(3) How, then, shall I begin? With authority, or with reason? The order of nature is such that, when we learn anything, authority precedes reason; for reason may seem weak when, having stated its argument, it turns to authority for support.1 And because the minds of men are obscured by the habitual darkness of sin and evil which enshrouds them and, as a consequence, lack the clarity of perception proper to reason, it has been beneficially provided that the dazzled eye be led into the light