Confessions 6

Study Guide Questions for Book IV, i-vii

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

Arrogance, Needing a Guide, License, Grief, Despair, Death, Friendship

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What did Augustine say he did “publicly” and what did he do “privately?”

2. What quality did Augustine say he preferred in his rhetoric students?

3. Why, according to Augustine, would he not make use of a “soothsayer’s” services?

4. What other form of supernatural fortune telling did Augustine prefer?

5. To what did the man (who was trying to persuade Augustine to ignore the astrologers) attribute the correct forecasts of the astrologers?

6. What happened to Augustine’s friend that suddenly and dramatically changed his attitude towards Christianity?

7. What was Augustine’s behavior like after the death of his friend?

8. How was Augustine different from “Orestes and Pylades?”

9. In what manner did Augustine describe what it is like to have a true friend?

10. Why, according to Augustine, was it no help to him at that time to think of God during his grief?

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

1. Augustine said, “Without you, what am I to myself but a guide to my own self-destruction?”

2. Why did Augustine say that he “preferred to have virtuous students” when it came to teaching Rhetoric?

3. What distinction did Augustine make between the kind of relationship he had with a woman (to whom he was faithfully devoted) versus a legitimate marriage?

4. The term “soothsayer” literally means “truth teller.” Why might this be an ironic name for a fortune teller to bear?

5. Augustine said, “a true Christian piety consistently rejects and condemns” the art of “astrology.” Why is this the case?

6. Why did Augustine say “it was less than a true friendship” which he shared with the young man whom he had grown up with? 

7. What did Augustine mean by saying, “misery is the state of every soul overcome by friendship with mortal things and lacerated when they are lost?”

8. Why was Augustine so deeply disturbed by the death of his friend?

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

1. Augustine spoke of how he and his friends “pursued the empty glory of popularity” by becoming polished and impressive public orators. Undoubtedly, all of us have felt the desire for praise and popularity. Why is this something that people crave?

2. Augustine stated that he “used to teach the art of rhetoric.” Offer a definition for the term “rhetoric.” What is the purpose of rhetoric? How can rhetoric be used for good and for bad? How can we make sure that we only use rhetoric towards a good end?

3. Augustine’s friend was “baptized without knowing it” while he was unconscious due to severe illness. When he regained consciousness it clearly had a profound effect upon him. Do you think his baptism was legitimate or illegitimate? Explain and defend your answer.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Deuteronomy 18:9-14. How does this passage of Scripture address matters raised in our current reading of Confessions?

2. Read Matthew 2:1-12. How might we relate this passage to Augustine’s comments about astrology in this present reading? In what ways do we see similarities and differences between the magi (wise men) and the astrologers? What is notably different? Should we infer anything from the similarity and differences?

3. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. How does this make sense of the behavior of Augustine after losing his friend to death?