Tuesday, April 1st, 2014
Confessions Book VIII
Book 8 can be seen as the buildup to the overall theme of the first 3 books, good vs. evil. Saint Augustine is at a crossroads right now, he is continuously tempted by women all around him, and because of this he seeks out the advice of those he believes to be wiser Christians like Victorinus. These wise Christians all tell tales of their journey and what they’ve faced for the sake of religion. This idea of Religion vs. Lust revolves around the idea of good vs. evil, where religion can be seen as a new spiritual good and if we give in to lust we fall to evil. Gilbert Meilaender believes that this thirst is shackling us to the chains of necessity and diminishes pleasure.The lust for the flesh can be seen as our Human Nature and the teachings of Christianity are the tools we use to fight against our human nature. Augustine realizes that the doubt itself is holding his faith back and stopping him from reaching spiritual truth. This christian truth can be achieved by anyone, meaning human nature, through christianity can be subdued, shown by Victorinus, who was previously a roman theology follower and converted to Christianity and is considered to be a full fledge Christian.
Discussion Questions:
1. Does our need for sex destroy the truth? or is truth subjective to whoever is trying to find it?
2. If sexual urges are part of human nature, are we inherently evil?
3. Is it possible to reduce or subdue our sexual urges? if not, is Augustine’s version of the truth false?
4. It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me. Does this statement hold any truth?