The heart of this dilemma, which will turn out later to be one of the final stumbling blocks to augustines conversion see books vi and vii, is that god seems both. Book 7 is one of the most tightly constructed sections of the confessions, in which augustine describes in detail how he finally comes to understand god, christ. He goes to speak with simplicianus, ambroses teacher. In addition to being deceived by the beliefs of this religious sect, he deceived a lot of people in that time. He still conceives of god as a kind of matter, like air or water, filling the spaces of the universe. Augustines confessions is not an autobiography in the literal sense, but is rather an autobiographical framework for a religious, moral, theological, and philosophical text. Augustine uses the example of his early life in book i continued in the subsequent books as a template for chronicling his spiritual development. There are certain autobiographical details that are related, but this is by no means a conventional telling of the story of augustines life. Augustine is now a christian in his heart, but he is unable to give up his worldly affairs, particularly sex. Augustine considers the meaning of the first words of genesis. Augustine describes his attempts to think about the nature of god.
Augustine asks to know god as well as god knows him. He still loved the theater and the egoboost from winning poetry competitions, even though he was part of this sect that was against picking fruit. The first nine books or chapters of the work trace the story of augustines life, from his birth 354 a. Augustines confessions is a diverse blend of autobiography, philosophy, theology, and critical exegesis of the christian bible. Vw has not upgraded it to get the much better combination of 1. The story of the confessions is the story of augustines return to god, so it is appropriate that story should begin with augustines tribute of praise to the god he loves. She could stick with the vw group, but go for a seat ibiza 1. God is as close to him as his own life and experiences, always working for augustines good, even when augustine is unable or unwilling to recognize that truth. They cannot know augustines heart, but in christian charity, they will know he tells the truth. Confessions book i early life summary and analysis. Augustine explores the nature of god and sin within the context of a christian mans life. Why then does augustine confess before his readers. The first book of the confessions is devoted primarily to an analysis of augustines life as a child, from his infancy which he cannot recall and must reconstruct up through his days as a schoolboy in thagaste in eastern algeria.