read in many different ways that are equally correct. Fascinating.