Ergo noli quaerere intelligere ut credas, sed crede ut intelligas." - Meaning and context.">
Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.
 • Tractates on the Gospel of John; tractate XXIX on John 7:14-18, §6 A Select Library of the Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church Volume VII by St. Augustine, chapter VII (1888) as translated by Philip Schaff.
 • Compare: Anselm of Canterbury: "Nor do I seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand".
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Ergo noli quaerere intelligere ut credas, sed crede ut intelligas.

— Augustine of Hippo

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Ergo noli quaerere intelligere ut credas, sed crede ut intelligas." in the context of "Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.
 • Tractates on the Gospel of John; tractate XXIX on John 7:14-18, §6 A Select Library of the Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church Volume VII by St. Augustine, chapter VII (1888) as translated by Philip Schaff.
 • Compare: Anselm of Canterbury: "Nor do I seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand"." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Augustine of Hippo" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Augustine of Hippo

About Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a Christian theologian, rhetor, North African bishop, Doctor of the Catholic Church, saint, and a philosopher influenced in his early years by Manichaeism and the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus.