Response
Aurelius Augustine was born in North Africa, in 354. He converted to Christianity in 387, and ordained to Bishop in 395 (Lawall, Thalmann and Patterson 1113). Aurelius Augustine directly talks to God in the literary document "Confessions", and revealed his weakness as a human being (Lawall, Thalmann and Patterson 1113). It was hard for Augustine to change his life, because he could not completely commit to religion.
Augustine was hesitant to give the Lord himself. Growing up, he felt like he was being punished routinely. He recognized that he was being punished by those who did the exact same things. Augustine struggled with converting to Christianity, because he approached it intellectually.
He could not understand why a person should be held to a moral standard, when Adam caused evil to enter in to the hearts and minds of human beings. Augustine confessed to God how his heart sought evil. He expressed the reasons for individuals committing sin. His perception was that people acted on those sinful urges, because they chose too.
Aurelius Augustine finally converts to Christianity, because he reads a passage in the bible. After he reads it, the Lord gives him peace of mind. The Lord gave him confidence to walk in faith. The Lord instructed him to not hesitate from seeking God. In other words, God was instructing him not to use the sin of Adam as an excuse to continue in sin. This exact conflict reminds me of Saul's conversion on the road to Demascus.
Saul was converted and his name was changed to Paul. Paul struggled internally with sin. Paul was referring to our sin nature, the flesh that is. The King James Version bible states in Romans 7:19-21, "For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me" (Bible Gateway).
Paul understood that he lived after his spiritual being, and not his outward being of his flesh. Paul did not make excuses for the physical being. Paul also expresses the fact that he serves the law of God, but in the flesh the law of sin. I believe that every Christian struggles with understanding that we are not just spiritual, but we are still physical. We must continue to walk by faith and not by sight.
Augustine let his intellect get into the way of fully converting to Christianity. His sensual addictions caused him torment and spiritual demise. I believe that the reasons for his conversion and hesitant heart is satisfying to me, because we are given freewill to accept God, or intentionally deny him. We should not blame our sin natural for not converting to Christianity. Jesus ultimately paid the price for our sins. Augustine did not have an excuse to be hesitant. We must allow the Lord to give our heart confidence with the uncertainty we face.
Works Cited
Lawall, et al. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature . 9th. Vol. 1. n.d.
original topic
Topic :
Why is it so hard for Augustine to change his life? What finally causes his return or conversion to Christianity? Is this reason satisfying to you?