"The obscurities of figurative words, which I must discuss next, require extraordinary attention and persistence. First of all, we must be careful not to take a figurative expression literally. What the Apostle said has reference to this: 'The letter kills, but the spirit gives life.' When a figurative expression is understood as if it were literal, it is understood carnally. And nothing is more appropriately named the death of the soul than that which causes the quality in the soul which makes it superior to beasts (that is, its intelligence) to be subjected to the flesh by close conformity to the literal sense. A man who conforms to the literal meaning considers figurative words as if they are literal and does not transfer what is signified by a literal word to its other sense. If he hears about the Sabbath, for example, he thinks only of one day out of the seven which are repeated in continuous sequence. When he hears of sacrifice, his thoughts do not rise above the usual sacrifices of victims of the flocks and fruits of the earth. It is a wretched slavery of soul, indeed, to be satisfied with signs instead of realities, and not be able to elevate the eye of the mind above sensible creation to drink in eternal light."
--Augustine
--Augustine
