Worksheet 9 St Augustine 2023

1 Worksheet on St. Augustine’s Confessions 1. Where and When: From Hippo, North Africa, to Carthage, to Rome, to Milan; this occurs between the 4 th and 5 th centuries. 2. Book I. Early Years (p. 97). Par 1. Explain what Augustine accomplishes in this paragraph. What are its implications? Does it deserve to be so famous? Notes: 1. Two paraphrases from Hebrew Scriptures and two from Christian Scriptures: a. Ps 47:2 (Latin) = 48:1 (RSV) = Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised b. Ps 146:5 (Latin) = 147:5 (RSV) = Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. c. 2 Cor 4:10: ‘bearing his mortality with him’ (2 Cor 4:10 RSV: “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus”). d. 1Pet 5:5 ‘resist the proud’ from: (1 Pet. 5:5 RSV): “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 2. Allusion to neo-Platonic philosopher Plotinus. For Plotinus (6.7.23.4) the soul finds rest only in the One. For Plotinus’s Enneads, see http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/six.pdf (p. 667: 22: “. . . It is that the one is more nearly what we are looking for, and this because there is soul there, because there is more of the Idea of The Good, because there is some glow of the light of the Good and this illumination awakens and lifts the soul and all that goes with it so that the whole man is won over to goodness, and in the fullest measure stirred to life. 24: That which soul must quest, that which sheds its light upon Intellectual Principle, leaving its mark wherever it falls, surely we need not wonder that it be of power to draw to itself, calling back from every wandering to rest before it.”). 3. Hence note well how Augustine weaves together elements of classical and Judeo-Christian traditions. 4. All creatures desire to praise their creator. Hence no one is at peace unless he or she praises God. 5. The concept of the civil war in the soul of the unjust is a Platonic idea found in the Republic. 3. Par 1.2. Augustine then proceeds to ask the first question in his invocation: how can one seek God without knowing what he is? What temporary answer does he give? 4. Par. 2. (last par. on p. 97). a. What question does the last paragraph raise about the nature of God? Why is this an important problem for Augustine? What is the general concept expressed in this paragraph? What are its implications? Does it deserve to be so famous? 1

Summary of remaining text omitted in abridgement of Book I. Augustine recognizes that babies show a radical selfishness and need to be reoriented from being self-centered to God-centered. This becomes the basis of his theory of education (= Platonic sense of tunring people towards the highest things and coming out of the “cave”). Augustine looks back at his schooling nd understands that his schoolmasters saw their job as teaching Augustine how to be successful as world defines success (in terms of fame and fortune). He recalls that he hated corporal punishment when he was lazy and that his first thoughts of God were that God might keep him from being beaten by his teacher, demonstrating his selfishness and belief that he could act badly and then be rescued at the last minute by prayer. He also realizes that adults criticize children for doing what they are doing on a different plane. In turning to his infancy, he appreciates that he learned how to read, write and speak well which enabled him to explore books and the Bible. He loved Latin literature and especially Virgil’s Aeneid , and wept over the death of Dido, which shows that he was missing Virgil’s lesson that duty needs to be preferred to pleasure, and that he himself did not weep over his own alienation from God, which shows that he was failing to relate his reading of books to his own life. But he looks back at his early aducation and is reminded about the power of words and how beautiful words can become guides to and reasons for bad behavior. For example, a student who described his lusts beautifully would get good grades but a student who described good behavior badly would get bad grades. So Augustine realizes that he learned how to accept moral conventions rather than morality. He rejects the idea that “boys will be boys” and realizes that unless he changed, he would remain as selfish as he was on day 1, and that what he called education was not education in the Platonic sense. Book II. Adolescence (pp. 98-105). Here Augustine explains how sin became a growing problem as he matured and how his parents dealt with him, as his mother cared more than his father about his moral and spiritual development, but that both were too anxious for him to advance to worldly honors than about his goodness. Hence the lessons of Books I and II are that he was born to selfishness (sin) and that this was furthered by his teachers and parents (4 / p. 99), since both were primarily concerned with him becoming rich and famous. 5. (At beginning of II, ii (2) Augustine writes that the single desire that dominated his heart was ___________________________________. Was this a good desire? How does he explain what he did with this desire? 6. When Augustine states that at this time of his life he did not distinguish between love and lust, what does he mean? 7. What is “concupiscence” and how does he explain how it dominated him and clouded the way he saw everything? 8. What does Augustine say about his father? What was his father mainly concerned about? 2

h. In the end, does Augustine think he understands the reason for the action? (x [18], p. 105, last par.). What is the significance of the implication that he does not? i. In response to the statement that this chapter contains a story of Augustine’s wild and wayward youth, it may be said that Augustine is really trying to talk not just one particular bad youth who had a bad time and found his way home, but rather the waywardness of the human soul. What are the grounds for interpreting his intentions in this latter manner? j. What do you yourself make of all this? Book III. Student at Carthage (pp. 106). (The journey to real education begins). To continue his studies Augustine, at the age of 18, moves to Carthage, an important city in Latin-speaking North Africa and one of the great cities of the Roman Empire. 14. What does Augustine relate about his captivation for theatrical shows? What does he think about the sense of pity which theater often instills? Why? 15. In the course of his studies of rhetoric, he read Cicero’s Hortensius (exhortation) to learn how about style, but he was drawn to its content / substance. What did the book encourage and by what did it win Augustine over? 16. Because his mother was a Christian, he first sought _____________ by looking for it he Bible. Why was he disappointed with it? 17. Augustine began to consider the “big questions” of his life. What were the chief 2: a. What does “unde malum” mean? Book IV p. 115. Wanting to obtain eternal wisdom quickly, Augustine turned to the Manichees. 4

18. What is Manicheeism and why did Augustine become one? a. Who was Mani and when did he live? b. What is dualism and why what does it mean to say that the Manichees were dualists? c. What did the Manichees consider to be good and evil? d. Consequently, they taught that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures who created the material world was ________. e. How did these principles impact on their understanding of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion? f. Manicheism, to which Augustine adhered for 10 years, made him think that all complex questions could be explained as a struggle between ____________ and ______________ and that the Christian answers to these questions were ________________. g. The complaint of the Bishop Augustine (author of the Confessions ) is that the Manicheans were materialists, dualists, and rationalists. Explain each of these three terms and criticism. Note how at the end of Book III, Augustine is asking good questions and becomes serious about life but is impatient and does not understand the struggle needed for finding wisdom. 19. Has reading a book ever radically altered your way of thinking in ways similar to Cicero’s impact on Augustine? Is figuring out what questions to ask important to one’s education? Do you agree that embark on a quest for genuine wisdom involves a long struggle and, if so, how might you prepare for it? Book IV. (Manichee and Astrologer.) The Problem of Friendship. Love and Tears. While Augustine is engaged in studies and a carefree life, a dear friend dies. Augustine is disappointed 5

Book V. Carthage, Rome and Milan? 23. Why did Augustine move to Rome from Carthage? - He was encouraged by his Manichee friends, hoped to advance his career 24. What does Augustine relate about his mother in this chapter? 25. For what does Augustine most value his mother? What features make St. Monica, arguably, the strongest positive depiction of a woman in ancient western literature? 26. What did Augustine appreciate about St. Ambrose of Milan? What did Augustine believe about the nature of evil at this time? - He appreciated - He believed that the nature of evil - Spirit is good flesh is bad 27. Why did Augustine decide to leave the Manichees? - There were other philosophers - No longer conviced that they were right/ 28. In this part of Confessions, we get a story of love and loss. Love unites us with things that we might lose and therefore, potentially, with grief, sorrow and misery. How do these help Augustine to formulate an understanding of “sin” and the “punishment for sin.” What is his therapeutic counsel for sin and grief? Book VII. A Neoplatonic Quest. 29. How is the problem of picturing God central at the start of this chapter? - God was still something physical - God is some large being 30. Who was Plotinus and what was his impact on Augustine? 7

- Brought in Plato’s concepts and ideas 31. The Neo Platonists taught the importance of turning inward and looking with the eye of the soul. a. What kind of light is needed for such vision? b. What does Augustine decide is the nature of evil at this point? c. How does this realization compare with Manichee teaching? - Beyond past material world d. What prevented Augustine from becoming a Christian at this point? - Book VIII. The Birthpangs of Conversion. 32. What drew Augustine to Christianity and what blocked his embrace of it? - He can’t overcome his will of the habit 33. What impact did the life of St. Antony have on Augustine (pp. 134-136)? - St. Anthony allowed Augustine to more open to listening to the voice of God 34. Augustine reflects a great deal on the “two wills” in a person. Explain his ideas about these two wills and the reason for his preoccupation with them. 35. In par. 29 (p. 142), Augustine describes the moment of his conversion to Christianity. Describe it and explain his reasons for his conversion. a. What is the source of this passage: ““not in rioting and drunkenness, not in bedding down and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but rather put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” b. How does he invoke the experience of “Grace” to explain how what seemed to him to be hard before, and impossible, becomes easy? 8

37. In Book Ten, Augustine will say, “My love is my weight.” Explain the phrase and its implications. 38. What serves to explain why Augustine’s Confessions is the first great spiritual autobiography in western literature? - If the book of Genesis didn’t exist, the Confessions would not exist either. - It’s very impactful because Augustine’s uses the Book of Genesis and Plato’s concepts to come up with the Book of Confessions 10