THE MEDIAEVAL ATTITUDE 



If these are the real opinions of the historians of 

 biology, we can only hope that they are better ac- 

 quainted with modern biology and science than they 

 are with Augustine and the Middle Ages. Against the 

 statements of these writers we may place the conclu- 

 sion of so exact a scholar as Lasswitz that: 'Tn the 

 mind of Augustine the miraculous overshadowed all ; 

 it came to pass at the creation of the world; it was 

 completed in the life of the Saviour; and it is ex- 

 perienced daily in the soul of the Christian, which 

 feels itself redeemed by the grace of God. Why then 

 should one be at pains to give a detailed interpreta- 

 tion of the wonders of nature? Leave that to the 

 heathen I'" 



To estimate Augustine's attitude towards science 

 we must keep constantly in mind his purpose of life. 

 His engrossing aim was to induce the world to repent 

 and to lead the religious life. He was not a philoso- 

 pher engaged in elucidating abstract principles; he 

 was first and last a priest exerting all his powers to 

 influence men to choose the Christian rule of conduct, 

 and he used philosophy only as an aid to his purpose. 

 He, for the most part, embraces the philosophy of 

 the Stoics because it was the most influential of the 

 contemporaneous schools of thought, and because the 

 principles of conduct of the Stoics most nearly re- 

 sembled those of the Christians. This accounts for 

 those vague statements which can be taken to favour 



* Geschickte der Atomistik, vol. I, p. 29. 



