Abstract
This paper discusses Augustine's explanation in his "Confessions" that man is continuously "scattered" by his own impermanence, and shows that, in Books X and XI of "Confessions", the concept of "scattered humanity" is presented as a condition that is simultaneously undesirable and unavoidable to mankind. Through his discussions of memory, temptation, and time, Augustine portrays the human condition as that of utter temporality, corruptibility, and changeability. The writer explains that Augustine sees man as "divided up in time" by his changeable will and the corruptibility of his concentration. Thus, it is only through God's grace that man can hope to be freed from his temporality to rest within God.

From the Paper
"Book X begins with a discussion of memory. Augustine envisions memory as something that is not always present. Things are stored in one's memory but must be thought about and brought forth again out of one's mind. In contrast, for God all things are present at all times. God does not remember things and all things are continuously existent to God. However, within man's memory there is a remembrance of the eternal. There are ideas, according to Augustine, that one can recognize as being self-evidently true. These ideas must then "have been in [man's] mind even before [he] had learned them," simply waiting to be recognized. If man recognizes a self-evident truth, then he is actually assembling the disordered and forgotten pieces of a universal and eternal memory. The universal memory is the root of man's search for God."

Tags:contemplation eternity creation, original sin, distraction joy

Abstract
This paper explores the thought of Augustine in "Confessions." Specifically examined by the paper is Augustine's opening prayer and meditation. The paper suggests that the crux of this passage articulates to the reader a type of human brokenness due to separation from God. Also discussed is how the words "humans," "creation," "joy," and "heart" contribute to this idea.

From the Paper
"In contrast to the primary passage, joy is not conditioned upon praise. In other words, there is no connection between praising God and receiving joy. Although it is important to consider the context of the word and the situation in which it is being used (Augustine's many iniquities), it is worth contemplating the relationship between praise and active joy as stated in the primary passage with the absence of praise and the inactiveness of joy in this particular passage."

Tags:God, separation, praise

Abstract
This paper discusses St. Augustine's sin of stealing the pears and what made him do so. It details the commentary on this, what was going through St. Augustine's head, and what were the consequences of his act. It describes how St. Augustine became one of the greatest doctors of the Catholic Church and details his great achievements despite this incident.

From the Paper
"St. Augustine's account of his stealing the pears is a starkly honest confrontation of his "and man's" wretchedness without God. He freely admits that stealing is against God's law, which is inherently etched in the heart of man, a law which not even sin can erase. Nonetheless, man steals -- and Augustine stole those pears, not out of want for something to eat or any other need for them, nor for the desire to own the fruits because of their exceptional quality, such as color or taste. Augustine writes that he stole simply because he "lusted to thieve" (p 4 par 4). He revealed that the act came out of being habituated to sin, "a pamperedness of iniquity." (p 4 par 4), which inclined him to no other pattern of acts but the wrong ones. He said it exactly and clearly but in repentance, that it was out of a joy for the evil that he sinned by stealing: "It was foul, and I loved it." (p 5 par 1). It was doing something wrong for the preference and enjoyment of evil."

Tags:St., Augustine, God, stealing, law, lust, evil, Catholic, Church, doctor, sin

Abstract
This paper discusses the depiction of gender roles in "Beowulf" and by St. Augustine in his "Confessions." The paper argues that pagan gender roles as described in "Beowulf" were different than those prescribed by St. Augustine in his "Confessions," demonstrating that Christian beliefs may have eliminated the "warrior-woman" of ancient times, leaving only the submissive role as a model for women to follow. The paper contains notes about the translation of "Beowulf" at the end.

From the Paper
"After six months in Cassiacum, Augustine was baptized in the church of St. John the Baptist in Milan. Then he and his mother started out on a trip to Africa, stopping at Civita Vecchia and at Ostia, where death claimed Monica. Mourning for his mother, Augustine penned the finest pages of his Confessions. Monica was a good mother, but Augustine regretted that, as a young man, he did not follow her example of Christian faith. However, Augustine credited Monica with planting the seeds of faith in his heart. He called his conversion a return to the faith she had instilled in him as a child. "So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me--more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone" (Confessions, Book IX.13.37)"

Tags:submission, pagan, ancient, mother

Abstract
This essay is an exploration of the reasons why Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote one of his most famous works, "The Confessions." "The Confessions" is a combination autobiography and personal conversion story, written after Augustine had converted to Christianity, been brought into the priesthood, and been made Bishop of Hippo. The essay also stresses the political situation the Church encountered during this dangerous period.

From the Paper
AUGUSTINE'S PURPOSES IN WRITING THE CONFESSIONS At several points in The Confessions, Saint Augustine offers explanations for why he has chosen to compose this remarkable and relatively unprecedented work. One of his clearer statements of why he wrote this work occurs in book ix, in which he describes his final conversion to Christianity, his baptism, and the death of his mother, Monica. He hoped that by presenting his own story in The Confessions he could guide others to Christ, so that what my mother at her end asked of me may be fulfilled more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her by my Confessions than by my

Tags:augustine, confessions, rome

Abstract
This paper shows how, in his "Confessions", Augustine reflects back on his life, particularly his memories of Monica, his mother and Adeodatus, his son, and interprets their meanings as God working through daily intervention to change the way Augustine thinks and feels.

From the Paper
"The Confessions is St. Augustine's reflection back on his life, and his search for God during it. He chronicles his experiences from birth until the present time, and explains the deeper meaning that he now sees in each one. Through his reflection, his is able to deeper understand the ways in which God works, and is able to unite with God in spirit. It is through this deeper understanding that in the time he was searching for God in earthly ideas and objects, God was within him all along. Augustine did not find God while searching for him, God revealed himself to Augustine through Augustine's personal history and experience."

Tags:anthropology, augustine, confessions, god, religious

Abstract
This paper posits that knowing Augustine as a church leader and a saint, it would be almost impossible to believe that St. Augustine began his life as a pagan without having read his Confessions. According to the paper, Augustine was a strong and wise man who, for all his strength and wisdom, was frequently consumed by doubts in his search for perfection. The paper suggests that perhaps this quest for perfection came because he perceived his fall to be so low, that the only way to redeem himself would be to seek impossible heights. The paper asserts that even today, St. Augustine is a thinker like few others in the church, and with good reason, his works have endured for centuries after his death.

From the Paper
"To the student of history, the early life of Saint Augustine provides a close look at life in the fourth and fifth century A.D. To the student of Christianity, it is a dramatic tale of a life brought to God from paganism. By any account, The Confessions of Saint Augustine is a complex study of a single man's life. Although it does not cover the majority of his life, describing events only until St. Augustine is in his forties, it offers the reader an in-depth view at his early and middle life. The single publication that forms "The Confessions of Saint Augustine", with which we are familiar was not written in that form. Rather, it was..."

Tags:st. augustine, catholic, philosophy

Abstract
The paper explores the ideas and presentation of Books 2 and 3 of the "Confessions" within their biographical and historical context. The paper argues, with reference to scholarly works, that Augustine's autobiography presents his youth in a much more negative light than historical studies find justified. The paper explains that this undermines the apparent purpose of the Confessions as a prayer to God and suggests that it was actually intended as a moral lesson and stimulant to conversion rather than an accurate autobiographical text.

From the Paper
"For the student of church history, a close reading of Books 2 and 3 of Saint Augustine's Confessions presents a complex series of challenges in understanding the author and his purpose. If this close reading is performed with reference to historical scholarly analysis of Augustine's text, a wide range of issues open up with regard to significant issues that would, upon initial review, not appeared important at all. This essay will explore the ideas and presentation of Books 2 and 3 of the..."

Tags:religion, augustine, christian

Abstract
In St. Augustine's fourth century text, "Confessions," his mother, Monica's devoted and exemplary relationships with the men in her life ironically deny her the status of a respected individual in society. This essay uses Monica to analyze the role of the early Christian woman in her society. Additionally, it uses the works of feminist anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner to provide a framework for the analysis. Specific examples from Augustine's "Confessions" are also used.

From the Paper
"Additionally, Ortner believes that women's inferiority is partially due to their association with domestic tasks such as raising children, beings far removed from culture (77-8). Augustine has very little interaction with his father, especially in regards to the cultural construct of Christianity. His religious devotion is the realm of his mother, giving her significant influence over his future societal relations. This close interaction, following Ortner's theory, degrades Monica despite its cultural nature. Thus, ironically, Monica's relationship with Augustine devalues her in the eyes of men, an opinion that Augustine also adopts. Meanwhile, her efforts in raising him to become a Christian, a cultural classification, are overlooked."

Tags:conversion, Augustine, Patricius

Abstract
Tracing the life of Augustine, this paper aims to identify the stages of conversion as noted by Augustine himself in his Confessions. The writer examines reasons for his conversion and the historical significance of the conversion itself.

From the Paper
"Fourth century Rome was a time of many changes. Writers and common society alike pointed out many of the problems within the framework of the Empire. Although many writers, such as Aristides, were quick to point out the virtues of Rome, there were definite undercurrents of uneasiness throughout the empire. Many citizens, fearing the growing climate of immorality and desiring deeper spirituality, turned to a new power: Christianity. There is no work which tells better the allure of Christianity than St. Augustine s Confessions a work in which a man tells of the stages of his conversion to the religion which was to be the most influential factor in the development of European history. Augustine s main purpose in writing the confessions was to praise God, to extol the wisdom of God and to search for God through prayer. In his Confessions, Augustine describes five stages in his conversion to Christianity: his love of philosophy, sparked by the readings of Cicero s Hortensius; his conversion to and disenchantment with Manichaenism; his meeting of St. Ambrose; his conversion to Platonism, and a final mystical experience which led to his total conversion in 386."

Tags:ancient, augustine, christianity, conversion, history, religion, rome