The Confessions of St. Augustine - Admission/Application Essay Example

St. Augustine’s Narrative St. Augustine of Hippo lived between 13 November 354 and 28 august 430. He was one of the earliest Christian philosopher and theologian whose works were paramount to the development and advancement of the western Christianity and the western philosophy as a whole. He is perceived as one of the most significant fathers of the Church and his great works continue to be influential to date. This paper examines St. Augustine’s narrative, its rhetorical structure as a prayer and the effectiveness that this narrative has in describing the nature of sin. In his works “Confessions”, St. Augustine writes how the human heart remains restless and troubled until it rests in the Lord. To manifest this, Augustine uses his own life and clearly narrates his path in pursuit of meaning. He elaborates on all the troubles he had faced and how they had left his heart agitated until he found refuge in the Lord. The work confessions feature Augustine’s sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity through meditation and having insight into his distressed life. St. Augustine regrets how much he had indulged in a sinful and immoral life such as his involvement in sexual immoralities, believing in an evil religion and he intensely suffers because of his sins (Augustine & Albert 5). Immorality and all sorts of sin had characterized St. Augustine’s early life. He reflects on all that he had done and realizes that from his infancy he had always gone against the one true God and this was primarily the reason why he could not find peace within himself. St. Augustine recognizes that even as a child he had sinned though he had forgotten what he had done exactly. He knows one to find rest in the Lord they have to confess all their sins including the ones they had committed as children. Augustine blames the socialization process has having played a big role in his childhood sins and that, before socialization, a true picture of the exact destination of one’s life is painted (Augustine & Albert 11). St. Augustine gives some insight into group mentality and recognizes that he had only sinned because he was in the company of others. Augustine came from a good family that had never lacked food, but he finds himself amongst bad companions who influence him to succumb to lust of the flesh and to commit theft. He and his friends steal peers while they had better pears at home. Augustine also explains the feeling that he gets while they eat the stolen pears and throw the rest to the pigs. He acknowledges that he probably would never have stolen anything or fallen into the temptations of lust had not been for the company of his friends who could share in his sin. He does not find bad company as an excuse to sinning, but it only leads to sin that separates an individual further from the Lord. Between the ages of 16 and 19, St. Augustine was converted to Manichaeism and continued to indulge in lust during his studies at Carthage. This was a move further from the Lord and an increase in the restlessness. Augustine narrates how between the ages of 20 and 29 he loses some of the most important things in his life. His friend dies in his absence and he parts with his studies in Aristotle. The things that were dear to him become hateful and everything around him reminds him of the losses he had faced in his life. St. Augustine finally recognizes that any love for something or anyone that his not anchored in God, one is bound to feel such a loss when that something is gone. This shows that every time one loves something not in God, he is definitely bound to be affected by the loss of that thing, but love for all that is associated with God will have no major impact because the Lord is always there to take away the anxiety. At the age of 29 St. Augustine starts to recognize the falsity of Manichaeism. Under the influence of St. Ambrose, he completely moves away from it. After his abandonment of Manichaeism, he becomes more enlightened and conscious recognizing that even the so eloquently put things can lack substance while the simply said things can have God’s truth embedded in them. At this moment, St. Augustine is very unimpressed with Manichaeism but he has not found something to replace it with, he is not ready to wholly accommodate Christianity. St. Augustine continues to struggle to understand Christianity under the mentorship of the kind St. Ambrose. At 31, he completely rejects Machinee dualism and the Neo-Platonist view of God, he continues with his prayer towards entirely understanding the Christian God. At 33, his constant inner turmoil continues to push him towards Christianity. He witnesses a lot of people convert and his new friends Simplicianus and Ponticianus, unlike the bad company he kept during his youth continue to tell him stories of people converting to Christianity. A child’s chant leads St. Augustine towards the Bible where he reads a verse I romans 13:13-14 and finally decides to convert to Christianity (Augustine & Albert 243). One of his friends, Alypius decides to convert too. He is baptized at the age of 33 he anchors all that he loved in the Lord. The death of his mother Saint Monica and his loved friends Nebridius and Vecundus no longer give him restless days because the love is now connected to God. It is evident that St. Augustine moves from a life full of immorality and false belief to finally find the right accommodation in the lord. The journey towards Christianity is filled with many sufferings and he is finally relieved as soon as he accepts Christianity. His sins are whipped away and his love is totally in God. Through prayer and gaining of insight of all the immoral and sinful things he had done, St. Augustine is able to find residence in the Lord (Augustine & Albert 213). In conclusion, the abandonment of the studies of rhetoric, confession of all the sins related to the five senses and recognizing the true mean of life drove Augustine towards redemption and finding salvation in the Lord. It is simply a journey from sin to sainthood. Works Cited Augustine and Albert C. Outler. The Confessions of St. Augustine. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, 2002. Print. Read More