In Augustinian thought, signs, then play a key role in bringing us into contact with the realities they signify. Drawing lines to the Christian life, Augustine argued that catechesis means explaining how “the signs of divine realities are visible, but the invisible realities themselves are granted in them.” Although Scripture’s written words occur within the visible realm of nature, God has given them as signs of our participation in supernatural realities of a relationship with him. Like a beach patrol posts a sign to mark a nest of turtle eggs that are hidden to our eyes, so God provides the words of scripture to tell us about the realities of the God we cannot investigate directly with our senses.
Harrison Perkins | “Signs, Seals, and the Means of Grace” | Modern Reformation 32.3 (May/June, 2023), 20
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