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Confessions

St. Augustine wrote this book was written at the end of the 4th century; he was the last of

the early writers and the first of the medieval writers. He watched the Roman Empire fall while

the world around him changed constantly. He wrote Confessions during his travels that brought

him to Rome briefly and then Carthage and Milan.

Augustine creates the theory of original sin, which is a now catholic doctrine, from his

knowledge of the bible. He associates original sin with the fall of Adam and Eve, even though

the bible does not mention original sin. Confessions uses biblical allusions from Psalms and from

the letters of Paul. St. Augustine is deeply affected by Paul's letters and the bible is his

companion through his conversion. During the moment of his conversion he reads a passage of

the bible and feels it is written directly to him.

His personal life and desires for sex interfere with his spiritual quest. My most favorite

thought is to praise the Creator not the creations; this is also the focus of Saints Clare and Francis

of Assisi. Augustine postpones his salvation but is always in turmoil and distress. Basically, the

mind is willing but the flesh is weak. He prays, "Give me continencebut not yet!" (Enduring

Grace page 170).

He believed that sex strengthened faith in marriage by creating children that could

possibly bring the couple closer to God. He never got married because his profession and societal

position did not allow a married life. However, he was involved in a monogamous relationship

for thirteen years, fathering one son. Then, forced to abandon him, the woman went back to

Africa (Confessions page 51). After this happened he was waiting for a twelve-year-old girl to

age and meanwhile had an affair with another woman. So this (among other things) makes me

think Augustine had a weakness for flesh.

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The single most important factor in Augustine's confession was his mother. She is also a

saint and she prayed for him and her husband. He credits his mothers prayers for his conversion

from a life of sin to a life of devotion.

His notion that evil does not exist is similar to Julian of Norwich's notion that God has no

wrath (Confessions 41; Enduring Grace 90); which is also the same notion St. Thomas Aquinas

has about evil. The theory is that a person is either near God or away from God. When we are

near God then we are good and when we stray from the light of God then we are evil. Augustine

said that he must sin so he could learn from his sins.

I think it is amazing how this book applies to modern day life. For example, he was

struggling with the dimensions of astrology. This is very interesting because people still study

astrology today. Also, he lived in the time of the Roman gladiators, which was not a peaceful

society; this means the society was away from God.

Augustine was intellectually aware of God since he constantly read the bible, however,

he was lacking faith for so long that it took good friends to help him convert. The loss of his

good friend leaves him very depressed (Confessions 54). He eventually finds new friends but he

recalls the loss of his lost friend during his baptism.

Confessing, according to Augustine, translates to praising the glory of God. He was

caught in worldly traps of beauty and the false ego but he eventually learned to focus on the

Creator, not on His creations. He learned from robbing the pear tree that free will controls the

false ego and that he must focus his desires on obtaining self-realization. The aspect of focusing

desires on the true self is reinforced in many of the women mystics; St. Theresa of Avila was

particularly influenced by Confessions.

The factor of belief is essential in order to read and understand this book completely.

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However, perhaps this book will convert faithless people. The author hopes his book is

trustworthy. Most of his books were destroyed in Hippo. Today Augustine can be summarized in

a modern clich: do not worry; it doesnt matter because "its all-good."

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Works Cited:

Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. Confessions & Enchiridion. Trans. and ed.

Albert C. Outler. 1955. Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist U. Digitized 1993.

10 Oct. 2005

Flinders, Carol Lee.Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics. Harper: San Francisco,

1993.

Dominick Inglese

Dr. R.H. Rupp

English 4950-World lit.

Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:15

Fall Semester 2000

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