Theological Language
CHAPTER 3
Obscurity dependent upon reader or hearer
9. However clear a writer may be, his work may still be obscure for some of his readers. Here we are dealing with what is commonly called ‘relative obscurity’, found in the mind or on the lips of readers rather than in the written work itself. In the mind, it depends upon lack of understanding caused by insufficient intelligence or insufficient knowledge. When simply stated, but when not actually present in the mind, it depends on pretending not to understand, or pretending to misunderstand. If found guilty of false interpretation, these readers unjustly accuse the author of obscurity in order to excuse the calumny they have brought against him. Incapacity, therefore, and malice cause readers to find or to call obscure what has been written with perfect clarity. The two elements are often mixed in varying proportions.
10. As we said, readers’ incapacity may depend upon lack of intelligence or lack of knowledge. Books treating a branch of knowledge totally unknown to a reader are bound to be obscure for him. Mathematics, for example, is the clearest of all sciences, but books on it are invariably obscure for people who have never studied the subject. The same can be said about books on physics in the hands of those unfamiliar with the principles of physics, or about philosophy books, and about any other scientific discipline. This kind of relative obscurity arises from lack of requisite knowledge for understanding the works. The writer has fully satisfied his obligation to be clear when what he has written is expressed clearly in itself, and relatively to the class of readers for whom he writes and for whom his book is of its nature intended. A reader unfamiliar with the subject of the book may judge absolutely that it is obscure, but that is indicative of presumption and temerity on his part. His opinion does not bring disrepute on the writer. The same can be said when a writer is accused of obscurity by someone who, although incapable of understanding what has been written clearly, nevertheless passes judgment on the work. Just as the writer has to measure his own forces before undertaking some scientific argument, every reader has an equal duty to weigh carefully his own capacity before judging the clarity or obscurity of any book: Caecus non iudicat de colore [A blind person does not judge colour].
11. Readers sin much more seriously, however, if they are prevented from understanding by blind passion, or pretend not to understand, or misunderstand through malice aforethought, whether their bad will is directed towards the writer or the written truth. This is the case with all those who cling obstinately to their own opinions, or are motivated by some secret interest. Heretics who express misunderstanding of the Church’s teaching and oppose it with maxims and dogmas invented by themselves are supreme examples of this.
12. St. Augustine himself was often accused of obscurity, despite his genius, his eloquence, his wisdom and the great love which impelled him to speak to all the faithful as clearly as the level of argument permitted. His sacrifice of classical Latin,(9) and his continual prayer for grace(10) to make himself clear to the faithful, did not absolve him in the sight of his opponents. But he was deeply humble, and in his Retractions(11) would have sincerely acknowledged any conscious defect of obscurity. True humility is incapable of deceit or lies; and it was the firm persuasion of truth which conquered in him when he defended himself vigorously against an accusation that could have harmed the holy cause he sustained against the heretics. With the frankness that normally accompanies sincere humility, he begged his adversaries not to calumniate him with accusations of obscurity, but pray to God for the grace to understand what he had written clearly: ‘Some still do not understand what I think has been said sufficiently clearly. I beg them not to blame me for negligence or lack of capacity. Rather, let them ask God for enlightenment.’(12) * {OLR}
When Julian, Bishop of Eclanum and defender of the Pelagians, tried to convince people that Augustine’s writings were unintelligible, the saint replied: ‘People do understand me, whether you like it or not. But you have nothing to say against these things. You want not to understand what I have said, although it is most true and solid.’(13) *{OLR}
Notes
(9) Cf. On Christian Teaching, bk. 4, c. 10, where he shows that in teaching uneducated people religious truths, catechists have to know how to abandon pure, elegant speech for the sake of making themselves understood.
(10) There are innumerable places in his works, and even in his sermons to the people, when he begs God not only to enlighten him but also give him words which his hearers can understand. And he prays also that his hearers may have the light to understand.
(11) We are speaking of theological matters. The holy Doctor says that some of his first philosophical writings depended more on his own lack of formation and on his obscurity than on his will. Cf. the book, On the Immortality of the Soul, in Retractions, 1, c. 5.
(12) On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins and on Infant Baptism, 3, c. 2.
(13) Incomplete Work against Julian, 3, c. 61.