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Works Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Epistulae (CCEL) Letters of St. Augustin
Second Division.
Letter LV.

39.

I beseech you therefore also, my dearly beloved, whether studying these or other writings, so to read and so to learn as to bear in mind what hath been most truly said, "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth;" 1 but charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Let knowledge therefore be used as a kind of scaffolding by which may be erected the building of charity, which shall endure for ever when knowledge faileth. 2 Knowledge, if applied as a means to charity, is most useful; but apart from this high end, it has been proved not only superfluous, but even pernicious. I know, however, how holy meditation keeps you safe under the shadow of the wings of our God. These things I have stated, though briefly, because I know that this same charity of yours, which "vaunteth not itself," will prompt you to lend and read this letter to many.


  1. 1 Cor. viii. 1. ↩

  2. 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 8. ↩

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Faculty of Theology, Patristics and History of the Early Church
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