Confessions of St. Augustine- journal entry PDF

Preview

Summary

the journal entry of the confessions of st. augustine exploring the evolution of the church and the relationship of reason and faith....

Description

St. Augustine questions the role of God in his life and who God is as God cannot be physically present to St. Augustine. He laments the idea that his education at school was was directed with the purpose to make him wealthy and for him to accumulate material wealth. For St. Augustine, he did not want his education to be focused on purely attaining just material wealth and power but to be more focused on a more expansive set of knowledge moving forward. He believes that the school system was created by those who are misguided so the knowledge that they impart will then only turn the youth into more misguided adults who will continue the cycle as they entire corrupt systems such as business and politics. On the onset of St. Augustine’s adolescence he recounts the time in his life where he ran wild and committed many sins. More specifically, he talks about how him and his friends have stolen pears from a neighbors backyard. This was an act of sin as he stolen from someone and he recognizes there is nothing special about the pear but deeply regrets his actions. This means that while the pear is not special there is something special about the act of taking the pear that compelled Augustine to take the pear from his neighbor’s pear tree. This is similar to a lot of teenage mindsets as what is forbidden is the most tempting. By not being allowed to do something or act a certain way one is more compelled to do so in an act of rebellion. Even though he is considered a holy figure, St. Augustine’s experiences as an adolescent is relatable and his need to rebel against the rules that are placed to restrict him. These are universal experiences of the human condition that he has recorded, so the confessions of St. Augustine is a good read because it shows that there is a human aspect of religious figures because they have experienced the same temptations as well. The death of his friend affected him by overwhelming him with grief and he did not know how to cope with grief. However he revels in his grief which turns to a sin because he cares more about his own grief than the actual death of his friend....