Confessions: the Autobiography of Saint Augustine - Essay Example

Introduction: The “Confessions” is essentially the autobiography of Saint Augustine written in the light of his life’s journey and the various mystical experiences particularly highlighted in Book 9. His concepts and experience regarding union with God and attempts towards salvation has found a refined outlet through his thoughts expressed in the vision at Ostia (a village in Italy) and the City of Gods which reveals the two world of man – that where he lives according to the human laws (according to man) and the world where he dwells according to God. It is practically the idea of two different cities emphasized here – the city of Gods and the city of Man. The two attributes or guidelines that underlie human life and its conditions are predestination (the faith that fate is pre decided by God) and grace (God’s blessings and kindness). These two beliefs have been wonderfully portrayed by Saint Augustine in “The City of Gods” which also extends the different conceptualization endorsed in the vision at Ostia a little further to encompass the broader aspect of status of human life and livelihood. Augustine’s vision at Ostia After the baptization of Saint Augustine and his family, the misfortune of his son’s death was followed by the family’s return to Africa in order to spend their lives serving God. On their way they made a stop to rest at Ostia – a port in Southern Italy. It is here that Augustine experienced a union with God and realized that God is the object of knowledge and the mode of knowledge is realization of God without any intermediary. He related in Confessions 9 his mystical experiences and the shared vision with his mother as they were engaged in conversation regarding the joys and experiences of life after death or the next life. It was a joyful experience of union where his mother Monica symbolized the epitome of the authenticity, sanctity and power of the church. It is Monica, with her modesty and calm, who represents the ideal of Christianity to Augustine and her submissiveness and quietness of character was a contrast to the arrogance and self-reliance that the philosophers had previously imparted in him. At this juncture he realizes that union with God is not an individualistic but a communal experience and needs to be a shared vision. He shifts from the use of “I” or first person singular (I was admonished;" "I entered;" "I saw"). In his vision of Milan to the use of “we” in his vision of Ostia where he comes down to a more broader mindset and incorporates more humility in himself. He therefore talks of a vision shared with the mass ("we raised ourselves higher," "still we went upward;" we talked;" "we sighted"). This concept of salvation focuses mainly on the joys of next life while that of Milan had been regarding that of the present life. He regards the Christian faith that God’s vision occurs completely only after death, i.e. after he has shed all his mortal desires. The experience at Ostia was brief and passing one, but the morality earned from this vision was different from that gained at Milan. In Ostia he finds his soul ascending upwards towards the region of “never failing plenty” (signify the abundance of happiness in the knowledge of the truth and union with God after death) and there he ponders about the bliss of heavenly satisfaction. The experience starts and ends suddenly but does not end in despair or misery unlike that of Milan where Augustine experienced being pulled away from God by his carnal desires and practices. Here God has released him of those bindings for that momentary journey of joy that could be an eternal experience if one could shed his material desires and possessions. It was merely some days away from the death of Monica that they had undergone such revelation of the Truth and he believed it was “by thy secret ways arranged”. During their conversation they were "forgetting those things which are past, and reaching forward toward those things which are future." They were in the presence of truth and focusing on the future path. They were both craving for the fountain to quench their thirst – “ thirsting for those supernal streams of thy fountain, "the fountain of life" which is with thee, that we might be sprinkled with its waters according to our capacity and might in some measure weigh the truth of so profound a mystery”. After his mother’s death he was grief stricken but somewhere he had gained in strength from the confidence that his mother’s soul was resting safely in God and that he would join her eventually in the next life. City of Gods – Grace and Predestination This reveals that God blesses us with the light of knowledge and mystery of truth according to our deserving. This concept of salvation finds another outlet in the City of Gods where the human world has been differentiated into the city of god and city of devil. He says that a human being is natural first and later becomes spiritual. It signifies the human race where men are initially born with the carnal lust of Adam but later becomes refined and good as they undergo regeneration by grafting into Christ (baptization and dedication towards Jesus). The order of arrival has been well symbolized via the birth of Cain born in the city of men and Abel in the city of God. Cain was born before Abel in keeping with the concept that evil is born first and then transforms into a refined form of human via the grace of the divine. Both the men are of the same cursed origin but God creates one vessel to honor and one to dishonor. He showers his grace on the selected one and thus the city of God was predestined with grace – predestination guards the Grace of the Divine. Augustine also goes on to say that it is not ensured that all wicked men will become saints but the earlier one can become pure the sooner he will be nearer to God. Cain has been known to build a city but Abel did not need to because he was sojourner who guided his citizens under him but never claimed anything – he waits for the day when he shall be awarded with a kingdom to reign along with the Ages of Time, i.e., eternity. Vision of Ostia and the City of Gods – discussing the mode of salvation A similar notion (same as the concept of the City of Gods) is highlighted in his vision at Ostia where Augustine has dedicated all the universal knowledge to God and realized that all the coveted fame, glory and ambition are nothing in the backdrop of eternity where God has everything predestined already – “Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee”. The human race has been distributed into two halves – one with human principles and those who lived according to men’s law while another half where people lived according to God (will of God). This categorization was also demonstrated in terms of two communities of men where one group is predestined to rule with God and the other would be suffering from due punishment with devil. Man is incapable of raising his level of humanity without the grace of God and grace can itself restore our freedom from the bindings of pride and selfishness. People who accept this can receive His grace while those who do not are condemned to be punished. Those families who find peace in earthly possessions are very much unlike those pilgrims who have given up all such desires and seek to serve God. However in this light one thing may appear strange – if everything is predestined then what incentive do people have to become well behaved and hence could not induce moral laxity. According to Pelagius human beings are not always born with flawed nature and he could not agree to the concept of human conditions subject to grace whose recipient again is predestined. However as Augustine expresses the path and ultimate status of human destiny in Chapter 1 of Book XII, “That the contrary propensities of good and bad angels have arisen, not from a difference in their nature and origin, since God, the good Author and Creator of all essences, created them both, but from a difference in their wills and desires, it is impossible to doubt. While some steadfastly continued in that which was the common good of all, namely, in God Himself, and in His eternity, truth, and love; others, being enamored rather of their own power, as if they could be their own good, lapsed to this private good of their own, from that higher and beatific good which was common to all, and, bartering the lofty dignity of eternity for the inflation of pride, the most assured verity for the slyness of vanity, uniting love for factious partisanship, they became proud, deceived, envious.” The two cities are formed out of two different forms of love – one is the love of the self and the other is love of God. According to Augustine, predestination ensures that God knows what he is going to do with a certain individual. However those who prefer to trust themselves than the strength of God’s promise. In this way they abuse the power and only if one is a believer he shall be saved. The truth of grace and perseverance is well reflected in those saved children of God. A striking resemblance can be found in the fact that Augustine has found the City of Gods as identical with the church as the church is frequently affected and attacked by the human sins but exists from faith and hope. In Confessions also he had made a symbolic comparison of the church with Monica, his mother. The church has been a dominant underlying object of his writing and different sides of his ideology are revealed in the process. Conclusion: In both his works, Augustine has well reflected his Catholic beliefs, which highlighted the power of the God who blesses our soul only when we shed our mortal cover to become refined in our spirits. While the church is demonstrated in different ways in the two books, the salvation process and experience encompasses some common elements of eternal joy, celestial blessings of the God, union with the supreme power and the ultimate joy experienced. One thing is exactly common between the works - salvation cannot be gained without detachment from worldly pleasures because God’s grace can be completely achieved only when one has renounced his mortal desires. The message has been conveyed in two different ways – in Confessions, Augustine reveals his mystical experience to depict the salvation and union while in the City of Gods the same thing has been expressed through the sketch of two different worlds of man. Reference: 1. Confessions (from Augustine: Confessions & Enchiridion, Newly Translated and Edited by Albert C. Outler, Ph.D., D.D., 1954, Digitalized by Harry Plantinga), Institute of Practical Bible Education. Internet archive at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/ipb-e/epl-ag.html 2. Augustine, “City of Gods” 3. Garner Rod “The Thought of St. Augustine”, http://www.churchsociety.org/churchman/documents/Cman_104_4_Garner.pdf 4. Augustine, “ Selections from the City of Gods”, http://personal2.stthomas.edu/gwschlabach/docs/city.htm#11.1 5. “Ostia”, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/arch/ostia.html 6. “Notes on Augustine’s Confessions”, http://www.molloy.edu/sophia/augustine/conf2_notes.htm#Lust 7. “Medieval Sourcebook: Augustine: City of God: Book 22:8-10. On Miracles”, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/augustine-cityofgod-22-9-10.html#Chapter%209 Read More