Confession St Agustine

Context Saint Augustine was born Aurelius Augustinus on November 13, 354 CE. He lived his early years in Roman North Africa (now eastern Algeria), where he would have spoken Latin at home and in school. His parents were by no means wealthy, but neither were they destitute —Augustine's father Patrick was a small-time landowner (Henry Chadwick writes that, given Ovid's definition of 'pauper' as 'a man who knows how many sheep he has,' "Patrick is likely to have known how many he had"). Augustine's mother, Monica, looms much larger in the Confessions than his father, largely because she was a lifelong Christian who always hoped for Augustine to become a baptized believer. Patrick remained a Pagan until being baptized on his deathbed. The context of fourth-century Christianity is important to keep in mind throughout much of the Confessions, not only with regard to Augustine's parents but also as a framework for his own lengthy struggle with becoming a Catholic. In the fourth century, Catholicism was one young theological philosophy among many, competing for followers with Christian splinter groups like the Manichees, secular philosophies like Neoplatonism, trendy returns to ancient religions like the cult of Osiris, and the much more traditional propitiation of 'pagan' Greek and Roman deities (this last being the primary religion of the Roman aristocracy which Augustine was trying for a long time to join). Becoming a Catholic or any other kind of orthodox Christian would not have been seen as an entirely normal thing for a person of society to do, and could in fact hinder the kind of successful public career Augustine pursued for much of his young life. Augustine's teenage years are recounted in the Confessions as being particularly decadent and useless ones. He has almost nothing but regret for his schooling, in which he would have studied literature (mostly in Latin, with some Greek), rhetoric (the art of eloquent speaking, which Augustine would later teach), and dialectic (logical argumentation). Meanwhile, he took a concubine at the age of 17, a decision which went against both Catholic teaching and the societal formula for public success. He would stay with her for some fifteen years, and she bore him a son, Adeodatus. After his studies at Carthage, where he was an outstanding but quiet student, Augustine returned briefly to Thagaste, setting up a school and a career as a teacher. He left once again for Carthage after the death of a close friend made his hometown unbearable, and continued to teach there. It was at this point that Augustine became a Manichee 'Hearer,' a class of believer less exalted and rigorous than the orthodox Manichee 'Elect.' Mani, a self-proclaimed prophet of the third century CE, had developed a cosmology designed primarily to deal with the paradox of the presence of evil in a world created by God (who is fundamentally good). Mani claimed that God was not omnipotent, and that He was in fact locked in a constant struggle with an opposite, evil force. This would explain how evil could exist without God willing it. The epitome of this evil nature was held to be matter, encompassing all the sensory pleasures (especially sex). Manichees were therefore purists, following a complex set of dietary and domestic laws (the Elect followed them more strictly than the Hearers, who served them).Augustine was among a large number of cultivated, well-educated people that joined the Manichees, in part because their texts were written in what Augustine called 'a good Latin' and were presented in handsome volumes. Manicheism was an impressive, colorful faith, depending heavily on its forceful, rhetorically embellished

disagreements with Christianity and also on an elaborate cosmology. For ten years, Augustine preferred the well-worded Manichee arguments to the simple parables of the Bible, which he thought crass and uneducated (it didn't help that the Latin Bible was at that time in a particularly poor and unliterary version). Eventually, however, as he moved from Carthage to Rome (to escape rowdy students) and then on to Milan (to escape cheating ones), he became increasingly suspicious of the fantastical cosmology and esoteric laws of the Manichees. Of particular concern were its conflicts with the budding science of astronomy, which was already able to predict things like eclipses. After meeting Faustus, a Manichee wise man, Augustine was ready to explore more truthful, less loquacious forms of belief. Neoplatonism, which enjoyed a small, erudite following, soon came in to replace Augustine's shaky Manichee beliefs. He was particularly impressed by the Neoplatonic solution to the problem of evil and by its striking philosophical similarity to the Bible. The Bishop at Milan, Ambrose, also had a strong influence on Augustine, teaching him through sermons how to read allegorical depth into the apparently simple parables of the Bible. With these texts in mind, and after a long process of agonizing decision, Augustine finally committed himself fully to the church after a conversion experience in his garden in Milan in July of 386. He was baptized by Ambrose shortly thereafter, and his mother Monica died shortly after that. The burial of Monica completes the chronological span covered by the autobiographical sections of the Confessions. Augustine would not actually write the Confessions, however, until some thirteen years later, after he had returned once again to Thagaste, this time to start a semi-monastic community. The immediate reasons for writing his masterpiece seem largely to have to do with his appointment as a bishop at Hippo (also in Northern Africa) in 396. Augustine does not seem to have wanted this post—it was more of an offer he couldn't refuse (the forcing of ordination on a person was not uncommon at the time). His critics, however, had even stronger doubts that he was the right man for the job, citing his Manichee past, his cleverness in rhetoric, and his relatively recent conversion. The Confessions were written partly as a response to these critics, openly confessing Augustine's past mistakes, praising God with effusiveness and poetry, and roundly denouncing the Manichees. Purpose Confessions was not only meant to encourage conversion, but it offered guidelines for how to convert. Augustine extrapolates from his own experiences to fit other’s journeys. Augustine recognizes that God has always protected and guided him. This is reflected in the structure of the work. Augustine begins each book within Confessions with a prayer to God. For example both books VIII and IX begin with "you have broken the chains that bound me; I will sacrifice in your honour."[4] Not only is this glorifying God but it also suggests God’s help in Augustine’s path to redemption. Written after the legalization of Christianity, Confessions dated from an era where martyrdom was no longer a threat to most Christians as was the case two centuries earlier. Instead, rising Christian’s struggles were largely internal. Augustine clearly presents his struggle with worldly desires, such as lust. Augustine’s conversion was quickly followed by his ordination as a priest in 391 AD and then appointment as bishop in 395 AD. Such rapid ascension certainly raised criticism of Augustine. Confessions was written between 397-398,

suggesting self-justification as a possible motivation for the work. With the words "I wish to act in truth, making my confession both in my heart before you and in this book before the many who will read it" in Book X Chapter 1, Augustine appears to defend his position by admitting his imperfections not only to his critics but to God, in a form of reconciliation.

Outline 1. His infancy and boyhood up to age 14. He speaks of his inability to remember the sins he almost certainly committed during this time. Children serve as insight into what man would be if it weren't for being socialized into waiting one's turn. God teaches us to think of others before we think of ourselves, unlike children who cry until they are fed. 2. Augustine finds himself amongst bad companions, which leads him to commit theft and succumb to lust. Augustine comes from a good family and has never wanted for food. In this chapter, he explores the question of why he and his friends stole pears when he had many better pears of his own. He explains the feelings he experienced as he ate the pears and threw the rest away to the pigs. Augustine argues that he most likely would not have stolen anything had he not been in the company of others who could share in his sin. Some insight into group mentality is given. 3. His studies at Carthage, his conversion to Manichaeism and continued indulgences in lust between 16 and 19. 4. His loss of a friend and his studies in Aristotle and the fit and the fair between 20 and 29. Augustine is overcome with grief after his friend dies in his absence. Things he used to love become hateful to him because everything reminds him of what was lost. He concludes that any time one loves something not in God, one is bound to feel such loss. Augustine then suggests that he began to love his life of sorrow more than his fallen friend. 5. His movement away from Manichaeism under the influence of St. Ambrose in Milan at 29. Augustine begins to understand that things said simply can be true, while things put eloquently may be lacking in substance. He is unimpressed with the substance of Manichaeism, but has not yet found something to replace it. He feels a sense of

resigned acceptance to these fables as he has not yet formed a spiritual core to prove their falsity. 6. His movement towards Christianity under the influence of St. Ambrose at 30. He is taken aback by Ambrose's kindness but still does not understand the substance of his teachings. 7. His rejection of Manichee dualism and the Neoplatonist view of God at 31. He struggles to understand the Christian God. 8. His continued inner turmoil on whether to convert to Christianity at 32. Two of his friends, Simplicianus and Ponticianus, tell Augustine stories about others converting. While reflecting in a garden, he hears a child's voice chanting "take up and read." Augustine picks up a Bible and reads the passage it opens to, Romans 13:13-14. His friend Alypius follows his example. Finally, Augustine decides to convert to Christianity. 9. His baptism done by Ambrose at 33, the death of his mother Saint Monica, the death of his friends Nebridius and Vecundus, and his abandonment of his studies of rhetoric. 10. Continued reflections on the values of confessions and on the workings of memory, as related to the five senses. 11. Reflections on Genesis and searching for the meaning of time. 12. Continued reflections on the book of Genesis. Augustine especially focuses on the language used to tell the creation story. 13. Exploration of the meaning of Genesis and the Trinity. Summary The work outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the following 1,000 years, through the Middle Ages. It is not a complete autobiography, as it was written in his early 40s, and he lived long afterwards, producing another important work (City of God). It does, nonetheless, provide an unbroken record of his development of thought and is the most complete record of any single person from the 4th and 5th centuries. It is a significant theological work, featuring spiritual meditations and insights.

In the work St. Augustine writes about how much he regrets having led a sinful and immoral life. He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology. He writes about Nebridius's role in helping to persuade him that astrology was not only incorrect but evil, and St. Ambrose's role in his conversion to Christianity. The first nine books are autobiographical and the last four are commentary. He shows intense sorrow for his sexual sins, and writes on the importance of sexual morality. The books were written as prayers to God, thus the title, based on the Psalms of David; and it begins with "For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee."[3] The work is thought to be divisible into books which symbolize various aspects of the Trinity and trinitarian belief.