He harms the mental acumen of readers, and causes it to wane, who
thinks that they should in every way be prevented from reading
profane books; for whatever useful things _(k)_ are found in them
it is lawful to adopt as one's own. Otherwise Moses and Daniel
would not have been allowed to become learned in the wisdom and
literature of the Egyptians and ...

(_h_) I.e. Ethics, natural philosophy, rational philosophy.

(_i_) Compared with other knowledge. John.

(_k_) He argues that the useful is not vitiated by the useless as XVII.
q. IV. questi s. dist. IX. si ad scripturas. Contra Joan.

...Chaldeans, whose superstitions and wantonness nevertheless
they shuddered at. And the teacher _(l)_ of the gentiles himself
would not have introduced _(m)_ some verses of the poets into his
own writings or sayings.

[On this Gratian comments:]

Then why[R] are those [writings] forbidden to be read which, it
...

(_l_) For we read that when Paul had come to Athens he saw an altar of
the Unknown God on which it was written: "This is an altar of[S] the
Unknown God in whom we live and move and have our being." And with this
inscription the Apostle began his exhortation and made known to those
Athenians the meaning of this inscription,--continuing about our God and
saying: "Whom you pronounce Unknown, Him declare I unto you and