St Augustine Confessions Analysis

Sarah Kaldas Humanities I Dr. Borucki May 5 2014 Augustine’s Confessions 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

Augustine’s Confessions is an autobiography written around 400 A.D which details his spiritual journey, and each of the books address a certain element of Augustine’s steps in his spiritual path. In Book III, he develops his overcoming of lust by introducing the book with the line: “I went to Carthage, where I found myself in the midst of a hissing cauldron of lust.” (III.1, pp55). The theme of non-sexual lust instantly becomes the focal point of the book and Augustine presents the “hissing cauldron” as a low point in his relationship with God, for he wanders away from his creator by loving his own ways; however, he later discovers this was merely lust compared to the true love of God. In this essay, I will argue that Book III of Confessions

towards life and passion. In Book VIII.xi (29) the reader finds St. Augustine in a state of despair and anguish because of his ongoing internal struggle between his mind and body. Afterwards, he undergoes a surreal experience that ultimately leads to the climax of Confessions, his conversion to Christianity.

Essay #2 Topic #3 Faith operates in a unique way by providing the average, the noble, or the distasteful with a means to understand the world we inhabit. However, our worldly experiences also operate as a means to understanding the complexities of our faith. For St. Augustine, faith provides more questions than answers, but consequently leads to his life as a bishop and eventually sainthood. For some, however, the Bible provides the answers to all the questions that go unanswered by common sense. In St. Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine is able to further understand himself and his faith in Christ by reflecting on anecdotes of his past. Conversely, the Bible’s use of etiology provides spiritual justification for physical realities.

With paganism on the decline and Catholic Christianity on the rise, Saint Augustine was one of many to experience a spiritual conversion in the first few centuries following the death of Christ. Although he was oftentimes unaware of God’s presence in his life before he underwent conversion, Augustine was certainly aware of the presence of his earthly companions - his friends. As seen throughout Saint Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine’s spiritual journey towards conversion to Catholicism is paralleled by his friendships. No individual friendship is the sole cause of Augustine’s spiritual progress or lack thereof, but as Augustine grows older the developing complexity of his friendships ultimately culminates in his conversion.

Augustine is in “bitter agony of his heart” (Conf. 8.29). His lusts bind his souls like chains. He knows that his life is immoral; however, he is unable to free himself. Every time he thinks of giving up his sordid live, he asks himself, “Do you think you can live without them?” (Conf. 8.28). Augustine receives a divine call, not unlike the call Aeneas receives from Jove. He hears a voice singing “Pick up and read, pick up and read” (Conf. 8.29). Heeding the words, he takes up his copy of the Scriptures and reads the first passage he opens: “Go, sell all you have, give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Conf. 8.29). Like Aeneas, Augustine receives a call to a voyage. However, Augustine’s voyage is a spiritual one. At once, Augustine is freed from the chains of his lusts. It feels as if a “light of relief from all anxiety flooded into my heart” (Conf. 8.29). God has “delivered his heart” (Conf. 8.30). Augustine is baptized shortly after, a sign of his allegiance to Christ. Augustine’s duty is now towards his God. He devotes the rest of life in spiritual service to Christ and to the

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 financial support for his education, he did not care how Augustine’s character would advance through his education. St. Augustine’s dad paid more than a richer man would pay for their son’s education because he wanted to provide Augustine with the proper education. (Confessions, II, 5). Unlike the attitude toward his father, St. Augustine showed a great deal of respect to his mother, Monica, since she was a practicing Christian (II,60). In spite of this, Augustine criticized his mother for holding him back from his sexual desire (II,8). But his father arranged his marriage and encouraged him to have children (II,6). Unlike Confucius’s teachings of remaining reverent to your parent, Augustine openly criticized his family’s wrong doings because God was his heart and only truth (II,5).

Confessions by St. Augustine is a narrative that offers a unique perspective--one of a man who has dedicated his life to a Lord for whom he professes deep veneration. St. Augustine explores characteristics of his God, such as His omnipotence, benevolence, and His power to mold the lives of the mortals that He created. In Book III of the narrative, St. Augustine focuses on the Lord’s merciful aspect and how he longs to serve as a witness to the His grace. St. Augustine uses the occurrence in which men take pity on fellow humans that toil in suffering, in order to understand how God grants mercy to his followers. St. Augustine loves the concept of suffering and allows himself to suffer because he believes that God will see Augustine’s misery as worthy of His grace.

Augustine’s spiritual journey takes place on a serpentine track outfitted with tempting divergent paths and disincentives that are scattered throughout the duration of his expedition. As just one of the many different aspects of his life, friendship plays an essential role in his journey; consequently, it is also one of the many things that Augustine scrutinizes under his theological magnifying glass. For Augustine, friendship is among the most vital facets of human existence and poses as one of the many puzzle pieces in forming the picture of who a person is

St. Augustine’s Confessions 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.

Monica’s presence in the spiritual life of Augustine poignantly reveals the profundity of love shared between a mother and her son. In the nine books in which she is mentioned, Monica makes significant decisions that have a substantive impact on Augustine’s early life. Despite being a devout Catholic, Monica chooses to delay the baptism of her son until later in life. While this would be unusual for a contemporary member of the Catholic church, Monica believed it was in the best interest of Augustine to defer his baptism, allowing him to purge himself of his sinful and ‘ungodly’ desires present during his youth with baptism received at an older age.  As such, Monica minimizes the accumulation of sin that Augustine may commit after his baptism, thus allowing him to be to be judged more warmly by God after his death.

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,

His spiritual development can be analyzed by his friendships and how they both boosted and stunted his own growth. His friendships affected his spiritual development and also his moral development because he frequently found himself getting into dilemmas. Learning from these dilemmas taught Augustine to have friendships that were created off of respect for one another. He began to share similar morals and beliefs with his friends. The importance of Augustine’s development of his friends are that they are both were willing to help each other in times of need because you see that they are fundamentally good. This essay will assess Augustine’s moral development over the course of his life using Plato's’ theory of friends found in the Nicomachean Ethics. Plato believes that all people have friendships that fall into friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure, friendships of the good. During his life Augustine's friends fall into these various categories. These stories give the reader insight on the philosophical themes and questions present in Augustine’s life and why happiness is essential to human

In St. Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine explains how his parents give up a lot for him and his education. Although his father was acknowledged for his financial attribution to Augustine’s education, he never cared if his sons character would mature through the educational system. St. Augustine’s dad paid more than a richer man would pay for their son’s education because he wanted to provide Augustine with the proper education. (Confessions, II, 5). St. Augustine showed very little respect toward his father but had a great deal of respect to his mother, Monica, since she was a practicing Christian (II,60). In spite of his respect for her as a Christian, Augustine criticized his mother for getting in the way of his sexual desire (II,8). But his father arranged his marriage and encouraged him to have children (II,6). Unlike Confucius’s teachings of remaining reverent to your parent, Augustine openly criticized his family’s wrong doings because God was his heart and only truth (II,5).