Confessions of Saint Augustine
Carefully reviewing Saint Augustine's Confessions is a fascinating historical excursion to what it was like to be a believer -- four hundred years after the death of Christ -- who had lived a sinful life but was greatly moved by the example of Jesus Christ and converted to Christianity. In this book review, the writing of Saint Augustine will be critically analyzed by looking at the intent of the author, the themes he presents, and the impact of the narrative on a person living in 2012.
In Book I Augustine begins with strong praise for the Lord, but he also is asking questions that are common to people who have been raised under pagan beliefs but have recently come to believe in Him; perhaps he isn't truly sure of his standing with God. He wonders, is there any particular room in which it would be easier to relate to and contact God? He asks fifteen questions in the first two paragraphs. This does not sound like a man who is totally sure that he is on the right track. He asks ten questions in the third paragraph alone. The sense that a careful reader gets from the first chapter is that Augustine is throwing himself down on the altar of forgiveness; yes he is full of praise, but he is begging for mercy too because he admits to lies, to vanity, to "barbarism" and other "vileness."
Book II is like a long, long soliloquy into Augustine's bad behavior as though he wants to be certain God knows he was a miserable, selfish, sinning soul. It is also a book in which he admits that his father didn't seem to really care what a scoundrel he had become...
St. Augustine's autobiography Confessions is an honest, if not severe, work of introspection. Although many of its themes and motifs are outmoded, there are core elements that remain relevant to modern readers, which is why Confessions remains critical reading as literature and religious studies. The primary focus of Confessions is on the transformation of a sinful boy into a devout Christian man. Because St. Augustine's Confessions is so compelling, the
The first ten books are mostly autobiographical, as Augustine describes in them episodes from his earlier life, and how his position concerning religion and philosophy had changed throughout his existence. All across the book, Augustine refrains from portraying himself in a way that would glorify him. Instead, he chooses to present himself as the worst individual possible, emphasizing the sins he committed until eventually being saved by Christianity and Neoplatonistic
Thus while he does allow for some Aristotelian influence of the value of sensory experience so he does not fall back into a Manichean divide between good and evil, heaven and earth -- there is some 'good' to be learned with the senses -- Augustine's mistrust of his old sinning life and the world of the senses makes him fundamentally Platonic rather than Aristotelian in nature. In contrast, Aquinas whole-heartedly
Augustine's main problem when it came to conceiving of the spiritual nature of God? What solution did he find? Before answering this question, it is important to clarify what exactly is meant by "spiritual nature of God." Many things could be meant by this phrase, but for the purposes of this essay, I stipulate that it refers to "any substance... other than that which the eyes normally perceive" (Conf., VII.i.1).
(Alypius was not necessarily being disobedient, of course, but was not doing what his father might have ideally wished) Friendship can even move one to do what is good and right, as Augustine's friendship for Alypius is what motivated the later to give up circuses in he first place. On the other hand, Augustine sees that friendships can lead one (through peer pressure and mutual encouragement of the baser
" (I.16.23) Despite his guilty attitude towards loving the excitement of Latin pagan literature, Augustine is a man who is converted through reading. He struggles with the intellectual side of pagan life that attracts him, as opposed to what he regards as the simplicity of Christianity. He reminds himself it was "was even "the least of the apostles" by whose tongue thou didst sound forth these words." (VIII.6.245) Words from the
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