Augustine Sin Essay

813 Words2 Pages

In the Confessions, Augustine reflects not only on his sinful nature, but also on why he sinned. What is sin to Augustine? struggled in realizing what is sin and what responibiliby humans should take for sinning. Augustine introduces the nature of sin from infancy and describes it as the original sin. Going further into his teenage years, sin was a major part of his life. Even when Augustine had turned his attention toward God, he was still struggling with his sinful nature. He spent a lot of time trying to figure out and understand why he sins in order to save his soul. Augustine’s perspective on sin is derived from birth and “born in Adam” nature, to later pursuit for pleasure and even pride or curiosity; however sin is what ultimately compels Augustine to God. Augustine references his selfish sins as a little boy, which were shocking even to the mature set In book one, Augustine spends a lot of time talking about original sin, especially in children. He explains that we are all born with a sinful nature, because we were “born in Adam”, and unless we are “made alive in Christ” again, we will continue to sin, and not be forgiven.( )According to book one, “Who reminds me of the sin of my infancy? For “none is pure from sin before you, not even an infant of one day upon the earth” (9). He then deliberates to what extent he was sinning at a young age. Augustine says, “I have personally watched and studied a jealous baby. He could not yet speak and, pale with jealousy and bitterness, glared at his brother sharing his mother’s milk”. At a young age Augustine didn’t understand the importance of sin, but this is what ultimately will bring him closer to God. Augustine’s enters the social world and sins for pleasure. In book II, Augus... ... middle of paper ... ... he was embroiled in many sins, he was not happy and was always searching for an object for his love. Augustine concludes with an analysis of motivations behind all human sin - the lust for domination, the lust of the eyes, and sensuality. For the vast majority of his years Augustine was confused regarding sinful nature. Even as an infant, Augustine was not free from sin. Observing an infant, even though he is too weak to cause any harm, he shows the first steps of sinning if he doesn’t get what he wants. Later on he concludes that teenagers desire to do evil things because they do not understand the nature of beauty or goodness, which is God. What later troubles him the most, is that his main motive was the desire to sin and do wrong. He proceeds that the sinful nature, along with certain situations and people in his life lead him, and brought him closer to God.

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