St. Augustine Confessions Research Paper

St. Augustine’s Confessions

St. Augustine lived during a period in which the Roman Empire was in deep decline and Christianity was taking root as the official religion. It was a time of great political stress and widespread religious concern. The Confessions reveals much about his formative years, when he strove to overcome his sensual desires, find faith, and understand religious and philosophical doctrines. Augustine treats this autobiography as much more than an opportunity to narrate his life, however, and there is hardly an event mentioned in his autobiography that does not have an accompanying religious or philosophical clarification. St. Augustine’s confessions also provide one with a critical aspect of the Christian Bible.
His concern was how we can seek God without really knowing what he is or what we’re exactly looking for. “Within me I had a dearth of that inner food which thyself, my God—although that dearth caused me no hunger” (Confessions, I). He constantly questions the existence of God and his belief in Him. Asking God to “come into me”, Augustine again questions what that phrase could really mean when expressed to God. Later on in the writing, Augustine came across a book, in which he referred to as “books of eloquence” (Confessions, IV), called Hortensius by Cicero. He admired this book very much and its philosophical ways which he proclaims it “changed my whole attitude and turned my prayers toward thee, O Lord, and gave me new hope and new desires” (Confessions, IV). The reading caused him to reach toward God, even though he had only learned of God seriously through Monica, his mother whom was of Christian faith. It helped him to develop a different outlook on God and take life more
This formation was the discovery of a new self and the discovery of the new world he sees now through his conversion. The conversion taught him truth and to believe in God. His desire to understand wisdom, which was through the readings by Cicero, brought about a new view for Christ. Though he converted, Augustine’s full connection with the love of Christ was still yet incomplete for him. His mind was not satisfied with any one direction. The most critical and influential form of love that Augustine had was love for God and the love for Christ. It was almost as if he was exposed to a new realm and he opened up his life up to God more and more each day by praising him, telling God how much he loves him now. Augustine states, “then, O Lord, you laid your most gentle, most merciful finger on my heart and set my thoughts in order, for I began to realize that I believed countless things which I had never seen or which I had taken place when I was not there to see” (Confessions,