garrulousness of the
dialecticians and their sophistical arguments.

From all which instances it is gathered that knowledge of profane
literature is not to be sought after by churchmen.

But, on the other hand[N] one reads that Moses and Daniel were
learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and Chaldeans.

One reads also that God ordered the sons of Israel to spoil (_g_)
the Egyptians of their gold and silver; the moral interpretation
of this teaches that should we find in the poets either the gold
of wisdom or the silver of eloquence, we should turn it to the
profit of useful learning. In Leviticus also we are ordered to
...

(_d_) Such a one is rejected by the evidence, as VI. quaest. I. qui
crimen. Also, he cannot be a bishop. As XLVIII. dist. Sec. necesse. Nay he
is called a dog rather than a bishop. As II. quaest. VII. qui nee. John.

(_e_) Because he read them for pleasure not for instruction, as de
conse. dist. V. non mediocriter.

(_f_) That is, with profane wisdom which fills but does not satisfy,[O]

(_g_) XIIII. quaest V. dixit.[P]

...offer up to God the first fruits of honey, that is, the
sweetness of human eloquence. The Magi, too, offered three gifts,
by which some would have us understand the three parts _(h)_ of
philosophy.

[The reader will note that the two paragraphs following belong
more properly to the first part of the argument; they may be
inserted just before the third paragraph above,--"From all which
instances," etc.]

Finally in his exposition of the Psalms, Cassiodorus bears
witness that all the splendor of rhetorical eloquence, all the
melody of poetic speech, whatever variety there may be of
pleasing pronunciation, have their origin in divine Scriptures.

Hence also Ambrose says concerning the Epistle to the Colossians:
The sum total of celestial knowledge or of earthly creation is in
Him who is their Fountain-head and Author, so that he who knows
Him should not seek anything beyond, because He is goodness and
wisdom in their completeness; whatever is sought elsewhere, in
Him is found in its completeness. In Daniel and Solomon he shows
that He is for infidels the source of all their eloquence and
wisdom. Infidels do not so think, because they do not, in the
Gospels and the prophets, read about astrology and other such