St. Augustine's Character as Illustrated Within His Confessions
The character of St. Augustine (354-430) as seen within his Confessions (begun 397), which he wrote as a long epistle to God, in midlife, marks a distinct turning point in the life, attitudes, and values of Augustine the man. The content of Augustine's Confessions itself points to personality traits of Augustine's including honesty, sincerity, humility, piety, a capacity for self-reflection, and a desire for self-improvement. Augustine spent his youth licentiously, and up to the point of his midlife, remained far more interested in hedonistic pursuits than in being of service to God. All of that changed for him midlife, however, precipitated by a sort of "midlife crisis" (as we would call it nowadays). At that point in his life, when he was about 43, Augustine realized that none of the activities from which he derived temporary pleasure were genuinely fulfilling, and that genuine fulfillment came to him only from service to God. Augustine was also strongly affected, in a spiritual sense, by his mother's death at around this time. Augustine's mother had been a devout Christian, far more so than Augustine's father, and she had always hoped that her son would follow her own spiritual path. However, St. Augustine's own Christian beliefs were not especially strong until after his mother's death. It was then that Augustine himself converted to Christianity, taking the core value of his beloved mother into himself. In this essay, I will discuss how Augustine's character is reflected within the words of his Confessions.
Augustine's Confessions is, first and foremost, a work of self-revelation. As...
Thy anger had overshadowed me, and I knew it not. I was become deaf by the rattling of the chins of my mortality, the punishment for my soul's pride; and I wandered farther from Thee, and Thou didst "suffer" me; and I was tossed to and fro, and wasted Augustine's reflections in this passage brought into fore the fact that rebellion against the divine authority was, for him, through the
" When these words of mine were repeated in Pelagius' presence at Rome by a certain brother of mine (an Episcopal colleague), he could not bear them and contradicted him so excitedly that they nearly came to a quarrel. Now what, indeed, does God command, first and foremost, except that we believe in him? This faith, therefore, he himself gives; so that it is well said to him, "Give what
Apologetics for Generation ZTable of ContentsIntroduction 3Who is Generation Z? 3Understanding the Problem 8Background to the Humanities 10The Sources That Will Help 13Walker Percy�s Moviegoer 14The Disease That Haunts Man 18Flannery O�Connor 21Pluck Out the Mystery? 23The Tale of Shoefoot 25Take Them to the Wonder 26Conclusion 28Bibliography 31IntroductionTo counter the pluralism of today�s culture, it is important that the Christian faith be presented objectively and with an insistence on truth.
.. she would disclose nothing about the one unto the other, save what might avail to their reconcilement." (Confessions, Book IX, 21) It is certainly true that Monica was patient and long-suffering with her arbitrary son. The pitiful story depicted in Confessions describes how she pursued her rebellious son to Rome, to find he had already left for Milan. She continued to follow him (a model of bravery in itself) and
Still, the central message of the book was peace within the self and towards others, although it does also advocate self-defense. The Koran for example states "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors" Human beings are to control their baser instincts, even when injustice has wounded them in some way. There is "great reward" for those who
Chaucer's "Retraction" and Its Meaning within the Context of the Canterbury Tales The "Retraction," a fragment that follows the last of the Tales in Chaucer's masterpiece, has attracted much critical attention, as students of Chaucer attempt to divine whether it implies a renunciation on the author's part of his work, or is intended ironically. Benson comments that "the authenticity of the Retraction has been challenged" (Benson, 2000), and certainly it is possible
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now