(St. Augustine)

Considering Augustine’s conversion at a later age, his vulnerability displayed in his Confessions is arguably his greatest contribution to the bride of Christ. His words display a genuine faith that was born from a radical transformation that only comes from Jesus. The inspiring vulnerability and truth contribute to a display of a truly repentant heart from a man who lived according to his own ways prior.

Augustine’s City of God is valued as a massive contribution to Western civilization, but his raw openness in his Confessions, I believe, resonates with every man who comes into the Kingdom of God, regardless of society. Coverts in China may learn something about the Fall of Rome from him, but the personal application and wisdom from Augustine’s heart can help change man.

“Augustine’s self-analysis was permeated by an insistent conscience. By delving within himself, he discerned his own flaws, chiefly pride, which he later considered the wellspring of all sin.”[i] Douglas Groothuis states that Augustine was displaying the character and integrity that every disciple of Christ needs. “Examine yourself,” as the apostle Paul instructed in the second letter to the Corinthians (13:5). Every heart and every soul must take that inward journey with Jesus, the path of being tried and refined by His Word, and His fire.

Considering his place in the timeline of Christianity, his Confessions are a breath of fresh air! We do not consider it canonically biblical, but I see his works as an extension of Christ’s Gospel that resonates as the Apostle’s works in the New Testament. When I compare the writing of Paul, Peter, and John to that of Augustine, I can hear the truth in his words. Before the assigned reading for this assignment, I had never read any of his work, yet the Lord had imparted wisdom to me that echoed in his writings.

Two weeks before this paper, “Comfort is Idolatry” was the wisdom imparted to me. Then, when I read Augustine’s quote, “You have made us for yourself, O lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” [ii] It made me realize that man seeks idols for release of stress from life, but we are to seek the Lord’s rest for such things, and everything else we seek to replicate that rest is idolatrous.

Ecclesiastes 2:10

¹⁰I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
    I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
    And this was the reward for all my toil.

Be Blessed!

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[i] (Groothuis 2015)

[ii] (Confessions n.d.)