ST. AUGUSTINE ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER BY W. J. SPARROW SIMPSON, D.D. LONDON SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE 1925 Ir may be of assistance to the reader of this Treatise to be reminded of the purpose and circumstances under which it was written and its relation to the great writer's thought. These points will be therefore discussed under the following divisions : I. The popular meaning of the phrase II. St. Paul's use of this Antithesis. 'the III. In which sense Augustine borrowed it. Thought. I IN popular use, the phrase the Letter and the Spirit' frequently represents the meaning which lies on the surface and the meaning which lies below. It is the contrast between the verbal expression and the inner intention in the writer's mind. Thus the letter of the law is contrasted with its spirit. The former can be kept while the latter is broken. Indeed the letter can be urged to frustrate the spirit. The letter of a Scripture text may be broken while its spirit is observed. The letter is the outward form, the spirit is the inward reality. The external observance of a religious rite is described as the letter, while the personal surrender of the heart is called the spirit. Explained in this sense, as representing the distinction between the outward and the inner meaning, the phrase the Letter and the Spirit' when applied to Scripture becomes a method of interpretation. |