Augustine Confessions Analysis

He quickly realizes that while, time healed him as he grieved, "the greatest source of repair and restoration was that solace of other friends" (1991, 60). Augustine realizes that friends are no substitute for God, but at that moment in his life he did not have faith. He finds that friends were able to distract him from his emotions as they "make conversation, share a joke, perform mutual acts of kindness, read together well-written books..." (1991, 60). God could have been presenting himself through Augustine's friends as well in order to provide solace for him. Augustine looking back at this instance realizes that friends are no substitute for God's love but does recognize that they were a great sense of comfort when God was not a part of his

Augustine’s Confessions is a diverse blend of autobiographical accounts as well as philosophical, theological and critical analysis of the Christian Bible. Augustine treats his autobiography as an opportunity to recount his life and mentions how each event in his life has a religious and philosophical explanation. Augustine had many major events happen in his life but only 3 events would deem of extreme importance to his journey to faith. Theses major events were Book II how he describes that he considered his time of adolescence to be the most lurid and sinful period of his life, Book III how this becomes the lowest point in his relationship with God because his

This journey, later in life, of reflecting upon our relationships to others—and to God—is relatable to most humans, however, Augustine does take it to a much

Throughout The Confessions, Augustine experiences growth in all facets of life, especially in his ability to focus on his spirituality, to prioritize his relationships, and to satisfy his intellectual hunger. This development allows him to improve the way that he grieves the loss of significant family members. In his autobiography, Augustine shows clear signs of growth in the way that he handles death and grief. This is evident by the way Augustine explains his struggle with the death of his father, special friend, mother, and son. Augustine’s grief remains selfish, immature, and excessive during his adolescence, however, develops to become healthy and controlled as a result of his relationship with God. It is not Augustine’s age which leads

Young Augustine weeps for the woman who dies for her love, as an older Augustine weeps over his complete ignorance and incontinence. Young Augustine is ignorant of the presence of God in his life, and is compelled not to weep for his own spiritual distance from God, but instead for a tragedy that, in the mind of the older Augustine, is incomparable to the tragedy of being without God. The older Augustine is compelled by his advanced knowledge of the Lord’s proximity to lament his previous lack of control over his habits, proclaiming “I had no love for you and ‘committed fornication against you’ (Ps. 72:27); and in my fornications, I heard all round me the cries ‘Well done, well done’ (Ps. 34:21; 39:16) … I abandoned you to pursue the lowest things of your creation.” (Conf. 16). This reveals that Young Augustine lives an entirely habitual life, never thinking of God or his importance, instead concerned with material and worldly concerns such as reputation and honor. This state of pure habit does not leave space for Young Augustine to have continence, and leaves him to act out his life according to passion and emotions.

In Saint Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine’s perspective on friendship is that it is a mean to stray or turn away from good,

During Augustine’s adolescence, all of his friendships were based off of utility because they were all self centered and did not last longer than adolescence. Also during this point in Augustine 's life he is not religious and he does not yet have a relationship with God. The friends are only surface level friendships, serving Augustine at the moment bringing him temporal satisfaction. When he interacted with them, they deteriorated him from his morals and his beliefs leading him in the wrong path. Augustine continued to pursue these friendships because they brought him enjoyment. They did not bring him happiness because when he was surrounded with these friends Augustine felt peer pressure to do things that did not align with his morals. One day he and his friends sought out to steal pears from a neighbor 's pear tree. They received no pleasure out of stealing and when they stole they did not even want the pears and they tossed them to the pigs. Augustine says, "[I]ran wild,...in the jungle of erotic adventures...and became putrid in [God 's] sight." Augustine reflects on this time period is his most sinful. He did not feel that it was not the pears that made him happy, but it was the sense of camaraderie he felt when he was with his friends. This shows at this point in life his conception of friendship and happiness was doing what your friends told

One of Augustine’s first friendships was a set of companionship-based relationships that occurred during his adolescence years. Reflecting on his childhood, Augustine recalls that he joined his mischievous friends in stealing pears from a neighbor’s vineyard. The young boy “had no motive for [his] wickedness except wickedness itself” (Conf. 2.9). Augustine loved stealing not for the beauty or attractiveness of the pears he took, for the stolen fruits were thrown to the pigs. Instead, Augustine found pleasure in the wrongful nature of his sinful act. He enjoyed his own self-destruction and found satisfaction in seeking after shame. Augustine claims that his adolescent friends were to blame for his unruly behavior: “Alone I would not have committed that crime, in which my pleasure lay not in what I was stealing but in the act of theft. But had I been alone, it would have given me absolutely no pleasure, nor would I have committed it” (Conf. 2.17). When Augustine fixes accusation for his actions onto the mere presence of his childhood companions, he appears to be distancing himself from the theft he committed. Augustine does admit to the intentions behind his misbehavior, but the notion of friendship is now to blame: “Friendship can be a dangerous enemy, a seduction of the mind lying beyond the reach of investigation” (Conf. 2.17). Augustine’s interpretation depicts friendship as being corruptible, but the corruptibility of friendship does not imply that it is evil in nature. In a later

Augustine has always been very controlling in his friendships. He likes to be the ringleader in all of his friendships and have more power than his friend. The deeper meaning behind this friendship however is Augustine’s rejection of God. Augustine was so distracted in trying to be the ringleader in his relationship between his friend that he put God aside. His desire for power in their friendship became what he worshipped and what he looked towards everyday. Augustine was sad when his friend died but he did not look to God to help him heal. God will help anyone mourn and heal in times of tough times, however since Augustine was worshipping his power in his friendship, he failed to look to God to help him heal. Throughout the whole autobiography, Augustine is always looking for a way to let God into him. By not turning to God to help him heal, he is yet again rejecting God and not letting him in. After his friend dies, Augustine goes into a dark phase where he is very upset and glum. Without God to help him it is very hard for him to get out of such a dark

In Confessions, Saint Augustine recounts his infancy, adolescence, and adulthood, which entails a journey from different philosophies, ideologies, and religions. Confessions is considered the first autobiography and is a model for Christian writers into the middle ages. Augustine’s gives anecdotes and uses biblical references to make insightful messages about his sinful youth and mid adulthood. His main struggle is with his search for understanding truth, good, and evil, while being sidetracked by his lust. Eventually, he is able to rise above his desire for sex, breaking the shackles which held him to a life without God.

One of the opening lines of his Confessions may provide a clue: “Man is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you” (21). This suggests that man possesses an innate instinct to seek God and spiritual enlightenment. It implies that man, as a product of God, will inherently desire knowledge of and a relationship with his creator. Augustine continues by saying: “The thought of [God] stirs [man] so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you” (21). This suggests that though man may struggle on earth, should he decide to turn to God he will experience peace and rest in the Lord. Here Augustine also states that unless man has found God, “he cannot be content,” implying that those who have not found God will feel a constant inner void.

Originally written during the fourth century, St. Augustine’s autobiographical book, Confessions, was among the most influential models for Christian writers over the course of a millennium. As it is arguably Augustine’s most important text, it continues to influence theological discussion even today. Through writing Confessions, Augustine proves himself to be a professional scrutinizer. He analyzes every aspect of his own existence in pertinence to his purpose on Earth and relationship with God. Amongst the numerous topics covered in Confessions, Augustine makes exceptional mention to the role that friendship plays in his spiritual journey. In St. Augustine’s Confessions, the role of friendship is seen as both a method of ascending to God while also a being a means of drawing him further away through sin on his journey to spiritual contentment.

St. Augustine was a theologian and philosopher born in Africa to St. Monica. Although he is now known as a an incredibly influential Christian writer and thinker, his early years were defined by rebellion and discord that did not, in the least, reflect Christianity or the values that he is now known for supporting. His early years were freckled with mindless disobedience, wretched behavior, and characterized godlessness that makes his conversion to the faith incredibly remarkable and one that is worth defining in Saint Augustine 's Confessions. His incredible turnaround from a faithless man to a devout supporter of Christianity is significant and is freckled with many major milestones that truly demonstrate his spiritual and internal growth into one of the biggest spiritual icons of the fifth century. These major milestones include his realization that his boyhood was defined by pointless rebellious behavior, even though he grew up in a Christian home, his new found appreciation for philosophy as well as God and his incredible mercy during his years as a student at Carthage,

The book expresses three main concerns. One is Augustine’s frank and detailed acknowledgment of his personal sinfulness and the power he came to recognize as God’s provident grace—protective, creative, salvific—in every moment of his life. He also wrote in order to confess his own Christian faith and clearly repudiate any supposed lingering connections on his part with Manichaeism. Finally, The Confessions are a heartfelt paean of praise and thanksgiving in honor of God’s glory.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival” (brainyquote.com). While philosophy and friendship may both be unnecessary, they are both valuable to the human experience. In the course of philosophical thinking, many philosophers, including Augustine, grapple with the concept and fulfillment of true friendship. Augustine writes of the meaning of true friendship in The Confessions, while also writing of his friendships throughout his life, using his own guidelines of what true friendship entails a revolution of his friendships can be seen alongside his transformation toward God that The Confessions is well known to