Book IX of the Confessions details Augustine’s achievement of the final step
toward conversion. In this book, he recounts his journey to overcoming the
final barrier between him and God. The “itching sore of lust,” which Augustine
cannot seem to separate himself from, is finally healed by the free, which had
originally plagued him (181). We see in this book that free will plays an
integral role in Augustine’s life, both pulling him away from God and pushing
him toward God. I found this dichotomy between the roles of free will very
interesting.
Augustine begins Book IX recounting
his progress thus far, and tells the story that his friend Simplicianus had
told him. Simplicianus tells Augustine of Victorinus, a powerful rhetorician,
who converts to Christianity. While, this account moves Augustine, he still
does not have the willpower to let go of his lustful ways and embrace Christianity.
The, “two wills” within Augustine, “were in conflict” and his fixation with the
flesh maintained a hold on him (164). In this, we see that Augustine’s free
will has bound him to bodily desires, and he is unable to fully embrace God.
Augustine continues down this path
until he meets Ponticianus who tells him a story. Ponticianus and his
companions were taking a walk when they became separated and two of them
happened upon a book about Antony. One of the men read it and, “all at once he
was filled with the love of holiness…his mind was being divested of the
world…[and he] decided to serve God” (167-8). This account struck Augustine and
opened his eyes to the life he had been living, devoid of God. His eyes are opened
to the misguided love he had sought through human flesh, and his “inner self
was a house divided against itself” (170). Augustine begins to inflict bodily
harm upon himself, “because [he] made an act of will to do it…for in this case
the power to act was the same as will” (171). In this case, Augustine’s free
will has taken over, and he is able to see the error in his ways. Augustine
proceeds into a period of suspense, in which he is not able to step forward
into a path of godliness, however he also does fall back into his old lustful
ways. He is in effect, in limbo, his free will trapped between the two desires.
Breaking himself of this suspension,
Augustine does as Antony had in the story and opens a book of Scripture,
reading the first passage his eyes fell upon: “Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not in
quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ;
spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites” (178). Freed from
his wanton ways, Augustine’s will finally steered him in the direction of God,
and he is able to embrace it. I found it very interesting that the same will
that that once led him down a path of impurity delivers him to God.
Lauren makes some very interesting points upon Augustine's journey to conversion. I also saw the connection he makes to his disorderedness brought him to his conversion. Augustine in his interpretation of his journey to conversion allows him to better understand the purpose that God has for him. Augustine had to go through these things in order to have his eyes open and complete his conversion. As Augustine was reading the book, he states "I read on: Tremble and sin no more, and this moved me deeply my God, because by now I had learnt to tremble for my past, so that in future I might sin no more" (187) Here, we see that Augustine read this scripture spiritually and found the meaning that because of his journey he was able to reflect back and understand what God's purpose is and follow that. As Lauren points out, I also found that the dichotomy of free will was interesting too. Augustine describes his sinful ways to be something "[plucking] at [his] garment of flesh and [whispering] 'Are you going to dismiss us? From this moment we shall never be with you again, for ever and ever" (175-176). Augustine is constantly pulled back by his sin into disorderedness, but finally breaks free and converts to Christianity.
ReplyDeleteLauren and Liezel make great points concerning Augustine's divided will and his efforts to truly devote himself to God. Another dimension to this conversation that I find interesting is Augustine's discussion of habit. Augustine notices that "the mind gives an order to the body and is at once obeyed, but when it gives an order to itself, it is resisted," (172). Here, Augustine notes the difference between commanding the body versus commanding the mind. The body easily heads the mind's request, while the mind resists its own suggestion. Augustine explains this phenomenon my introducing the concept of habit. The habits of the mind imprison it in a stagnant form, therefore inhibiting spiritual progress in the form of new ideas and concepts. "It is a disease of the mind, which does not wholly rise to the heights where it is lifted by the trust, because it is weighed down by habit," (172). Since the physical will is more easily heeded, it bears a significantly stronger influence than the mental or spiritual will. This explains Augustine's challenge of discouraging lust in his search for God.
ReplyDeleteLauren, I think "Augustine’s free will has taken over" is interesting in that it implies a person's free will is enough to bring one away from god or unholiness. Though the same free will could select the path towards god, it wouldn't be as easy because of habit, as Eleanor says. Though one has the free will to establish a habit, once they're in place, that same free will has a much harder time dismantling that habit. That's the order to the mind it resists most, and so Augustine's lust may be more habitual than just getting that feeling normally. Like in the Gita, Augustine must relinquish his worldly passions and gain control of his mind before reaching a holy state.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree with Lauren's assertion. A question that came to my mind when reading was the importance of those two battling free wills. There was one quotation in particular that jumped out at me: "The victorious general marches home in triumph, but there would have been no victory if he had not fought, and the greater the danger in battle, the greater the joy of the triumph" (162). This shows that the battling wills are necessary to reach God because one needs to suffer before he or she can triumph through fully accepting God.
ReplyDeleteWhile Lauren and everyone else make very good points about Augustine exercising his free-will to move towards God and away from sin, I think it is important to remember that he attributes all of his positive actions throughout the text to divine guidance and intervention. After recounting his struggle with free will, Augustine reflects "You [God] saw how deep I was sunk in death, and it was your power that drained dry the well of corruption in the depths of my heart" (181). Though free will obviously exists and can work in either way, can it really be said to be the driving force behind redemption when ultimately this can only be found at the hands of God, who knows what happens in the whole of time and has everyone's life already planned out?
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