Once engaged in this work, he gave himself to it more earnestly than any other of the earlier fathers ever did; but his vast powers of research and thought were not directed to actual observation or reasoning upon observation.

The keynote of his whole method is seen in his famous phrase, "Nothing is to be accepted save on the authority of Scripture, since greater is that authority than all the powers of the human mind." All his thought was given to studying the letter of the sacred text, and to making it explain natural phenomena by methods purely theological.( 126) (126) For citations and authorities on these points, see the chapter on Meteorology.
Among the many questions he then raised and discussed may be mentioned such as these: "What caused the creation of the stars on the fourth day ?" "Were beasts of prey and venomous animals created before, or after, the fall of Adam?
If before, how can their creation be reconciled with God's goodness; if afterward, how can their creation be reconciled to the letter of God's Word ?" "Why were only beasts and birds brought before Adam to be named, and not fishes and marine animals ?" "Why did the Creator not say, 'Be fruitful and multiply,' to plants as well as to animals ?"( 127) (127) See Augustine, De Genesi, ii, 13, 15, et seq.; ix, 12 et seq.

For the reference to St.Jerome, see Shields, Final Philosophy, p.

119; also Leyell, Introduction to Geology, vol.i, chap.

ii.
Sundry answers to these and similar questions formed the main contributions of the greatest of the Latin fathers to the scientific knowledge of the world, after a most thorough study of the biblical text and a most profound application of theological reasoning.