Ben Pearce: Outside Reading 2 Blog 13

Augustine and Sacred Communication

Saint Augustine was a bishop in Hippo during the 4^th and 5^th centuries. His book Confessions is exceedingly popular with both Christians and Non-Christians alike because of his seemingly complex yet understandable autobiography and prayer to God. The book is written to God and seeks to tell of his whole life and bask in the majesty of God’s glory.

            Augustine dabbles in many paths of life. He joins a cult, becomes a professor, steals apples, and stands neck deep in his own lusts. Throughout his whole life before Christ though, he has one goal: knowledge. He wants the truth, and that is why he is so quick to jump off of one path to another path. When he finds out that path is false, he jumps to another and another and another. Finally, he reaches his final path in life: Christianity. This is the path which he deems to be true, and it is the path which he stays on the longest until his death. His life as a rhetoric teacher led him to seek wisdom. This is perhaps why he is so good at communicating with God and the audience of his book. The way he characterizes the sins of his past is alluring. He doesn’t describe sex like most would, he describes it as a wicked force and affliction on his body which makes one come to look at their own sin in life. This way of communication is so self-deprecating but also so attractive. The humility in which he is willing to reveal his whole life is almost unheard of and makes a person realize how committed he is to the God which he has so severely offended with his sin. One of the attractive features of Augustine’s writing for a Christian is the way he weaves scripture seamlessly throughout his work. The words come of the paper as if he were the one to think them. His understanding of scripture must be more than most. Although some of these references seem to take the text out of context, the way Augustine integrates them gives the text another viable meaning.

            Augustine’s Confessions is one of the greatest works of literature for his sheer understanding of human (and superhuman) communication. I recommend this book to all.