Augustine's Confessions

Reading Agustin is always a single experience. Reading his solid and matured defense of Trinity leaves us with an academic flavor in our mouths. Reading the confessions, was a practical experience. It was a journey into self, into who the entrance of sin made us be, creatures without hope and lost in their own desires.

Coming from a more sexual appealing background, in my country the word “desire” always convey the idea of physical satisfaction. Maybe it is also so because of the catholic background. On the other hand, Augustin brings the twofold side of the word. He certainly shows the physical satisfaction side. But it is also interesting how he felt about all the knowledge that he acquired, of the books he wrote during his time of perdition. Agustin was certainly a man o great intellect and it is beautiful to see his recognition of how academicism can turn out in a fair of vanity.

But “The Confessions” is also a theological tract. And in fact it proves that man is a religious creature and that all true knowledge is found in God alone. The description of his wicked past is just and explanation of total depravity. Reading him in those parts is like reading the Boston’s fourfold state of man. Then he also deals with the Trinity, with Christ centered salvation, with the divinity of Christ, with the work of the Holy Spirit and much more.

Another characteristic of his work that caught my attention was his thankful spirit. He is always thanking God for his glory, mercy, wisdom, power, etc. In fact, there is embedded in the whole book this feeling of gratitude and I have to confess that it embarrassed me. It made me think that I do not thank my Lord enough for his holy in my life. It also made me think on how rare this feeling of gratitude is emphasized in our pulpits. From this reading, though recognizing Augustin’s intellect which made him that great church father and theologian, the simplicity of his grateful spirit was what most struck me.