Confessions 2

Study Guide Questions for Book I, xi-xx

If you are looking for the beginning of the study for Augustine’s Confessions then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Education, Despotism 

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What happened early in Augustine’s youth that almost led to his being baptized at that time?

2. How did Augustine feel about his early education (learning to read, write, and do arithmetic) as a child? What about as an adult reflecting upon that same part of his education?

3. What story, in particular, did Augustine use as an example of loving something he shouldn’t have loved?

4. What did Augustine say was the primary reason why he did not enjoy reading Homer as much as Latin literature?

5. What did Augustine say that it would be “truer to say that Homer” did in his stories?

6. What task was Augustine given in school which caused him much “psychological anxiety?”

7. When considering the men that Augustine was taught to imitate, what did he say would make one of those rhetoricians “covered in embarrassment” and what would cause them to congratulate themselves?

8. What did Augustin describe as being more “deepseated” than “the knowledge of letters?”

9. What would Augustine exchange with his friends for their “playthings?”

10. How did Augustine behave when it came to playing by the rules in games with his friends?

11. Where did Augustine admit to seeking after “pleasure, sublimity, and truth” instead of in God?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. What did Augustine mean by saying, “You have imposed order, and so it is that the punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder?”

2. What did Augustine mean when he said, “free curiosity has greater power to stimulate learning than rigorous coercion?” Why might this be true?

3. What is meant by referring to the “torrent of human custom” and what bearing does it have upon the matters of which Augustine is discussing?

4. When Augustines mentions that “there is more than one way of offering sacrifice to fallen angels” what is he referring to?

5. Augustine said, “One does not go far away from you [God] or return to you by walking or by any movement through space.” What did he mean by this?

6. What did Augustine mean by saying, “Behavior does not change when one leaves behind domestic guardians and schoolmasters?”

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. When discussing Latin literature Augustine made the comment, “Had I been forbidden to read this story, I would have been sad that I could not read what made me sad.” Why do people enjoy stories which make them feel sad or even afraid? Do you think this desire to experience sadness, fear, or some other feeling through story, is good or bad? If it is good, explain why it is good and give an example of how it can be good. If it is bad, explain why it is bad and why people should avoid engaging stories like this.

2. Augustine objects to the presentation of the gods by authors like Virgil, Homer, and Terence because their stories give “divine sanction to vicious acts.” In other words, he thinks their stories encourage the readers or hearers of those stories to behave immorally just as the gods portrayed. Plato offers similar objections in The Republic and Euthyphro along with objecting to the idea that the gods would do such despicable acts. How should we think about these matters as Christians? Should we read, listen to, or watch stories which have examples of immorality? Is there a difference between a story having examples of immorality versus a story condoning immorality? Should Christians read pagan stories like the one Augustine is discussing? Why or why not?

3. Augustine speaks of “A man enjoying a reputation for eloquence” who “takes his position before a human judge with a crowd of men standing round and attacked his opponent with ferocious animosity.” He says, “He is extremely vigilant in precautions against some error in language, but is indifferent to the possibility that the emotional force of his mind may bring about a man’s execution.” In light of this, what would you say is our responsibility when it comes to making use of the tools of rhetoric (the art of persuasion)? How might this affect the kind of cases a Christian lawyer may or may not take, or what he or she is willing to do in defense of prosecution of a case? Explain your answer thoughtfully.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Exodus 4:10-17 and 1 Corinthians 1:17.. How do these two passages relate to Augustine’s discussion about what is important when it comes to persuasive speaking?