Reflection On Saint Augustine's Confessions

When one reads the word "confessions," one would not necessarily associate it with the word "narrative." Confessions seem to be more of something stated directly without any story-like element. They are also a more personal thing- one does not simply put them in a story form unless purposely intending to do so, because usually it is something that expresses guilt for something personal or is between the author and their conscience (or perhaps to themselves). However, there can always be an exception, like Augustine's Confessions. It is written as a form of a narrative, even though the original the main audience for whom it was written is God, yet it is also intended to be read by anyone, almost as a didactic piece that sets an example

In Augustine 's Confessions, Augustine tells his entire life story leading up to his conversion to Christianity. Throughout his life, he experiences a vast amount of events, both that had major impacts and minor impacts. In the Confessions, Augustine called these events “episodes". The episodes supported his transformation of who he was into who he wanted to be after his conversion to Christianity. Certain episodes in Augustine’s life led to inspiring moments, while others lead to grief and pain. One of the most significant episodes that helped transform him both in the immediate future and long term future was the meeting of the Catholic Bishop Ambrose. Through Augustine explaining each of his episodes in great detail, he made a point of

When it comes to renunciation, "no pain, no gain" is what I've slowly, reluctantly, inexorably come to believe. And when Pete opted for scholarly monkhood, I think he was just trying to outsmart his pain. . . . He'd calculated that by considering the physical world "illusory" and burying his nose in metaphysical texts he could go on doing something comfortable--while his ignorance and sufferings and hometown and troublesome family just fell away like so much excess poundage. Obviously l question his calculations: to slough off half a self in hopes of finding a whole one is not my idea of good math.

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.

Augustine, author of Confessions, an autobiography, was officially canonized in 1298 by Pope Boniface VII after popular demand. In Confessions, Augustine details his spiritual journey from a juvenile, who enjoyed stealing, to an adult when he finally turns himself to God and becomes a catholic. He discusses, in great detail, his thoughts and reflections during each period of his life, which opens our eyes to his qualities as a human being and a saint. Saints are role models, even to today’s standards, who we can still look up to and learn from. Saint Augustine is no different, two important qualities he possessed can still be used today to teach us how to become closer to God. Being a risk taker, and overcoming

In Saint Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine does not weep from the separation and distance he has from God, nor for Monica as she dies, but does weep for the separation he feels in Dido’s death—a fictional character— the death of his friend, and later does weep for Monica. As Augustine grows older, he changes from viewing weeping as despicable to finding weeping as a natural part of human life and grieving. The cause of Augustine’s tears shift, from Augustine as a character not understanding things while he is younger, to Augustine as an author, looking and back and judging his former self with his hindsight. It is not until later in his life that Augustine, as an author, understands the reasons behind his past weeping along with understanding that he is now with God and no longer needs to weep.

In Augustine’s Confessions and St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, both authors discuss the relationship between fleshy temptation and the purity of the spirit. The Confessions is Augustine’s writes of his extensive search for truth and conversion to Christianity, as he struggles against fleshy temptations and his soul to find rest in God. Augustine’s writes of a constant struggle to reconcile between the dualistic notion of the flesh and spirit with a nuanced understanding of flesh. On the other hand, St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians calls for a unified community as a body to the Christian community. He writes of the significant bond one can have between the soul and Christ. The writings of Augustine and Paul are separate. Augustine explores of revelations of Christianity through his mistakes and encounters with people. On the other hand, Paul derives his understanding of the word from the life of Jesus. Paul is an advocate of Jesus, as he relays the gospel of God to the people to become one with God. Augustine’s Confessions and St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, address the relationship between fleshy temptation and the purity of spirit in two different perspectives. Augustine explores the meaning of a devout Christian as an dualistic battle between the body, temptations of evil, and the soul, desire to be pure. Whereas, Paul deduces that the body of Christ is a unity of all followers of Jesus, and the soul is a spiritual bond with God.

In Dante’s Purgatory and Augustine’s The Confessions the theme of evil is brought up in different ways. Both believe that all humans are evil or fall short of God. However, their works differ in the way that the theme of evil drives the plot throughout the book and how they write their journeys.

In Augustine’s Confessions his mother pleads with him throughout his life to come to a knowledge of who God is and let his life be one that glorifies God. Augustine struggles with many temptations, a major one being women and lusting towards them. He questioned himself and he questioned God. Augustine had a heart knowledge of who God was from his mother. He knew laws and how God felt about how Augustine behaved, but it was not until he moved away and lost the woman he loved due to his upcoming marriage that he realized how lost and how sinful he really was. He begged God for forgiveness and he began to turn his life around. Augustine’s mother grew ill very quickly and Augustine spent time in prayer. He prayed over his mother’s soul, and he

Saint Augustine, also known as Augustine of Hippo, was born on 354 AD in a North African county in present day Algeria. Throughout of his life, Augustine has endured a lot of hard ships and lessons that he wanted to share with others. He decided in 397 AD to compose an autobiographical book “confessing” and recounting moments in his life. Confessions by Saint Augustine are a 13 book series comprised of Augustine’s life and how he became to be one of the most important priests during his time.

Throughout Confessions, Augustine undergoes several conversions that lead to his final conversion. Beginning when he was only a small child, Augustine experience his first conversion. Raised by a Catholic mother and Pagan father, Augustine becomes attracted to searching for answers about God. This conversion, which is a conversion of truth, continues to influence him throughout his second conversion which takes place throughout his young adulthood. During this conversion, Augustine first commits to the Christian beliefs intellectually and then shortly after, physically. Inevitably, the answers and struggles that he experiences during his conversion of truth leads to his acceptance of the Christian faith. After accepting this faith, Augustine undergoes a third conversion. This conversion is a conversion of becoming a model of Christ. Augustine’s book Confessions shows these conversions and how they lead to his final conversion.

The Confessions, written by the prominent philosopher Augustine himself, is essentially an autobiography on his life and an array of philosophical ideas that stir contemplation for the modern reader. Most importantly, Augustine’s confessions immensely scrape the surface of his life devoted to God and his philosophy undisputedly portrays his Christian beliefs. A significant proposition Augustine develops through out his work comprises the function of memory. The concept of memories and how they accumulate in the interminable realm of our mind bewilders Augustine. The narratives in his autobiography certainly show how his life and ideology revolved around Christian beliefs. Augustine illustrates a clear correlation between God and the meaning

Saint Augustine’s Confessions speaks very strongly about the role of women in the lives of men. Apart from his mother’s encouragement, Augustine had few expeditions spurring him onto the Lord, and it is because the faith of his mother, Monica, that he grows tremendously spiritually. The characteristics Augustine equates with his mother are similar to those of Rebekah in Genesis because of a similar submission to the Lord, obedience and modesty, and faithfulness to her family.

In Confessions by Saint Augustine he says that to be a whole person, one must cultivate a life that is improved by friendship. The essentials for all humans are food, air, and relationships which are imperative to creating a whole person. The friends that we have help to provide a sense of belonging and community. They help provide Augustine with strength and encouragement. Friends provide a sense of belonging and community which are a source of strength and encouragement. Augustine viewed friendship as an important part of his life, and he evaluated his friendships over the course of the three life stages. These stages in his life are adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood. In Augustine’s life he became a close friend to many but at different stages of his life his friendships provided Augustine with different life lessons that made Augustine the wise man he is at the end of his life. Over the course of Augustine’s life, he shows maturity in his interactions with his friends and begins to alter his selfish behavior. As a child his friends were based off of vice. But as he got older he learned from the friends he associated himself with and they ended up leading Augustine to his conversion. The experience that he had with certain friends were a pivotal aspect of the stories and reflections written in Confessions. During Augustine’s spiritual journey he dealt with friends that diverged him from his spiritual calling and friends that brought him closer to his calling.

In Chapter IV of his Confessions, St. Augustine describes his terrible grief at the death of a friend, and then to the adherence to mortal things, and why he regrets them. He writes that everybody experiences death differently, but the death of his close friend made him realize that this life is temporal. He continues saying that he was stricken with grief from the death of his friend and that made him want to move away from his hometown. Everything there brought his friend to mind, and he was always looking for him. He was constantly in tears and was miserable. “My home became a torture to me, a strange world of unhappiness, all that I shared with him was transformed into a cruel torment. My eyes looked for him everywhere”. Augustine