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Augustine's Confessions: Inherent Sinfulness Of The Human Heart

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Recommended: Analysis of Augustines confessions

1. One of the main themes of Augustine’s books is the inherent sinfulness of the human heart. For instance, Augustine confesses that he loved evil even if it served no purpose. Do you agree to Augustine’s view of human nature? *I agree with Augustine’s view of human nature. We often drift toward or long for that which rewards our hearts, not that which rewards our souls. The heart will go as far as twisting the truth to justify its evil intent, turning what God would call vile into a justified necessity. A child supports this theory because they begin relatively unmarred by this world and its selfishness, yet still the child leans towards an evil and jealous nature when left without guidance.

3. Discuss Augustine’s Confessions as a spiritual autobiography, a personal narrative of one’s spiritual journey. Note that Augustine addresses God himself, not a human audience. (The first paragraph of the excerpt in our book begins with “What have I to say to Thee, God, save that I know not where I came from…” [Vol. 1, p. 834]). …show more content…

Augustine does not expurgate his moments of sin. Instead, he chooses to linger on those moments and try to uncover what caused him to sin and how these moments influenced him. He then shows how he has moved away from sin in loving and worshiping God as the ultimate good and the orchestrator of his life. This can be seen in specific instances throughout the story, but also in the way Augustine references or speaks to God. For instance, Augustine praises God and says, “Thou good God, my Sovereign and true God,” (Puchner 840) along with many other epithets throughout all of the

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