Confessions Essay -- essays research papers

Augustine titled his deeply philosophical and theological recital Confessions to implicate dickens aspects of the division the work would take. To confess, in Augustines time, meant both to go forth an account of ones faults to God and to praise God (to speak ones love for God). These two aims come together in the Confessions in an elegant but interlocking sense Augustine narrates his ascent from sinfulness to faithfulness not simply for the matter-of-fact edification of his readers, but also because he believes that narrative to be itself a story of Gods greatness and of the fundamental love all things have for Him. Thus, in the Confessions form equals content to a large degree&151the natural form for Augustines story of redemption to take would be a direct place to God, since it is God who must be thanked for such redemption. (That said, a direct engineer to God was a highly original form for Augustine to have use at the time). This idea should also help us understand the simply lopsided and unusual structure of the text. The first nine Books of the Confessions are devoted to the story of Augustines life up to his mothers death, but the last four Books book a sudden, lengthy departure into pure theology and philosophy. This shift should be understood in the same context as the double kernel of confessions&151for Augustine, the story of his sinful life and redemption is in fact a profoundly philosophical and religious matter, since his story is only one exampl...