Augustine Confessions Analysis

Jenae Wilson November 9, 2015
Ms. Anick Boyd, Fridays, 11:00 Essay #2

Saint Augustine’s Confessions autobiographically chronicles his spiritual journey into developing his beliefs and accepting Christianity. He only recounts the events from his childhood and adolescence that lead to his conversion. Instead of anecdotally laying out his life story, Augustine chooses to write about his personal struggles to become a devout Christian. Throughout the story, he entangles himself into different philosophical schools of teaching to better understand his take
The driving force of the revolt is ressentiment. Ressentiment acts as a defense mechanism for the slaves. They justify their weaknesses by making their masters feel inferior to their envy. In Confessions, Augustine goes through an inner revolt before his full conversion. He admits, “But I was unhappy at the life I led in the world, and it was indeed a heavy burden, for the hope of honour and profit no longer inflamed my desire, as formerly, to help me bear so exacting a servitude,” [VIII.i (2)]. Augustine sought his meaning in life through various schools of philosophical thought before turning to Christianity. Similar to the Manichean views, he believed the material world encompassed evil and constantly battled God’s will. Saint Paul along with Augustine considered humans weak and sinful. Humanity is painfully separated from God and struggling to return. One cannot return to spirituality without God’s assistance. Paul preaches, “‘What I say is this: let the Spirit direct
For what our human nature wants is opposed to what the Spirit wants, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature wants,’” [Galatians, 5:16-17]. The material world represents the “evil” master, and Augustine’s inner weakness expresses the “good” slave. Book II of Confessions focuses on his sexual sins from his adolescent years. In Augustine’s time, complete celibacy was the ultimate goal. Marriage was for the weak who could not fully control their sexual desires, but sex was used only for the conception of children never pleasure. His urges become problematic, and his final obstacle to conversion is giving up sex. His parents only see success for their son in the shallow material world. His love and ease for learning drive both of his parents’ actions. They insist on sacrificing financial obligations to put him the best school only to drive his success. When confesses his sexual sins, they feel the need to marry him off as soon as possible. But they soon realize marriage will only affect his studies. Augustine’s rejection for the material world’s impulses leads toward his acceptance of Christianity. In essence, this realization symbolizes a Nietzschean “slave