The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.
Saint AugustineRead
As to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours, that is on no ground credible. Even if some unknown landmass is there, and not just ocean, there was only one pair of original ancestors, and it is inconceivable that such distant regions should have been peopled by Adam's descendants.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses skepticism about the existence of people living on the opposite side of the Earth from a Christian creationist perspective.
Saint Augustine challenges the idea of Antipodes, or people living on the opposite side of the globe, by arguing from a theological standpoint that all humans are descended from a single pair of ancestors. He finds it implausible that these distant lands could be populated by descendants of Adam, emphasizing a belief in the unity of humanity under a single creation narrative and highlighting the limits of geographic knowledge of his time.
Themes
AntipodesHumanityCreationTheologyGeography
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on ancient beliefs, one might use this quote to illustrate how early thinkers conceptualized the world.
More from Saint Augustine
All quotes →There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing.
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Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
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Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.
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Whatever skills I have acquired, whatever gifts I have been given, I place them at Your service.
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Everyone who observes himself doubting observes a truth, and about that which he observes he is certain; therefore he is certain about a truth. Everyone therefore who doubts whether truth exists has in himself a truth on which not to doubt.... Hence one who can doubt at all ought not to doubt the existence of truth.
Saint AugustineRead
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