Saint Augustine's Conversion - Essay Example

number 21 January Saint Augustine’s Conversion We live in a world where everyone has his own beliefs and professes this or that faith (of course we don’t mean those people who perceive themselves as atheists). Then the question arises – what is religion and when its particular postulates were established? It seems to be not difficult to give the answer because in our time we have a great opportunity to receive almost any information on the theme from the multivolume works of numerous scholars and historians who have dedicated a significant part of their lives to the study of theology and basics of religious sciences. Due to their experience which is being transformed into their written scientific treatises people know the fundamental laws of religion though it’s undoubtedly that every religious group has its main code of laws for example as there is the Bible in Christianity. For thousands years scientists, theologians and philosophers tried to reach the sense of our being and to research the nature and characteristics of its existence. The striking fact is that a lot of religious canons well-known in the Middle Ages and nowadays, were described by one person in about 397-398 year A.D., and his name is Saint Augustine. To begin with it is important to underline that in some sources Saint Augustine was initially mentioned under the name of Aurelius Augustine (comes from the Latin Aurelius Sanctus Augustinus). It can be explained by the fact that he was born in the provincial unsecured family, led a life of ordinary man, and he was given the name of Saint Augustine only after his divine conversion to Christianity. His mother was a follower of Christianity and the father was a supporter of the Roman religion of paganism. Despite his mother’s attempts to affect the religious beliefs of her son, he remained indifferent views for a long time. Augustine’s father sent him to Rome for a study of an affair related with people. After receiving the first education Augustine decided to become a teacher of rhetoric. This period of time he took a great interest in theater (this art was rejected by Christianity for the pretense that was seen in it), Aurelius Augustine liked to take part in dramatic competitions – according to his own words the more his oratorical talents were appreciated by people the more he had the desire to lie again and again. Also the peculiarity of this period of Augustine’s life was his inclination to fleshly pleasures. Nevertheless all this couldn’t prevent the orator to start living with a beloved woman though in illegitimate marriage (in which they give birth to a son). So we can see an antipode to a man who was reckoned in face of Saint. Augustine managed to get over many winding paths among which was also Manichean heresy. He tried to find the only one right way of life and in this process he had to give up numerous doubts, hesitations and temptations before the conversion to Christianity. “Confessions” written by Saint Augustine is a story about the soul that is in a search of God and that is finally finds Him. This book stays at cradles of genre of autobiography. As a matter of fact it’s not just a history of Saint Augustine’s life but the continual dialogue between him and God as well as persistent dialogue of Augustine with himself that reflects his innersoul fight of different rudiments, a fight between an “outer” and “inner”, “old” and “new” man. In this book the author intends to show the readers the life of a sinner till the moment of Christian faith truth to become opened to him. “Confessions” is an act of self-consciousness of a Christian. Furthermore for many centuries it has become an indispensable guidebook for many hearts who seeks God’s presence in their lives. A professor from the Patristic Institute, the Augusinianum, in Rome says about Saint Augustine “Confessiones”: “This was instantly taken up as a classic and has remained on the lists of the Western Greats – a book ahead its time: critical, psychological, and intimating the unconscious” (Hollingworth 16). Really Christianity is one of the most fundamental of world religions with the most active preaching position, and it’s fantastic that people received such important information about basics of this religion in so early time of history via “Confessions” of Saint Augustine. Then the obvious question arises – what served the reason and what motives had the author of the work to change his views so radically? Let’s see how Augustine comes to the thought that he is a Christian. As it is depicted in his autobiographical confession after his disillusionment in Manichaeism Augustine find new interest in skepticism and then he received the proposition to become a rhetorician in Milan where he meet the bishop Ambrose of Milan and starts studying works of the Neoplatonists and epistles of the Apostle Paul. All mentioned facts and enthusiasm with which Augustine perceived works of Cicero in past have stimulated him step by step to change his principles and find the new interest in life. Aurelius Augustine starts to lead strict moral way of life and turned from paganism to the religion in which there is a place for only one god – Christianity. The culmination instant of the fight of two men living inside of Augustine is the last chapters of the eighth Book of “Confessiones” which ends with the famous episode of Augustine consciousness being illuminated – his mystical enlightenment which he has experienced under the fig-tree in the garden where he was crying in despair to open a source of faith in himself. But still there was not brighter reason to find the highest power in his soul and mind but the voice of a child that Augustine has suddenly heard from the neighbouring house repeating over and over again: "Pick it up, read it; pick it up, read it.” As he says in his “Confessiones”: “Immediately I ceased weeping and began most earnestly to think whether it was usual for children in some kind of game to sing such a song, but I could not remember ever having heard the like. So, damming the torrent of my tears, I got to my feet, for I could not but think that this was a divine command to open the Bible and read the first passage I should light upon” (Ryan 103). So it can’t be left without mention that Saint Augustine thought is that it is God’s mark for him to read the main Book of Christianity. After coming back to his home Augustine opens Gospel Epistles at random and finds the right words for his religion just at once. They divide that human being who is the character of eight Books of “Confessiones” from that man who is like the newborn and who is the author of the work. This moment is considered to be the turning point for Augustine’s conversion to Christianity. “Confesiones” being “…written in the Augustines early forties in the last years of the fourth century A.D. and during his first years as a bishop, they reflect on his life and on the activity of remembering and interpreting a life” (O’Donnell 45). In this work as a reflection of conversion process of his life the bishop Augustine narrates about his desire to cognize his own soul and God, and that everything he has is owing to the Lord. The author is sure that knowledge and cognition of the world is possible just because of God as God is a world and he lives in everyone among people and alive creatures. Only the Lord can do possible or impossible for humanity to comprehend something. People’s attainments are revelation of God that He inserts in our heads before our birth. According to Augustine the information about the way in which the life is arranged on the Earth is kept in our minds and only love to the Lord and His presence in people’s hearts can allow them to know the superfine details of the Universe. Everything that can be evaluated by people as new is already located in humans’ memory by God. During the whole life we try to find the truth and don’t know that it is inside of us as God is a truth, and God is inside of us. Augustine also thinks that the veritable solemn love is of course the love to the Lord and without His perception people can’t know what the life is. So we can see that the main idea of Saint Augustine’s “Confessiones” is the adoption of the life through the prism of love to God. Concluding this article, it is necessary to mention that Saint Augustine by his works in a whole and by “Confessiones” in particular, has introduced a new matter in understanding of the Roman term “religio” – the connection with God has got the perception of that thing which doesn’t comes with a human from his birth but must be found again. As for the importance of his “Confessiones” it is of no doubt that this work has become one of the main and most useful for people. Through the words of Saint Augustine and on example of his life the book demonstrates them (people) that every step of life brings a human being closer to the Lord as He is that power that leads people through different difficulties to the only one right choice – the love to God. And every thinking person has the great opportunity to see the light of his or her existence as the world which is God answers only reasoning people. As result humanity can find the holy truth if it starts to think about events which are happening around as about the idea of God. Only then people will be able to lift the curtain of a wonderful world and draw into their life the love to God, God’s love to his creatures, which will be their light and their confession Works Cited Hollingworth, Miles. Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print O’Donnell, James J. Augustine: Confessions, vol. 3: Commentary on Book VIII-XIII. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Print Ryan, John K. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. New York: Doubleday Religion (Random House, Inc.), 1998 Read More