Confessions 5

Study Guide Questions for Book III, vii-xii

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

Ignorance, Evil, Justice, Indulgence, Freedom vs. Bondage, Love

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What were some of the questions which “the stupid deceivers” raised against orthodox Christianity which fooled Augustine for a time?

2. What did Augustine say about the nature of evil’s existence?

3. “When untrained minds judge” the Old Testament believers as wicked, what are they doing according to Augustine?

4. How did Augustine account for the variation in the way that God’s unchanging laws were obeyed in the Old Testament era versus in his own time?

5. What did Augustine suggest could never be wrong under any circumstance?

6. What did Augustine say should always be “detested and punished?”

7. What should happen, according to Augustine, “when God commands something contrary to the customs or laws of a people?”

8. What did Augustine call the “chief kinds of wickedness?”

9. Who did Augustine say is injured when we sin against God?

10. What makes for a “just human society” according to Augustine?

11. What did the Manichees believe happened when their “elect” saints ate fruit picked by another?

12. What did Monica (Augustine’s mother) see in her dream and how did she interpret the message?

13. What did the bishop of Monica’s church tell her would eventually lead Augustine to reject the Manichean cult?

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

1. Augustine refers to evil as “a privation of good, down to that level which is altogether without being.” What does this mean?

2. Why was it important for Augustine to come to the realization that “God is a Spirit not a figure whose limbs have length and breadth and who has a mass?”

3. What did Augustine mean by saying, “True inward justice…judges not by custom but by the most righteous law of almighty God?”

4. What was Augustine trying to demonstrate with his analogies about wearing armor, selling things in the marketplace, and the various duties of household slaves?

5. How does Augustine’s analogy of writing poetry help to explain the differences in how God’s unchanging law manifests itself differently in different places and times?

6. How should we understand Augustine’s use of terms like “social contract,” “custom,” and “convention” in contrast with God’s law and commandments?

7. What did Augustine mean when he stated, “Frequently the overt act has one face, the intention of the person doing it has quite another?” How does this affect our judgment of moral actions?

8. What might be inferred about the Manicheans’ beliefs concerning God based upon the information about what they claimed would happen if their “elect” ate fruit?

9. Why did standing on “the same rule” indicate to Monica that Augustine would become a true Christian?

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

1. Augustine noted that while he was “traveling away from the truth” he thought he “was going towards it.” How can we know if we are getting closer or further away from truth as we are pursuing it? Are there any indicators which can help us make sure we are on the right track? Are there any rules to obey when pursuing truth which will help to keep us safe from error? Explain your thoughts carefully.

2. Augustine declared, “A just human society is one which submits to you.” If this is true, what are the implications for how a society and government should function? If this is false, what is the true measurement for what makes “a just human society?” Is our country a just society? Why or why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read 1 Timothy 1:3-7 and 2 Peter 2. What are some defining characteristics of false teachers according to Scripture? How might we relate these to the Manicheans?