Confessions St Augustine Analysis

What are we searching for in life? Even as broad as the question is, many people have attempted to answer it. The book, Confessions by Saint Augustine is an autobiography that discusses the trials and tribulations of Saint Augustine in his pursuit of the answer to the initial question. Augustine achieves his personal answer to the question through the reflection of his worldly desires, his education and the physical world. Even as educated and sanctified as he was, Augustine delivers his answer to be relatable to most people then and today.
As the first stop on his search for his answer, Augustine begins with a reflection of his worldly desires. In the early years of life, Augustine says that infants, before learning language, express sinful and demanding desires. They seek nothing but the satisfaction of their own desire such as hunger, entertainment, etc. In his childhood and adolescent years, Augustine notes that once he began to learn language, he “entered more deeply into the stormy society of human life”. The stormy society of human life caused Augustine to venture on several erotic adventures and stealing. Augustine notes “ the single desire that dominated my search for delight was simply to love and be loved”. Augustine feels that each desire of his was an attempt to acquire love from something more fulfilling and long lasting. He would keep committing to these actions in hopes of satisfying this desire. Beyond his love for the things of physical pleasure, Augustine confesses that his worldly education was an attempt to answer the initial question. …show more content…
Augustine was a truly gifted student. He was so intellectually gifted that his parents saved money to pay for him to go off to school in Carthage. His desire to “ simply to love and be loved” was present in his pursuit of education. Augustine notes that he and his father wanted him to achieve great success accompanied with fortune and fame. In obtaining a quality education and success, Augustine’s ego was boosted. Not only did he love the world, he began to love himself. But even as satisfying as his worldly desires and education were, Augustine still felt like he was missing something in his life. Augustine with achieving worldly success and attempting to satisfy the desires of the body, he still felt lacking. Augustine began to evaluate the physical world. Augustine found that there was a constructive order to the beauty of nature. An order that so orchestrated that it had to be created something divine. He began to conclude that a higher power was at work. This higher power could be found in the flowing rivers, the diverse ecosystems and even in the likes of humankind. The higher power that Augustine was linking to all of this was the Christian God. The world is good in itself because it was God created it. Humans and their intentions are also good in themselves. It is man’s misdirected emotions and desire that creates the evil we see in the world. For example, the human body is a beautiful thing in itself, but when people commit adultery, it is misdirected love or appreciation for the human body. Augustine begins to pursue God in hopes of directing love and attention to the right sources. Augustine began to assume that what he was looking for was God. Towards the end of this work, Augustine decides to accept