Reading of the Spiritual Classics
By KINKOH Hubert
Registration Number: 11026T
Book Title: Confessions by St. Augustine
SUMMARY OF ST. AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS
The Confessions follows a tripartite arrangement: the
first nine Books recount Augustine’s life and his spiritual journey; Book X is
a discussion of the nature of memory and an examination of the temptations
Augustine was still facing; Books XI to XIII are an extended exegesis of the
first chapter of Genesis.
Book I of the Confessions
is dedicated mainly to an analysis of Augustine’s childhood, which he knows
only from the report of his parents, beginning with his infancy up through his
school days in Thagaste. He begins this book with a statement of praise to God,
then he launches immediately into a very rhetorical discussion of God’s
attributes. For him, God fills all of creation and God is perfect, eternal,
unchangeable, all-powerful, and the source of all goodness. He notices that God
is beyond his ability to describe and so he asks God for the words to describe
such greatness. Turning to his brutish infancy, Augustine maintains that he was
a sinner already as a child for he thanked no one, and revenged himself on his
caretakers with unbearable weeping. He is harsh on himself for this nasty
attitude mentioned above, but concludes with a dismissal of responsibility for
those times which he could “recall not a single trace.” Soon, however, he
begins to exercise his memory, particularly in the service of learning to
communicate through language.
With the onset of adolescence in Book II, Augustine enters
what he seems to consider the most lurid and sinful period of his life, a
period when he “ran wild in the jungle of erotic adventures.” At this point,
Augustine was preparing to leave for Carthage for studies. He talked about his parents,
thanking his father Patrick for trying so hard to educate him. About his
mother, Monica, he says she often admonished him against fornication although
at the time, he saw her warnings as “womanish advice which I would have blushed
to take the least notice of.” After that, Augustine considers the theft of
pears which he blames on peer pressure and this is particularly disturbing because
this teenage prank was done out of no other motive than a desire to do wrong.
In school at Carthage, Augustine continues to be lost in
carnal desires, and so he opens Book III with a wholesale self-condemnation
that this lust was a misdirection of the love for God. In his pursuit of truth,
he comes across Cicero’s Hortensius
and it changes his entire outlook. Reading the book animates his love of
philosophy, and he resolves to pursue true wisdom. Next, Augustine decides to
study the Bible, but finds it lacking in literary style. Still burning for
truth, he began to fall in love with the Manichees, accepting their absurd
mythologies as the literal truth. Monica is grieved by Augustine’s conversion
to Manichaeism. Meanwhile, she has a dream in which she sees herself and
Augustine standing on the same measuring stick. She goes to a bishop to plead
with him to talk to Augustine, but he tells her that Augustine will recognize
the errors of the Manichees soon enough on his own. Augustine’s Confessions, Book IV opens with a short description
of his pursuits in Thagaste, which he says consisted primarily of “being
seduced and seducing, being deceived and deceiving.” Chief among his regrets
about this period are his career as an instructor in rhetoric and his
persistence in keeping an unnamed concubine. She stays with Augustine for
nearly ten years, bearing him a son, Adeodatus who died aged seventeen. He
again left Thagaste for Carthage where he wrote The Beautiful and the Fitting. Book V follows Augustine from
Carthage, where he finds his students too rowdy for his liking, to Rome, where
he finds them too corrupt, and to Milan, where he will remain until his
conversion. Manichean beliefs begin to lose their luster for him during this
period and by the end of the Book, he considers himself an unbaptized
Christian. He encounters a number of important figures, including a Manichean
Bishop - Faustus. Dissatisfied with his arguments, Augustine becomes
disillusioned with Manichaeism, although he does not abandon it. Augustine is
appointed teacher of rhetoric in Milan, where he hears the sermons of Bishop
Ambrose. Monica has come to join Augustine in Milan and is pleased to hear that
Augustine has given up Manichaeism (Book VI).
In Book VII, Augustine reads
Neoplatonic philosophy, paying particular attention to his conceptions of God
as a being and of the nature of evil. He imagined God as “incorruptible and
inviolable and unchangeable.” After a brief discussion of astrology, he briefly
touched on the excitement he found in reading an unnamed Neoplatonic text,
which is thrillingly similar to Genesis and authoritatively contrary to
Manichean dualism. He criticizes it, however, for mentioning nothing about God
and for its tainted polytheist tendencies.
Book VIII tells the story of his conversion in Milan.
Augustine is now a Christian in his heart, but he is unable to give up his
worldly affairs, particularly sex. He goes to speak with Simplicianus,
Ambrose's teacher, who congratulates him for studying the books of the
Platonists and tells him the story of one Victorinus, as a means of encouraging
Augustine. Augustine is moved by the story but his old life has become a habit
he cannot break. What is more, Augustine and his friend Alypius are visited by
Ponticianus, who tells them about two of his friends who were inspired to
dedicate their lives to Christ after reading the story of St. Antony. Augustine
is overcome with shame at his inability to follow their example. Extremely troubled,
Augustine retreats to the garden of their house with a divided will. He breaks
down in tears beneath a fig tree and hears a voice saying, “Take and read.” Accordingly,
he opened to Romans 13:13-14, where he read: “...not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and
jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the
flesh, to gratify its desires.” Book IX recounts some of the events directly
following Augustine’s conversion including his retirement from his position as
teacher and his resolve to embrace Christianity. Along with his son, he was
baptized by Ambrose on Easter Eve in 387. His mother, who had rejoined him in
Italy, rejoiced at this answer to her prayers and hopes. She died soon afterward
in Ostia. Augustine recalls feeling a great deal of pain but decides not to
grieve over her death since she was going to be with God.
Book X marks the transition in the Confessions in form and content, from autobiography to the direct
analysis of philosophical and theological issues. Augustine introduces his
investigation with an appraisal of his love for God. He maintains that the five
physical senses alone are inadequate in knowing God; and the spiritual
faculties are not also sufficient. Augustine ascends beyond this function, to
memory. But the vastness of memory is more than his capacity to grasp. Augustine
thus suggests looking for God elsewhere in himself since animals also have
memory. Whether one is rich or poor, he maintains, life brings numerous
temptations, from which only God can save people. Then he considers three kinds
of temptations: lust of the senses, curiosity, and power, and then moves to
consider time, maintains that God is separated from His creation by virtue of
His eternity and by virtue of creation’s temporality. In Book XII, Augustine
examines the second verse of Genesis: “The earth was invisible and formless,
darkness was over the deep” and proposes other possible interpretations. He
concludes that multiple true interpretations of the passage exist and do not
contradict each other.
In the last Book, he maintains that all of creation depends on God’s
goodness, and God chose to create because of the abundance of his goodness.
Then Augustine examines the action of the Holy Trinity in the creation by
looking at the verse “the Spirit moved over the waters.” Augustine examines the
rest of the Genesis creation story, interpreting it in a unique way. The last
day of the creation was for rest; so, too, will the faithful rest with God on
the eternal Sabbath day.
PERSONAL REFLECTION ON THE CONFESSIONS
In Chambers English Dictionary, the word
“confession” is used in a number of senses, all of which run throughout this
work. Confession can mean acknowledgment of one’s crimes or faults, which
Augustine does with passion, confessing not only his ambition and his lust but
also his intellectual pride, his misplaced faith in Manichaeism, and his misunderstanding
of Christianity. Secondly, a confession is a statement of religious belief, and
this aspect is echoed in Augustine’s detailed account of how he arrived at his
Christian beliefs and his knowledge of God. Finally, confession means a
statement of praise; a creed. In the Confessions, Augustine constantly
gives praise to the God who mercifully directed his path and brought him out of
misery and error.
I see the Confessions as one long prayer by a devout
mother for the conversion of his son, hence it is a spiritual journey. This
makes me also see the Confessions as a conversion story for Augustine
actually undergoes several conversions even though he assumes the existence of
God. The Confessions is Augustine’s personal story, showing his amazing
insight into the human condition trying to rediscover the divine, the only
source of true peace and satisfaction. It is a reflection of my own story
because Augustine’s experiences are not foreign to mine.
What a phenomenal text! Having read it, I also have a few
confessions of mine to make. My only regret after reading the Confessions is waiting so long to read
it from cover to cover. Of course I had come across excerpts and quotes from
this distinguished work, but even when I had the opportunity to read it, I put
off reading it. I already knew that Monica, Augustine’s poor mother, had
begged and pleaded with God for years to bring about her wayward son’s
conversion. I knew Augustine had spent his youth leading a very sinful
life, and frankly, I assumed that in this work he described in detail his many
indiscretions. These two elements are very true of my own situation. As a
boy I was very stubborn and this only increased the more as I grew. For these,
I received punishments of various types from my father, ranging from insults to
thorough beating. My mother on the other hand would sit me down and advice me
and would offer Masses for her special intention, which became clear to me
later on that they were for my change of manner of life. I always see my being
in the religious life, something which still baffles many people, as a result
of her continuous prayers for me. The religious value of the Confessions in my life remains
unquestionable. Having read the whole of it, I can join Augustine in affirming
that “our hearts are restless until they rest in God.”
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