If the author had read a few more books, he would have known that while St. Jerome is held in high regard, the Augustine is usually held as the chief intellectu

If the author had read a few more books, he would have known that while St. Jerome is held in high regard, the Augustine is usually held as the chief intellectual of the time within the Church, and Augustine read a lot. He was incredibly well versed, for example, in the works of Cicero and Plato. In a later phase of the Church, Aquinas was also well read in a variety of sources, including Aristotle (and perhaps even Muslim writings translated into Latin). And his teacher, Albert Magnus, shows that the pre-modern mind was very much interested in the natural world. I would agree with the point that we should be selective about our reading, even as we read widely. Focusing on reading things that have stood the test of time could still keep us busy.