Topic > The Confessions, by Saint Augustine

In the Confessions of St. Augustine, Augustine articulately and passionately addresses the persistent questions that have troubled the minds and hearts of men since the beginning of time. The Confessions tells a story in the form of a long conversion with God. Through this conversion to Catholic Christianity, Augustine encounters many aspects of love. These forms of love help guide him towards a definitive relationship with God. His restless heart finally finds peace and rest in God at the end of the Confessions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Augustine finds many ways he can find peace in God. He is sincerely sorry that he has turned away from God, the source of peace and happiness. Augustine is extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to live with God. Augustine uses love as a gateway to God's grace. In the Confessions, love and wisdom, the desire to love and be loved, and his love for his concubine, are all driving forces for Augustine's desire to find peace in God. The death of his friend shocks him deeply, but also allows him to pursue God to become a faithful Christian. Augustine often experiences darkness, blindness, and confusion as he tries to find rest in God, but he knows that when he finally finds it his restless heart will be saved. Augustine began in childhood with a restless heart because he had to live in two different worlds. These worlds consisted of the world of her mother's religious faith and the world of everything else. These two worlds confused and disturbed Augustine as a child. In his mother's world they talked about Christ the Savior and the powerful God who especially helps us to go. So, as you can see, the Confessions of St. Augustine were written during a furious activity as a pastor of Catholics in Hippo. It seems that Saint Augustine at the beginning of his priesthood and episcopate focused a lot on fighting the Manichaeans in his community or abroad in Africa, as he had been part of the Manichaean community for about ten years of his life. He had spent much of those ten years of his life as a persecutor of Catholics, and it was a great surprise to many African Catholics to see such a person come to life by the grace of God. They would have doubted his sincerity. Another interesting thing in this period is that Saint Augustine began a series of other works dedicated both to the monks of whom he was abbot (On lies, On the work of monks, Commentary on the Galatians, among some letters also) and to the lay people of which he was responsible for taking care of (Homilies on the Sermon on the Mount [not listed], Exposition of the Psalms, works on Eucharistic fasting, works on marriage and virginity, sermons and various letters, etc.). Towards the end of completing the Confessions, St. Augustine begins a series of larger works against the Donatists, but so as not to be confused or misled here, St. Augustine had actually been writing letters to Donatist bishops since the beginning of his priesthood, trying to convince them to end their schism. It seems that St. Augustine's attempt to complete his commentary on Genesis might also impact the way in which the Confessions conclude with a reflection on God's work in Creation and on the soul. However, we can give more reasons why Confessions was written. Henry Chadwick, a certain scholar of ecclesiastical history, brought to attention the theory that the Confessions were written as a way to convince many in Africa's tumultuous ecclesiastical culture that his conversion was sincere. There is some merit to this theory too, as St. Augustine spent 10 years as a Manichaean, in much the same way that St. Paul..