Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series • VOLUME 1
Augustine — Confessions & Letters
SECTION 81
Book VIII.
Book VIII. ------------------------ He finally describes the thirty-second year of his age, the most memorable of his whole life, in which, being instructed by Simplicianus concerning the conversion of others, and the manner of acting, he is, after a severe struggle, renewed in his whole mind, and is converted unto God. -----…
2,204 wordsSECTION 82[609] Col. ii. 8.
[609] Col. ii. 8. [610] i.e. the Platonists. [611] In like manner Augustin, in his De Civ. Dei (viii. 5), says: "No philosophers come nearer to us than the Platonists;" and elsewhere, in the same book, he speaks, in exalted terms, of their superiority to other philosophers. When he speaks of the Platonists, he means the Neo-Pl…
1,889 wordsSECTION 83Chapter III.--That God and the Angels Rejoice More on the Return of One Sinner Than of Many Just Persons.
Chapter III.--That God and the Angels Rejoice More on the Return of One Sinner Than of Many Just Persons. 6. Good God, what passed in man to make him rejoice more at the salvation of a soul despaired of, and delivered from greater danger, than if there had always been hope of him, or the danger had been less? For so Thou also, …
1,576 wordsSECTION 84Chapter V.--Of the Causes Which Alienate Us from God.
Chapter V.--Of the Causes Which Alienate Us from God. 10. But when that man of Thine, Simplicianus, related this to me about Victorinus, I burned to imitate him; and it was for this end he had related it. But when he had added this also, that in the time of the Emperor Julian, there was a law made by which Christians were forbi…
1,716 wordsSECTION 85Chapter VI.--Pontitianus' Account of Antony, the Founder of Monachism, and of Some Who Imitated Him.
Chapter VI.--Pontitianus' Account of Antony, the Founder of Monachism, and of Some Who Imitated Him. 13. And how, then, Thou didst deliver me out of the bonds of carnal desire, wherewith I was most firmly fettered, and out of the drudgery of worldly business, will I now declare and confess unto Thy name, "O Lord, my strength an…
2,284 wordsSECTION 86Chapter VII.--He Deplores His Wretchedness, that Having Been Born Thirty-Two Years, He Had Not Yet Found Out the Truth.
[658] Luke xiv. 26-35. Chapter VII.--He Deplores His Wretchedness, that Having Been Born Thirty-Two Years, He Had Not Yet Found Out the Truth. 16. Such was the story of Pontitianus. But Thou, O Lord, whilst he was speaking, didst turn me towards myself, taking me from behind my back, where I had placed myself while unwilling t…
1,054 wordsSECTION 87Chapter VIII.--The Conversation with Alypius Being Ended, He Retires to the Garden, Whither His Friend Follows Him.
Chapter VIII.--The Conversation with Alypius Being Ended, He Retires to the Garden, Whither His Friend Follows Him. 19. In the midst, then, of this great strife of my inner dwelling, which I had strongly raised up against my soul in the chamber of my heart, [662] troubled both in mind and countenance, I seized upon Alypius, and…
929 wordsSECTION 88Chapter X.--He Refutes the Opinion of the Manichæans as to Two Kinds of Minds,--One Good and the Other Evil.
Chapter X.--He Refutes the Opinion of the Manichæans as to Two Kinds of Minds,--One Good and the Other Evil. 22. Let them perish from Thy presence, [664] O God, as "vain talkers and deceivers" [665] of the soul do perish, who, observing that there were two wills in deliberating, affirm that there are two kinds of minds in us,--…
1,008 wordsSECTION 89Chapter XI.--In What Manner the Spirit Struggled with the Flesh, that It Might Be Freed from the Bondage of Vanity.
Chapter XI.--In What Manner the Spirit Struggled with the Flesh, that It Might Be Freed from the Bondage of Vanity. 25. Thus was I sick and tormented, accusing myself far more severely than was my wont, tossing and turning me in my chain till that was utterly broken, whereby I now was but slightly, but still was held. And Thou,…
1,948 wordsSECTION 90Book IX.
Book IX. ------------------------ He speaks of his design of forsaking the profession of rhetoric; of the death of his friends, Nebridius and Verecundus; of having received baptism in the thirty-third year of his age; and of the virtues and death of his mother, Monica. ------------------------ Chapter I.--He Praises God, the…
1,518 wordsSECTION 91Chapter III.--He Retires to the Villa of His Friend Verecundus, Who Was Not Yet a Christian, and Refers to His Conversion and Death, as Well as that of Nebridius.
Chapter III.--He Retires to the Villa of His Friend Verecundus, Who Was Not Yet a Christian, and Refers to His Conversion and Death, as Well as that of Nebridius. 5. Verecundus was wasted with anxiety at that our happiness, since he, being most firmly held by his bonds, saw that he would lose our fellowship. For he was not yet …
997 wordsSECTION 92Chapter IV.--In the Country He Gives His Attention to Literature, and Explains the Fourth Psalm in Connection with the Happy Conversion of Alypius. He is Troubled with Toothache.
Chapter IV.--In the Country He Gives His Attention to Literature, and Explains the Fourth Psalm in Connection with the Happy Conversion of Alypius. He is Troubled with Toothache. 7. And the day arrived on which, in very deed, I was to be released from the Professorship of Rhetoric, from which in intention I had been already rel…
2,243 wordsSECTION 93Chapter V.--At the Recommendation of Ambrose, He Reads the Prophecies of Isaiah, But Does Not Understand Them.
[749] In his Soliloquies (see note, sec. 7, above), he refers in i. 21 to this period. He there tells us that his pain was so great that it prevented his learning anything afresh, and only permitted him to revolve in his mind what he had already learnt. Compare De Quincey's description of the agonies he had to endure from tooth …
1,038 wordsSECTION 94Chapter VII.--Of the Church Hymns Instituted at Milan; Of the Ambrosian Persecution Raised by Justina; And of the Discovery of the Bodies of Two Martyrs.
Chapter VII.--Of the Church Hymns Instituted at Milan; Of the Ambrosian Persecution Raised by Justina; And of the Discovery of the Bodies of Two Martyrs. 15. Not long had the Church of Milan begun to employ this kind of consolation and exhortation, the brethren singing together with great earnestness of voice and heart. For it …
764 wordsSECTION 95Chapter VIII.--Of the Conversion of Evodius, and the Death of His Mother When Returning with Him to Africa; And Whose Education He Tenderly Relates.
Chapter VIII.--Of the Conversion of Evodius, and the Death of His Mother When Returning with Him to Africa; And Whose Education He Tenderly Relates. 17. Thou, who makest men to dwell of one mind in a house, [762] didst associate with us Evodius also, a young man of our city, who, when serving as an agent for Public Affairs, [76…
1,472 wordsSECTION 96Chapter IX.--He Describes the Praiseworthy Habits of His Mother; Her Kindness Towards Her Husband and Her Sons.
Chapter IX.--He Describes the Praiseworthy Habits of His Mother; Her Kindness Towards Her Husband and Her Sons. 19. Being thus modestly and soberly trained, and rather made subject by Thee to her parents, than by her parents to Thee, when she had arrived at a marriageable age, she was given to a husband whom she served as her l…
1,041 wordsSECTION 97Chapter X.--A Conversation He Had with His Mother Concerning the Kingdom of Heaven.
Chapter X.--A Conversation He Had with His Mother Concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. 23. As the day now approached on which she was to depart this life (which day Thou knewest, we did not), it fell out--Thou, as I believe, by Thy secret ways arranging it--that she and I stood alone, leaning in a certain window, from which the ga…
1,051 wordsSECTION 98Chapter XI.--His Mother, Attacked by Fever, Dies at Ostia.
Chapter XI.--His Mother, Attacked by Fever, Dies at Ostia. 27. What reply I made unto her to these things I do not well remember. However, scarcely five days after, or not much more, she was prostrated by fever; and while she was sick, she one day sank into a swoon, and was for a short time unconscious of visible things. We hur…
2,087 wordsSECTION 99Chapter XIII.--He Entreats God for Her Sins, and Admonishes His Readers to Remember Her Piously.
Chapter XIII.--He Entreats God for Her Sins, and Admonishes His Readers to Remember Her Piously. 34. But,--my heart being now healed of that wound, in so far as it could be convicted of a carnal [790] affection,--I pour out unto Thee, O our God, on behalf of that Thine handmaid, tears of a far different sort, even that which fl…
1,872 wordsSECTION 100Book X.
Book X. ------------------------ Having manifested what he was and what he is, he shows the great fruit of his confession; and being about to examine by what method God and the happy life may be found, he enlarges on the nature and power of memory. Then he examines his own acts, thoughts and affections, viewed under the threef…
1,086 wordsSECTION 101Chapter IV.--That in His Confessions He May Do Good, He Considers Others.
Chapter IV.--That in His Confessions He May Do Good, He Considers Others. 5. But for what fruit do they desire this? Do they wish me happiness when they learn how near, by Thy gift, I come unto Thee; and to pray for me, when they learn how much I am kept back by my own weight? To such will I declare myself. For it is no small f…
1,051 wordsSECTION 102Chapter VI.--The Love of God, in His Nature Superior to All Creatures, is Acquired by the Knowledge of the Senses and the Exercise of Reason.
Chapter VI.--The Love of God, in His Nature Superior to All Creatures, is Acquired by the Knowledge of the Senses and the Exercise of Reason. 8. Not with uncertain, but with assured consciousness do I love Thee, O Lord. Thou hast stricken my heart with Thy word, and I loved Thee. And also the heaven, and earth, and all that is …
986 wordsSECTION 103Chapter VII.--That God is to Be Found Neither from the Powers of the Body Nor of the Soul.
Chapter VII.--That God is to Be Found Neither from the Powers of the Body Nor of the Soul. 11. What then is it that I love when I love my God? Who is He that is above the head of my soul? By my soul itself will I mount up unto Him. I will soar beyond that power of mine whereby I cling to the body, and fill the whole structure o…
1,279 wordsSECTION 104Chapter IX.--Not Only Things, But Also Literature and Images, are Taken from the Memory, and are Brought Forth by the Act of Remembering.
Chapter IX.--Not Only Things, But Also Literature and Images, are Taken from the Memory, and are Brought Forth by the Act of Remembering. 16. And yet are not these all that the illimitable capacity of my memory retains. Here also is all that is apprehended of the liberal sciences, and not yet forgotten--removed as it were into …
907 wordsSECTION 105Chapter XII.--On the Recollection of Things Mathematical.
Chapter XII.--On the Recollection of Things Mathematical. 19. The memory containeth also the reasons and innumerable laws of numbers and dimensions, none of which hath any sense of the body impressed, seeing they have neither colour, nor sound, nor taste, nor smell, nor sense of touch. I have heard the sound of the words by whi…
968 wordsSECTION 106Chapter XV.--In Memory There are Also Images of Things Which are Absent.
Chapter XV.--In Memory There are Also Images of Things Which are Absent. 23. But whether by images or no, who can well affirm? For I name a stone, I name the sun, and the things themselves are not present to my senses, but their images are near to my memory. I name some pain of the body, yet it is not present when there is no p…
838 wordsSECTION 107Chapter XVII.--God Cannot Be Attained Unto by the Power of Memory, Which Beasts and Birds Possess.
Chapter XVII.--God Cannot Be Attained Unto by the Power of Memory, Which Beasts and Birds Possess. 26. Great is the power of memory; very wonderful is it, O my God, a profound and infinite manifoldness; and this thing is the mind, and this I myself am. What then am I, O my God? Of what nature am I? A life various and manifold, …
953 wordsSECTION 108Chapter XX.--We Should Not Seek for God and the Happy Life Unless We Had Known It.
Chapter XX.--We Should Not Seek for God and the Happy Life Unless We Had Known It. 29. How, then, do I seek Thee, O Lord? For when I seek Thee, my God, I seek a happy life. [855] I will seek Thee, that my soul may live. [856] For my body liveth by my soul, and my soul liveth by Thee. How, then, do I seek a happy life, seeing th…
1,111 wordsSECTION 109Chapter XXII.--A Happy Life is to Rejoice in God, and for God.
Chapter XXII.--A Happy Life is to Rejoice in God, and for God. 32. Let it be far, O Lord,--let it be far from the heart of Thy servant who confesseth unto Thee; let it be far from me to think myself happy, be the joy what it may. For there is a joy which is not granted to the "wicked," [859] but to those who worship Thee thankf…
840 wordsSECTION 110Chapter XXIV.--He Who Finds Truth, Finds God.
Chapter XXIV.--He Who Finds Truth, Finds God. 35. Behold how I have enlarged in my memory seeking Thee, O Lord; and out of it have I not found Thee. Nor have I found aught concerning Thee, but what I have retained in memory from the time I learned Thee. For from the time I learned Thee have I never forgotten Thee. For where I f…
738 wordsSECTION 111Chapter XXVIII.--On the Misery of Human Life.
Chapter XXVIII.--On the Misery of Human Life. 39. When I shall cleave unto Thee with all my being, then shall I in nothing have pain and labour; and my life shall be a real life, being wholly full of Thee. But now since he whom Thou fillest is the one Thou liftest up, I am a burden to myself, as not being full of Thee. Joys of …
809 wordsSECTION 112Chapter XXX.--Of the Perverse Images of Dreams, Which He Wishes to Have Taken Away.
Chapter XXX.--Of the Perverse Images of Dreams, Which He Wishes to Have Taken Away. 41. Verily, Thou commandest that I should be continent from the "lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." [880] Thou hast commanded me to abstain from concubinage; and as to marriage itself, Thou hast advised somethin…
774 wordsSECTION 113Chapter XXXI.--About to Speak of the Temptations of the Lust of the Flesh, He First Complains of the Lust of Eating and Drinking.
Chapter XXXI.--About to Speak of the Temptations of the Lust of the Flesh, He First Complains of the Lust of Eating and Drinking. 43. There is another evil of the day that I would were "sufficient" unto it. [887] For by eating and drinking we repair the daily decays of the body, until Thou destroyest both food and stomach, when…
1,683 wordsSECTION 114Chapter XXXII.--Of the Charms of Perfumes Which are More Easily Overcome.
Chapter XXXII.--Of the Charms of Perfumes Which are More Easily Overcome. 48. With the attractions of odours I am not much troubled. When absent I do not seek them; when present I do not refuse them; and am prepared ever to be without them. At any rate thus I appear to myself; perchance I am deceived. For that also is a lamenta…
935 wordsSECTION 115Chapter XXXIV.--Of the Very Dangerous Allurements of the Eyes; On Account of Beauty of Form, God, the Creator, is to Be Praised.
Chapter XXXIV.--Of the Very Dangerous Allurements of the Eyes; On Account of Beauty of Form, God, the Creator, is to Be Praised. 51. There remain the delights of these eyes of my flesh, concerning which to make my confessions in the hearing of the ears of Thy temple, those fraternal and devout ears; and so to conclude the tempt…
862 wordsSECTION 116Chapter XXXV.--Another Kind of Temptation is Curiosity, Which is Stimulated by the Lust of the Eyes.
Chapter XXXV.--Another Kind of Temptation is Curiosity, Which is Stimulated by the Lust of the Eyes. 54. In addition to this there is another form of temptation, more complex in its peril. For besides that concupiscence of the flesh which lieth in the gratification of all senses and pleasures, wherein its slaves who "are far fr…
1,204 wordsSECTION 117Chapter XXXVI.--A Third Kind is "Pride" Which is Pleasing to Man, Not to God.
Chapter XXXVI.--A Third Kind is "Pride" Which is Pleasing to Man, Not to God. 58. Shall we, then, account this too amongst such things as are to be lightly esteemed, or shall anything restore us to hope, save Thy complete mercy, since Thou hast begun to change us? And Thou knowest to what extent Thou hast already changed me, Th…
1,888 wordsSECTION 118Chapter XXXVIII.--Vain-Glory is the Highest Danger.
Chapter XXXVIII.--Vain-Glory is the Highest Danger. 63. "I am poor and needy," [964] yet better am I while in secret groanings I displease myself, and seek for Thy mercy, until what is lacking in me be renewed and made complete, even up to that peace of which the eye of the proud is ignorant. Yet the word which proceedeth out o…
777 wordsSECTION 119Chapter XLI.--Having Conquered His Triple Desire, He Arrives at Salvation.
Chapter XLI.--Having Conquered His Triple Desire, He Arrives at Salvation. 66. And thus have I reflected upon the wearinesses of my sins, in that threefold "lust," [969] and have invoked Thy right hand to my aid. For with a wounded heart have I seen Thy brightness, and being beaten back I exclaimed, "Who can attain unto it?" "I…
1,888 wordsSECTION 120Book XI.
Book XI. ------------------------ The design of his confessions being declared, he seeks from God the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and begins to expound the words of Genesis I. I, concerning the creation of the world. The questions of rash disputers being refuted, "What did God before he created the world?" That he might …
1,974 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.