Augustine's Understanding of Sin

           Saint Augustine’s sinful confessions reveal a lot about his understanding of sin according to his relationship with God. Specifically, Augustine defines his sin as seeking “pleasure, beauty, and truth not in [God] but in [him]self and [God’s] other creatures,” (40). He clarifies that it is not pleasure, beauty, or truth that are sinful, but it is the incorrect source of them that is wrong. In looking at the way that Augustine derives pleasure, beauty and truth, his sinfulness in the name of God becomes clear. It similarly proves his devotion to his omnipotent God as the essence of Truth.  

            The trivial pleasure that Augustine derives from stealing pears ignores all regard for God as the true source of goodness. Augustine describes that this “pleasure consisted in doing something that was forbidden,” and “the thrill of having partners in sin,” (47, 52). Neither of these things focus on God as the source of their goodness, and therefore this fallacy results in sinfulness. In order to be true pleasure, it must be derived directly from God. The comradery that Augustine takes part in while stealing pears also separates him from God. According to Augustine, the most important relationship is with God and others are simply a distraction. Even a wife can inhibit this vital relationship with God. “He who is unmarried is concerned with God’s claim, asking how he is to please God; whereas the married man is concerned with the world’s claim, asking how he is to please his wife,” (44). In associating with others, Augustine loses the focus on God that is necessary to goodness.

            Augustine also acknowledges beauty as the source of superficial pleasure. “There is great pleasure, too, in feeling something agreeable to the touch, and material things have various qualities to please each of the other senses,” (48). He notes that while the pears he stole were not necessarily beautiful, there exist many “dazzling fantasies, illusions with which the eye deceives the mind,” (61). These earthly distractions may be beautiful, but their superficiality has no importance compared to God. Focusing solely on these entities would inhibit ones relationship with God and is therefore a sin.

            However, Augustine doesn’t entirely deny the goodness of earthly pleasures themselves. He describes goodness as a spectrum with that directly deriving from God at the top. The pleasures that Augustine seeks “can be occasions of sin because, good though they are, they are of the lowest order of good, and if we are too much tempted by them we abandon those higher and better things, your trust, your law, and you yourself, O Lord our God,” (48). Throughout his childhood, Augustine was far too concerned with the lowest pleasures, such as sex and thievery. He learns that it is not these actions that are sinful in them selves, but that they are sinful because they prohibit him from God. His newfound perspective depicts God as the true essence of the universe. Therefore, all actions must maintain a consciousness of God for the sake of God, otherwise they are proclaimed sinful. Since God is “truth itself,” Augustine must strive for understanding through actions devoted to God (61). Just as sin is contrarily caused by the ignorance of God, this wisdom that this pure action brings will relieve Augustine from all sin. This dynamic establishes God as a superior and omnipotent being who wields much power over Augustine’s actions.