St. Augustine's autobiography Confessions is an honest, if not severe, work of introspection. Although many of its themes and motifs are outmoded, there are core elements that remain relevant to modern readers, which is why Confessions remains critic Continue Reading...
Confessions of Saint Augustine Carefully reviewing Saint Augustine's Confessions is a fascinating historical excursion to what it was like to be a believer -- four hundred years after the death of Christ -- who had lived a sinful life but was greatl Continue Reading...
Augustine's main problem when it came to conceiving of the spiritual nature of God? What solution did he find? Before answering this question, it is important to clarify what exactly is meant by "spiritual nature of God." Many things could be meant Continue Reading...
The first ten books are mostly autobiographical, as Augustine describes in them episodes from his earlier life, and how his position concerning religion and philosophy had changed throughout his existence. All across the book, Augustine refrains fr Continue Reading...
St. Augustine and the Buddha A Comparison of World Views Were St. Augustine and the Buddha to have a conversation, they might find their points-of-view quite interesting. Of course, Augustine might feel a bit inconvenienced by having to crouch down Continue Reading...
Conversion of St. Augustine comes about it would seem, as the result of three major forces. Augustine's mother was a Christian and never quit praying for him or witnessing to him; Augustine himself, spent, it would seem, every day of his life, in a s Continue Reading...
Thus while he does allow for some Aristotelian influence of the value of sensory experience so he does not fall back into a Manichean divide between good and evil, heaven and earth -- there is some 'good' to be learned with the senses -- Augustine's Continue Reading...
(Alypius was not necessarily being disobedient, of course, but was not doing what his father might have ideally wished) Friendship can even move one to do what is good and right, as Augustine's friendship for Alypius is what motivated the later to g Continue Reading...
" (I.16.23) Despite his guilty attitude towards loving the excitement of Latin pagan literature, Augustine is a man who is converted through reading. He struggles with the intellectual side of pagan life that attracts him, as opposed to what he rega Continue Reading...
Monica was honored for her forbearance in marriage to an undisciplined, often cruel pagan man. Augustine's father suffers by comparison to Augustine's mother, but rather than suggest that she should have left his father because of his mistreatment, Continue Reading...
Augustine is a Christian father of the late Roman Empire -- the traditional date of the "fall" of the Roman Empire is about a half-century after Augustine's death -- while Thomas Aquinas is a thinker of the medieval period. It is worth noting this su Continue Reading...
It was not simply that his body did not obey his will and that he possessed a stronger spiritual and a physical will after his conversion, but that before his conversion his will was not fully sincere internally. He had not yet accepted God's grace, Continue Reading...
Saint Augustine's conversion, as recounted in his Confessions This paper will explore the factors leading to Saint Augustine's conversion. This conversion was believed to be the result of an ultimate battle of sexual desire with spirit. Augustine Continue Reading...
In Chapter 5, the great churchman informs us that Water is in fact an apt designation for the Divinity, better than any of the other elements. Water possess the unique properties of being more moveable than earth (though less movable than air) whil Continue Reading...
CHURCH FATHERS DO YOU FIND THE MOST INSPIRING AND WHY? THE COURSE IS NAVIGATING CHURCH HISTORY. Cairns, Earle. E. (1996). Christianity Through Centuries: A History Christian Church. (Third edition). Saint Augustine of Hippo The majority of people Continue Reading...
Love In the Symposium, Socrates repeats the words of Diotima that love “is of the good’s being one’s own always” (Symposium 268). These words essentially get to the heart of Augustine’s own feelings towards his mother Mo Continue Reading...
St. Augustine's "Confessions" The idea that sex should be equated with sin is a Catholic tradition that has its roots in the writings of Saint Augustine. Prior to this there was little opposition or shame associated with sexual activity, especially Continue Reading...
Christ was always present, even before he came to earth, but he waited until humans were able to accept him. The incarnation is still important, as Aquinas would remind us, as this is the ultimate proof of the eternal power and existence of God's po Continue Reading...
Man? Giovanni Pico della Mirandola asks the question as to what is man's highest calling. He finds it in the deepest of religious beliefs and offers rational spirituality as the way to perfection. He believed that man was the greatest of God's crea Continue Reading...
Not only does the self not exist in the Buddhist tradition, but the delusion of the self is the foundation of "all of the evil in the world" (Ibid). Because the self does not exist in a real way, the will does not function as an expression of the se Continue Reading...
Bernard of Clairvauxs on Love For anyone wanting to learn about the simple and complex realities On Loving God, the early writings by Bernard of Clairvauxs present a great place to start. His assessment is written in old style but is pretty easy to Continue Reading...
Gospel of Mark centers on the controversies of the Little Apocalypse and the narrative of Jerusalem Barabbas. At heart, it is the soulful Christian struggle between the good symbolized at the heart of Old Testament philosophy and made personally phy Continue Reading...
God's Existence And Evil Existence God's existence and the existence of evil When considering William Paley's Argument from Design, St. Thomas Aquinas's Cosmological Argument, and St. Anselm's Ontological Argument, one can only come to one conclusi Continue Reading...
Nietzsche and Affirmation of Self Nietzsche stands out on the subject of life and self as he aggressively argues in favor of affirmation of self than denial of the same. He actively speaks against self-denial as was proposed by some other philosophe Continue Reading...
Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life "He (Jesus) Took the Bread. Giving Thanks Broke it. And gave it to his Disciples, saying, 'This is my Body, which is given to you.'" At Elevation time, during Catholic Mass, the pr Continue Reading...
God would have never created human beings if everyone was to be perfect. There are certain problems with the view that there is evil in the world despite the presence of an almighty God who is omnipotent and omniscient. Critics believe that evil sh Continue Reading...
War has shown its ugly side many times throughout the ages. As people have seen through battles, the casualties can be devastating. People lose families, lose their livelihoods, lose their dignity, and lose their homes when they are amidst war. The s Continue Reading...
This becomes further complex as economic ties blur between the poor and middle classes and the expectations each has about the definition of materialistic success. By belonging to a subculture, however, one can feel part of something larger, insulat Continue Reading...
Confessions of Augustine, The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, "On the Oration and Dignity of Man," Petrarch's poetry, and Shakespeare's drama "King Lear" are both products of societies in which the dominant religious ethos was Christian ra Continue Reading...
However, when referring to what is God's will and what behavior and actions are considered pleasing to God's eyes, St. Augustine did not specifically enumerate or identify these. Consistent in his arguments, however, is to live life in accordance t Continue Reading...
Philosophy The Greek philosopher Plato's concept of justice in "The Republic" demonstrates his belief in the path towards rationality of the individual and society. In his discourse, he talks about the rational individual as a just individual and is Continue Reading...
Buddhist and Christina Ethic on Suicide and Euthanasia The ethical issues associated with suicide and euthanasia are often viewed through the secular eyes of our modern world, yet many of the issues that are a part of the reasons why an individual m Continue Reading...
Whether the notion of the futility of war played any role in his joining the Trappists is debatable but may have had an impact on his sensitive mind. (Graham); (King, 121); (Royal, 36) The study of Thomas Merton's conversion to Catholicism is undou Continue Reading...
This happened because of the fact that many Catholic individuals could not resist the temptation of joining and supporting the Nazis as their power grew. Considering that doing otherwise would have had terrible consequences for them, it seems normal Continue Reading...
high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misi Continue Reading...
