Augustine of Hippo, “How to answer their exaggerated praise of Christ and their disparaging of Christians,” Sermon 361:15
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The heathen ... begins to praise Christ, not in order to do him honor, but to make you despair. It is the deadly cunning of the serpent, to turn you away from Christ by praising Christ, to extol deceitfully the one he doesn’t dare to disparage. He exaggerates the sovereign majesty of Christ in order to make him out quite unique, to stop you hoping for anything like what was demonstrated in his rising.
— Augustine of Hippo on Jesus
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The heathen ... begins to praise Christ, not in order to do him honor, but to make you despair. It is the deadly cunning of the serpent, to turn you away from Christ by praising Christ, to extol deceitfully the one he doesn’t dare to disparage. He exaggerates the sovereign majesty of Christ in order to make him out quite unique, to stop you hoping for anything like what was demonstrated in his rising." in the context of "Augustine of Hippo, “How to answer their exaggerated praise of Christ and their disparaging of Christians,” Sermon 361:15" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Jesus" (Quotes about Jesus: Sorted by historical period and date, with sections for quotes from major religious works., Early Middle Ages)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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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.
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.
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