Augustine's Confessions and their philosophical significance

AUGUSTINE'S STRUGGLE FOR SALVATION

Augustine: Confessions

Augustine's Struggle for Salvation

The eighth book of Augustine's Confessions represents the internal dialog of a man in search of spiritual and religious enlightenment in the form of a very long prayer. The first chapter in Book Eight provides insight into Augustine's anguish over having failed to become a faithful servant of God, while he continued to search for a path towards salvation. Augustine recognized that God's love is what he truly desires and believed wholeheartedly in the virtues of a spiritual path, yet continued to succumb to worldly desires, trivial concerns, and emotional turmoil. This state of desire for spiritual enlightenment in the face of his earthly trappings is captured in his statement "Of thy eternal life I was now certain, although I had seen it 'through a glass darkly'" (Confessions, VIII.i.1). The sentiment "through a glass darkly" comes from 1 Corinthians (13:12), an epistle of Paul. Augustine seemed to be finding comfort in the knowledge that others have followed the same torturous path, yet eventually succeeded in their spiritual goals, even the Apostle Paul.

Augustine continued this theme over the next several chapters by describing how he reacted to and interpreted the story of Victorinus, as told by Simplicianus (Confessions, VIII.ii.3). Victorinus was a notable scholar, mentor to Roman senators, and leading idolater well into old age, yet declared his salvation under Christ to a doubting Simplicianus. To prove his salvation to Simplicianus, Victorinus was baptized and then declared his new found faith to a church congregation. What seemed to capture Augustine's attention most by Victorinus's travails was how the congregants rejoiced in unison over his salvation, leaving Augustine to ponder why the faithful rejoice more over the salvation of a wretch compared to a declaration of faith by one of their own. Augustine found support for this observation in Luke (15:4), as evidenced by his statement in Confessions: "O most merciful Father, 'dost rejoice more over one that repents than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance'" (VIII.iii.6).

Augustine's interpretations of Holy Scripture appeared to be providing both comfort and encouragement; comfort in the knowledge that clinging to worldly concerns and emotional turmoil was a common experience among those who finally achieved spiritual enlightenment, which in turn encouraged Augustine to continue to strive for his own salvation. However, in what seemed to be an act of desperation to finally find salvation, Augustine prayed for more turmoil and strife, so that when he finally comes into the grace of God the reward will be that much sweeter (Confessions, VIII.iv.9). In this way, Augustine is trying to replicate the path towards righteousness that Victorinus and others seemed to follow, only more so. One way to interpret this is that Augustine may have been praying for an even harder struggle for salvation than that experienced by Victorinus and others, in order to ensure his own salvation.

Augustine subsequently noticed a contradiction in his logic and the reality before him, between the salvation of the famous and that of a beggar in the street, because the former's salvation tended to influence the spiritual paths and admiration of many, while the latter did not. Yet, the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians (1:27), "thou has rather chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong; and hast chosen the base things of the world and things that are despised, and the things that are not, in order to bring to nought the things that are" (as cited in Confessions, VIII.iv.9), was interpreted by Augustine to suggest that the most wretched among us will be valued equally by God should they strive for and attain salvation. This passage in Confessions seemed to reflect a conflict within Augustine between his desire for salvation and his more earthly desire to be admired in a manner experienced by Victorinus. In other words, a part of Augustine's desire for salvation may have been based on a self-centered desire to garner the respect and admiration of the masses. There is also a sense of hope for his own authentic salvation, because the rejoicing will be that much greater when the soul saved has been wrested from the iron grip of the devil, not unlike what Victorinus' salvation seemed to represent to Augustine.

Overall, however, it seemed clear that Augustine was searching for a path or religious practice that would take him towards spiritual enlightenment within the Christian faith, wrest him from his earthly entanglements, and finally allow him to live according to spiritual truths. He was able to see the state of being which he desired, but clearly lacked any straightforward method to attain this goal. Simplicianus story about Victorinus seemed to provide a way forward, one that had not occurred to Augustine before, so Augustine searched for support of this spiritual path in the Holy Scriptures. His internal struggle between spiritual and earthly desires was validated by a quote from Paul's epistle in Galatians (5:17), "Thus I came to understand from my own experience what I had read, how 'the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh'" (Confessions, VIII.v.11). His awakening to the Truth of God's love was described as a waking from an slumber filled with earthly desires and entanglements, which found support in Paul's epistle in Ephesians (5:14), with the words "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light" (as cited in Confessions, VIII.v.12).

Although Augustine admitted to ignoring God's Truth for a spell and wallowing in the task of satisfying his earthly desires, eventually he recognized that his materialistic willfulness was nothing more than the devil's chains preventing him from reaching salvation. This belief found support in Paul's words in Romans (7:22-25): "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death" (as cited in Confessions, VIII.v.12). The next chapter provides a detailed accounting of Augustine's earthly entanglements, including his professional and sexual (VIII.vi).