Salvation as the Path Towards

Salvation as the Path towards Goodness: Purpose of Humanity in Life in "Confessions" by St. Augustine

No other individual has truthfully narrated the story of conversion than St. Augustine. Known for this theological works on Christianity, St. Augustine is known as one of the primary proponents of modern theological thought in the West. Two of his famous works are "City of God" and "Confessions," literary/theological works that demonstrate his faith as a Christian and ultimately, strengthened the Christian doctrine as it is practiced at present.

This paper centers its discussion and analysis on the "Confessions," discussing in detail its dominant theme of "salvation as God's grace to humanity." This theme emerged from a reading of a theological analysis conducted by Vashum (2005), who argued that St. Augustine as a theologian advocated to the belief that "[s]alvation is purely God's gift to the sinner...is possible through faith and this faith is identified as grace..." (343). With this thought in mind, the book report on "Confessions" centers on Vashum's claim, with the paper assuming the position that according to St. Augustine, salvation is the path towards goodness and determines the purpose of humanity in life. The texts that follow discusses in detail, with evidences from the "Confessions," how this thesis is proven in accordance to St. Augustine's experiences and eventual conversion to being a Christian.

In presenting this argument/thesis, this paper is divided into three parts, three thoughts that develop the position this paper uses. The first thought developed is that in the "Confessions," St. Augustine posited that humanity is born with sin. The second thought connected with the first one is that, God can only save humanity from sin through good works (i.e., following God's will). Lastly, combining these two thoughts, the paper discusses why, essentially, Salvation is the only way through which humanity can be saved from sin -- therefore, in order to receive the "grace" that is salvation, one must live life by doing good works to other people. In effect, the path towards goodness must be done to achieve salvation from humanity's sins.

Men are born with Sin"

In this first line of thought leading to the paper's main argument/thesis, St. Augustine described the state of humanity as inherently sinful, reflecting that indeed, humanity inherited the original sin from the early humans, Adam and Eve. Humanity having sins is a state that is not only inherent in us as humans, but is also inevitable for us as humans, as well. Sinfulness is inevitable because St. Augustine believed that humanity "is not able not to sin" (342).

Two cases of this thought in the "Confessions" showed how, early on, St. Augustine recognized the sinfulness of humanity -- long before he was able to recognize himself as a sinner, and long before he considered himself a member of the Christian faith. In the first case he presented in his autobiography, St. Augustine described the 'state of his soul' prior to knowing God and His gift of salvation (Book One, Chapter 5):

The house of my soul is too narrow for thee to come in to me; let it be enlarged by thee. It is in ruins; do thou restore it. There is much about it which must offend thy eyes; I confess and know it. But who will cleanse it? or, to whom shall I cry to but thee?

In this particular passage from the first book of the "Confessions," St. Augustine has already made clear to his readers the state of sinfulness he was in, being a young man who have yet to experience the worldliness and sinfulness of human society that he lives in. Essentially, St. Augustine left it to God to induce change within him, having acknowledged that he cannot do anything about the sinful nature of his self: "[t]he house of my soul is too narrow for thee to come in to me; let it be enlarged by thee."

Humanity being born with sin is also reflected in another passage from the book, wherein St. Augustine pleaded for God's mercy for humanity's sins and tendency to commit sins (Book One, Chapter 7):

Hear me, o God! Woe to the sins of men!" When a man cries thus, thou showest him mercy, for thou didst create the man but not the sin in him. Who brings to remembrance the sins of my infancy? For in thy sight there is none free from sin, not even the infant who has lived but a day upon this earth...in sin my mother nourished me in her womb...when was I, thy servant, ever innocent?

For St. Augustine, humanity must not only surrender itself to God's will by acknowledging its inherent sinfulness, but it must also ask for God's mercy for this reason alone (inherent sinfulness of humanity). And because humanity's sinfulness is inherent, every individual on earth is subject to God's will and mercy, in the same way that every individual becomes a sinful individual because of the original sin, and, as posited by St. Augustine earlier, by humanity's propensity to commit sins.

For this section, the thought, "Men are born with Sins" is proven as an inherent and inevitable quality of humanity: it is inherent because humans are born with sin (i.e., the original sin), and it is inevitable because St. Augustine believed that humans cannot not commit sins. Thus, in order to absolve the self from this inherent and inevitable nature of humanity's sinfulness, St. Augustine recommended seeking God's mercy and following His will. In the section that follows, the path towards goodness as humanity's salvation to sinfulness is discussed.

Only God can save humanity from sin through good works -- following God's will"

It is interesting to note that in "Confessions," St. Augustine did not specifically prescribed committing good works as an act that humanity must commit itself to achieve salvation. For him, salvation is God's gift or grace to humanity -- whether it commits good works or not (343). However, as stated earlier in the first section, one must seek God's mercy and fulfill God's will, and to obtain these, one must be 'pleasing' in God's eyes. This only becomes possible if one deviates from the sinful behavior that humanity is won't to commit.

In the second book of the "Confessions," St. Augustine outlined the human faults that make us not pleasing in God's eyes. These faults are outlined to ensure that humanity does not commit them, therefore achieving His mercy and proving that humanity indeed follows His will (Chapter 6):

Human sloth pretends to long for rest, but what sure rest is there save in the Lord? Luxury would fain be called plenty and abundance; but thou art the fullness and unfailing abundance of unfading joy. Prodigality presents a show of liberality; but thou art the most lavish giver of all good things. Covetousness desires to possess much; but thou art already the possessor of all things. Envy contends that its aim is for excellence; but what is so excellent as thou? Anger seeks revenge; but who avenges more justly than thou? Fear recoils at the unfamiliar and the sudden changes which threaten things beloved, and is wary for its own security; but what can happen that is unfamiliar or sudden to thee? Or who can deprive thee of what thou lovest? Where, really, is there unshaken security save with thee? Grief languishes for things lost in which desire had taken delight, because it wills to have nothing taken from it, just as nothing can be taken from thee.

Evidently, the human faults enumerated in the said passage becomes St. Augustine's 'checklist' of values and behavior that humanity is won't to commit, yet must be avoided if one will consider the path towards goodness -- following God's will and seeking His forgiveness.

It is also through this passage that St. Augustine reflected the different perspective that he adopted to look at the human faults enumerated. While these characteristics are admittedly negative in nature and are indeed "human faults" when looked at critically, St. Augustine offers an alternative way in looking at these faults. While humanity might see these characteristics as faults, St. Augustine saw these characteristics/faults as "inappropriate" faults of humanity. They are defined as "inappropriate" because these characteristics, according to St. Augustine, should not be the only things that humanity should look out for. For him, there are far greater things humanity should fear and be aware about, like God, seeking His forgiveness and following His will. Fear, envy, sloth, covetousness, and grief, among others, are human faults that are given greater consideration in human society -- that is, to not commit them in order to be good individuals. However, while avoiding these faults is not a fault in itself, seeking to avoid fear, envy, sloth, covetousness, and grief is considered a misplaced priority that humans must recognize is trivial when compared against seeking God's mercy and following His will. That is, there is greater good that humanity can commit itself with rather than concern itself in avoiding the faults of human nature.

However, when referring to what is God's will and what behavior and actions are considered pleasing to God's eyes, St. Augustine did not specifically enumerate or identify these. Consistent in his arguments, however, is to live life in accordance to His will, among which he recommended acquainting one's self with the Christian doctrine (as he did so himself when he sought the Christian faith).