Saint Augustine (354-430)

Of the Spirit and the Letter

Translated by Peter Holmes

Chapter 23

But what is this change, and how great, in comparison with the perfect eminence which is then to be realized? The apostle applies some sort of illustration, derived from well-known things, to these indescribable things, comparing the period of childhood with the age of manhood. “When I was a child,” says he, “I used to speak as a child, to understand as a child, to think as a child; but when I became a man, I put aside childish things.” He then immediately explains why he said this in these words “For now we see by means of a mirror, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Chapter 22

Chapter 24