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Primary Source Response 1: The Confessions of St. Augustine- His Conversion

Mehul Bhargava Medieval History September 24, 2018

The Confessions of St. Augustine- His conversion1 was written as St. Augustine of 1 “Augustine: Account of his Own Conversion,” Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham Center for

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Hippo’s own account of his conversion to Christianity2 after the third century religious movements period. In his autobiography, Augustine discusses how a personal crisis led him to embrace and convert to Christianity3 during a time in which Eastern Rome was slowly being introduced to the new religion. This source emphasizes and supports the notion that Eastern Rome’s conversion to Christianity during the second and third centuries was significant as public figures, such as St. Augustine, led a movement to formalize and standardize church doctrine for centuries to come.4 In Augustine’s confession, his conversion to Christianity not only solves his personal crisis regarding his sexual desires, but it also motivated him to involve himself “with the political and religious problems of his age”.5 As someone who struggled with giving up his desire for women and wine6, Augustine questioned why God was so angry with him as he was searching for a way to wash away his sins.7 After hearing a voice that attempted to convince him to read the Bible, Augustine describes picking up Apostle Paul’s book and reading the first passage he saw which stated, “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof”.8 This passage convinced Augustine that he should forgo his lust for material things and women while also leading him to embrace Christianity.9 This conversion proves to be significant, because as pointed out in the textbook, Augustine goes on to “produce a great quantity of literary and philosophical works of immeasurable importance to medieval intellectual Medieval Studies, Accessed November 2017, . 2 Ibid 3 Ibid 4 Ibid 5 Charles Warren. Hollister, Medieval Europe: A Short History (Boston (Mass.): McGraw-Hill, 2002), 26. 6 Ibid 28 7 “Augustine: Account of his Own Conversion” 8 Charles Warren. Hollister, Medieval Europe: A Short History (Boston (Mass.): McGraw-Hill, 2002), 28. 9 “Augustine: Account of his Own Conversion”

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history”.10 Augustine’s conversion leads him to write many texts using the philosophical ideas of Plato and the Neoplatonists as the basis for his Christian ideals.11 He highlights the importance of the spiritual world and how “humans were powerless to achieve salvation except through divine grace.”12 Furthermore, Augustine’s teachings regarding marriage influenced many of those who were converting to Christianity because he praised children as God’s sacramental gift.13 Therefore, it is evident how Augustine’s conversion impacted the Christian movement at the time and for generations to come as his writings are widely regarded for “shaping the political [and religious] ideas over the next thousand years”.14 His defense of Christianity not only ensured its survival in a period of religious conversion15, but it simultaneously created key principals for future Christians to rely upon.16

Works Cited “Augustine: Account of his Own Conversion,” Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham Center for Medieval Studies, Accessed November 2017, 10 Charles Warren. Hollister, Medieval Europe: A Short History (Boston (Mass.): McGraw-Hill, 2002), 29. 11 Ibid 26 12 Ibid 26 13 Ibid 27 14 Ibid 30 15 Ibid 30 16 Ibid 30

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. Hollister, Charles Warren. Medieval Europe: A Short History. Boston (Mass.): McGraw-Hill, 2002. Patrick Geary (ed.), Readings in Medieval History: The Later Middle Ages, fourth edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010), 564....