Augustine Outline

In Book III of Confessions, his range of “rotten…ulcerous” sins expands from teenage pranks to attending public spectacles and reading tragedies. Augustine suspects that seeking truth might be more important than worldly success. In Book III he also stumbles upon the Manichees faith, which is a heretical version of Christianity. In this section much of this book is dedicated to attacking the Manichee faith. Augustine’s first criticism of the Manichee doctrines he believed concerned their dependence on an elaborate mythology. The sun and the moon were seenas divine beings and they tended to picture divinity in terms of “physical images” or “bodily shapes”. These images plagued Augustines mind almost until his conversion, which kept him from recognizing God as a “spiritual substance” rather than some sort of enormous physical mass. Augustine has 3 main criticisms for the Manichee belief. The first being that it challenged the concerns of nature and the source of evil. Second, it challenged the nature of God as a being and the idea of God as omnipotent and omnipresent. And thirdly, the rejection of the book of Genesis and much of the Old Testament.. Augustine concludes with a story of how

Augustine was a Christian theologian and philosopher born during the late ancient period, born only a handful of centuries after the advent of the common era. Through this era, the separation between religion and philosophy became increasingly evident, though many theologians and philosophers did not limit themselves to one field or the other. In fact, many used philosophical ideas to back up theological concepts and thoughts. One good example of this would be in Augustine’s Ideo-Ontological proof for the existence of god. However, as with most things of a philosophical nature, there is no simple right or wrong, A or B reading of the Ideo-Ontological proof. Despite any possible contention that may occur over the interpretations of the Ideo-Ontological proof, there is no doubt that the proof contributed greatly towards the development of western philosophy, as started by Plato centuries prior.

In the book of confessions Saint Augustine had two visions in the story. The first vision was before he understood the concept of God he had a vision of God that changed how he viewed God. “ But you, Lord, abide and for ever and will not for ever be angry with us, for you have taken pity on us who are earth and ashes; and so it was pleasing in your sight to give new form and new for to my deformity.” (Conf.VII.VIII.12). The second vision was Augustine and Monica together in a garden who had a vision together in Ostia while they were discussing how the eternal life of the saints would be like. “And this my God has granted me more lavishly than I could have hoped , letting me see you even spurning earthly happiness to be his servant.” (Conf.IX.X.26). These two visions had many similarities and differences.

5. Each of the members of the Trinity exercises a primary function in the relation between people and the Godhead. Describe the function of each member of the Trinity.

St. Augustine was a Christian Platonist. He Christianizes many of Plato’s Greek concepts. In Confessions, St. Augustine used many Neo-plationic terms and ideas but in Book VII is when he finally has a revelation about the similarities of Philosophy and Christianity. In class, we have discussed a number of ways in which St. Augustine accepts the ideas of Plato; one of those being the theory of forms. Plato’s theory of forms describes the divine to be in the invisible, perfect, intangible world. St. Augustine believed that Plato’s theory of the forms was compatible with his Christian beliefs because of a vision he had while trying to picture God.

Saint Augustine, one of the best scholars of the early church, portrayed the Trinity as practically identical to the three sections of an individual: personality, soul, and will. They are three unmistakable viewpoints, yet they are conjoined and together constitute one bound together individual. The purpose of this research paper is to further emphasize, highlight, and defend St. Augustine’s conclusion that the Holy Trinity is one God existing in three persons according to the meeting at the Council of Nicea 325.

Throughout his Confessions, Augustine's view of humans--our essential nature has interesting differences from the way in which others, in different time periods and in different civilizations, have seen humans.

St. Augustine is a man with a rational mind. As a philosopher, scholar, and teacher of rhetoric, he is trained in and practices the art of logical thought and coherent reasoning. The pursuits of his life guide him to seek concrete answers to specific questions. Religion, the practice of which relies primarily on faith—occasionally blind faith—presents itself as unable to be penetrated by any sort of scientific study or inquiry. Yet, like a true scientist and philosopher, one of the first questions St. Augustine poses in his Confessions is: “What, then, is the God I worship” (23)? For a long time, Augustine searches for knowledge about God as a physical body, a particular entity—almost as if the Lord

In this paper I will write about Augustine and his thoughts and ideas on sin in the Confessions, where sin originates and whether or not I believe that Augustine’s conception of sin has a place in modern society. From all of this I will conclude that through Augustine's work and findings, Augustine’s conception of the human person and their human actions are somewhat relevant today, due to the fact Augustine set a standard for what human nature is, known as the ability to desire, think and do, yet, people see the human differently today than Augustine did. At the same time his ideas of original sin and how the evil nature of humans is associated with original sin are still very relevant today.

In this essay I will be discussing how St. Augustine ultimately solves the problem of evil, in a way that at times does go hand in hand with his religious views, however, at times contradicts what he is saying. In “ Confessions” Augustine who although does not in any way question the existence of God questions why God, someone who is all powerful, and all good still allowing people to suffer the way in which they are.

One of the greatest problems Augustine struggles with in the course of his spiritual journey was with the image of God. Augustine was struggling with the idea that anything not occupying space could still have an existence. For a long time, he pictured God as “a secret breath of life” or like sunlight, when he shouldn’t have been “picturing” him at all. “My eyes are accustomed to such images,” he writes, “and my heart accepted the same structure.” In Book IV, Augustine was trying to conceive how God could have beauty and magnitude as attributes; he failed to realize that “you [God] yourself are your own magnitude and your own beauty.” This error led Augustine further into problems of trying to imagine God. Under the influence of Manicheism,

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.

Before submitting himself to God, Augustine lived a life controlled by various sinful tendencies such as theft and lust. Surrounded by strong believers of Catholicism, such as his mother, St. Monica, Augustine grew up questioning Christ and the faith and rather explored other religions. Two religions that Augustine devoted himself to were Manichaeism and Neoplatonism. While both religions had strengths and flaws, neither truly satisfied Augustine’s spiritual emptiness. Before devoting himself fully to the Catholic faith, Augustine is seen as an honorable saint because of the significance of his works and teachings. Augustine’s conversion from Manichaeism to Neoplatonism to Catholicism as noted through Confessions, transformed his life from being powered by sin and immortality to a life dominated by rectitude and devotion.

Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was one of the greatest philosophers of the roman period. He was raised in a religiously divided home, but through time he found his own truth. He was always an excellent student. He fully mastered the Latin language, however, he never did well with Greek. Saint Augustine was also a man who had a way with words. After his teenage rebellious stage, he found an unorthodox religious group that he decided to become involved with for a while. He traveled the area and ended up staying in Milan for a while. This is where he met Bishop Ambrose and began to listen to his teachings. This caused for Augustine think about his life and ultimately converted him to Christianity. After converting, he wrote books such as: Confessions, The City of God, and De Doctrinia (On Christian Doctrine), along with many others. Saint Augustine was and still is a great Christian influence in the world today.