C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival” (brainyquote.com). While philosophy and friendship may both be unnecessary, they are both valuable to the human experience. In the course of philosophical thinking, many philosophers, including Augustine, grapple with the concept and fulfillment of true friendship. Augustine writes of the meaning of true friendship in The Confessions, while also writing of his friendships throughout his life, using his own guidelines of what true friendship entails a revolution of his friendships can be seen alongside his transformation toward God that The Confessions is well known to showcase. In The Confessions, Augustine defines what true friendship is with the help of friendships of his past, whether good or bad, to show what friendship is and is not. In Book IV, Augustine writes, “Friendship is genuine only when you bind fast together people who cleave to you through the charity poured abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (The Confessions, Book IV, paragraph 7). To Augustine, true friendships are those brought and held together by God. Without God, there cannot be true friendship, and this is made evident by the comparison of two of Augustine’s friendships in his life. Through the friendships of an unnamed childhood friend and Nebridius, the reader sees a full transformation of Augustine’s friendships. The unnamed childhood friend comes to the reader in Book IV of The Confessions while Augustine is in his hometown, teaching rhetoric. As Edward C. Sellner, an associate professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality at the College of St. Catherine in Minnesota, wro... ... middle of paper ... ...ve and affection for this friend is clear, as is his belief that friendship on Christ survives even the yawning chasm of separation death brings” (Theology Today). Works Cited Augustine (2008). The Confessions (M. Boulding, Trans.). J. E. Rotelle (Ed.). Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. (Original work published 1997). David McFadden (d_mac18) on Twitter. (2012, December 19). Retrieved April 27, 2014, from https://twitter.com/d_mac18 Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather... - C. S. Lewis at BrainyQuote. (n.d.). Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/cslewis105239.html Sellner, E. C. (1991). Like a Kindling Fire: Meanings of Friendship in the Life and Writings of Augustine. Spirituality Today, 43(3), 240-257. Retrieved from http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/91433sellner.html
Unlike other texts of the time, Augustine’s confessions are less of an epic tale or instructive texts, both of which soug...
By saying this he means that companionship is the environment in which friendships comes to be. Lewis believes that friendships are made possible by companionship, but when the friendship comes into play, there is a revolutionary break from the matrix of companionship. Lewis provides a schematic for the formation of friendship proper, but he does not provide characteristics related to the time in life when the best type of bond is formed, the time length of the bond, or the time necessary to form the bond as Aristotle does. Aristotle’s description of Virtue Friendship’s long formation period also has within it a notion that Virtue friendships may have formed from preexisting Use or Pleasure Friendships; similar to Lewis’ idea that companionship is the matrix of friendship.
St. Augustine considers his mother as a crucial factor in his conversion to Catholicism. However through the analysis of his Confessions it leads me to believe that St. Augustine’s mother was not a decisive figure. Monica was in the background keeping him in thought and prayer however Augustine’s watershed moments came as a result of his own examination of readings as well as his conversations with his friends and mentors. Therefore I argue that Monica had delayed Augustine’s baptism and it was his own experiences that allowed him to come to God.
He goes to his two friends Ponticianus and Simplicianus, asking them about their conversions looking to see what they experienced and what they had to give up from their lives. First came the conversation with Simplicianus, where the two then talked over the works of Plato as Augustine recalls how “fortunate I was to not have stumbled on the writings of other philosophers” because their writings were lacking in honesty and general credibility. This helps to convince Saint Augustine of the benefits of living in the catholic faith because Plato’s writing consistently trended toward being about “the truth of God and his Word.” Later on into Book VIII we come to the conversation with Saint Augustine’s other friend, Ponticianus. The conversation with Ponticianus was mainly associated with the wonders of being a Catholic and the many incredible tales of those who follow in the Catholic faith. He then recalls the Story of conversion of two court officials at Trier, maintaining Saint Augustine 's complete and utter attention, he spoke of an experience he had where two men had a religious epiphany when reading from a book. The book, “The Life of Antony”, made the men want to renounce their
It is strange to label any friendship a success or a failure; it is stranger still to call the friendship between Achilleus and Patroklos a failure, especially when it has long been celebrated as one of the greatest friendships in antiquity. After all, friendship is called a success when friends remain just that, and a failure when they part ways with diffidence. How else could we possibly judge friendship? I suggest, however, that the good of the friend is the end of true friendship, and that this principle can guide critical inquiry into the nature of friendship. The basis of this statement is Aristotelian. The Nicomachean Ethics defines true friendship as the mutual appreciation of the intrinsic good in the other, and the desire to will the other’s good. The critique of true friendship, in Aristotelian terms, should consider not only whether the parties loved each other for their intrinsic good, but also the extent to which they were successful at promoting the good of the other. The tragedy of Achilleus and Patroklos is that, despite their love and desire to promote the good of the other, they may have ultimately failed. Their friendship may have failed not because of a lack of good will or capability, but because of the conflicting obligations placed upon that friendship by society, circumstance, and the unyielding character of Achilleus.
After stating this, Augustine continues to support his statement by talking about friendship. Is the friendship Augustine mentions lustful or sincerely about love? "Thus I polluted the stream of friendship with the filth of unclean desire and sullied its limpidity with the hell of lust." (pg. 35) Obviously Augustine is letting the idea of love turn straight to lust. He talks about unclean desires, but he says he wants to be clean and courtly. Maybe Augustine has the wrong idea about love.
The content of my paper will be an analysis of Augustine’s Confessions. I will focus on the first nine chapters of the book. First, I will write an introductory page about Augustine. Second, I will explain why Augustine wrote the Confessions and the importance of the Confessions as a philosophical work. I will analyze Augustine’s view of God and show the main theme of his book, which is, the sovereign God of grace and the sovereign grace of God. I will focus on Augustine’s view of God and His grace.
He confesses his sins, followed by a confession of faith, and praise confession (John Ryan 29). Although his confession is all to do with religion, it can be noted that he made efforts soon after realizing how injustice he was. Indeed, Augustine realizes that the life lived by man under the sun is just facilitated by God’s divine power. The greatest striking point in his case is capitalized on the new realization. For a long time, human beings live without really honoring God with their lives and possessions. In respect to this synthesis paper, such a form of living can be treated as a form of injustice to God. Augustine makes an attempt of not only realizing, but making a right confession of his unjust deeds, showing gratitude to God and praising his
Why does St. Augustine seek God? Through his Confessions we come to understand that he struggled a great deal with confusion about his faith, before finally and wholeheartedly accepting God into his life. But we never get a complete or explicit sense of what led Augustine to search for God in the first place. Did he feel a void in his life? Was he experiencing particular problems in other relationships that he thought a relationship with God would solve for him? Or perhaps he sought a sense of security from religion? A closer analysis of the text of St. Augustine’s Confessions will provide some insight into these fundamental questions.
This paper will outline specific points in Saint Augustine’s Confessions that highlight religious views following the fall of Rome. Though Augustines views on religion may not reflect that of most people in his time period, it still gives valuable insight into how many, namely Neoplatonists,, viewed God and his teachings.
St. Augustine’s Confessions is written through the Christian perspective of religion. Christianity is founded on the idea that there is one God who oversees all actions. Though all actions are observed by a higher power, God instills in us a free will. As Christians we are free to make our own decisions whether right or wrong. In his Biography St Augustine expresses that he feels like a sinner. He struggles with the fact that he is a thrill seeker. He loves to watch blood sports. He watches gladiators fight to the death and commit murder. Not only does he watch, but he enjoys observing these acts. He is also expressing his sins in his biography when he writes about stealing, which is another sin. He steals pears for fun. St Augustine doesn’t even eat the pears he steals, but throws them to the pigs to eat. Through the story St Augustine struggles interna...
friendship that it is so valuable? And, more specifically, how does this truth fit with
Augustine. “Confessions”. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1113-41. Print.
Augustine’s Confessions is in itself a rather contradictory autobiography. It reveals the inner workings of St. Augustine’s mind, particularly the arduous mental obstacles he faces on his spiritual journey. Readers are exposed to an almost cyclical routine of behaviour in which Augustine descends into a whirlpool of sin, reaches an epiphany and emerges vigorously with newfound motivation. We begin to question whether St. Augustine is aware of how contradictory his own actions play out, and if so, how such contradictions may reveal deeper truths about human nature.
William S. Babcock. The Ethics of St. Augustine: JRE Studies in Religion, no. 3. Scholars Press, Atlanta : 1991.