Encounters with God in Augustine's Confessions

Carl G. Vaught

Description

This book continues Carl G. Vaught's thoroughgoing reinterpretation of Augustine's Confessions—one that rejects the view that Augustine is simply a Neoplatonist and argues that he is also a definitively Christian thinker. As a companion volume to the earlier Journey toward God in Augustine's Confessions: Books I–VI, it can be read in sequence with or independently of it. This work covers the middle portion of the Confessions, Books VII–IX. Opening in Augustine's youthful maturity, Books VII–IX focus on the three pivotal experiences that transform his life: the Neoplatonic vision that causes him to abandon materialism; his conversion to Christianity that leads him beyond Neoplatonism to a Christian attitude toward the world and his place in it; and the mystical experience he shares with his mother a few days before her death, which points to the importance of the Christian community. Vaught argues that time, space, and eternity intersect to provide a framework in which these three experiences occur and which give Augustine a three-fold access to God.

Preface

Introduction

The Framework of the Enterprise
Unity and Separation in Augustine's Thinking
Speaking and Hearing as Primordial Phenomena
Problems of Access to the Text

1. The Philosophical Conversion (Book VII)

The Concept of God (7.1.1–7.2.3)
The Problem of Evil (7.3.4–7.8.12)
Neoplatonism and Christianity (7.9.13–7.9.15)
The Neoplatonic Vision (7.10.16–7.17.23)
The Need for a Mediator (7.18.24–7.21.27)

2. Augustine's Christian Conversion (Book VIII)

Initial Hesitation (8.1.1–8.1.2)
The Conversion of Victorinus (8.2.3–8.4.9)
The Bondage of the Will (8.5.10–8.5.12)
Stages of Liberation (8.6.13–8.11.27)
The Decisive Moment (8.12.28–8.12.29)
The Christian Community (8.12.30)

3. Mother and Son: A Shared Mystical Experience (Book IX)

Retirement and Baptism (9.1.1–9.7.16)
Monica's Character (9.8.17–9.9.22)
The Garden in Ostia (9.10.23–9.10.26)
The Death of Augustine's Mother (9.11.27–9.13.37)

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• Philosophie médiévale, scolastique
• Religion
• Christianisme
• Scolastique
• Philosophie médiévale
• Philosophie antique
• Philosophie médiévale
• Philosophie médiévale
• Medieval philosophy
• Catholic Church
• Philosophy of religion

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791484999
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Encounters with God in Augustine’s Confessions

B O O K S V I I – I X

Carl G.Vaught

Encounters with God in Augustine’sConfessions

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Encounters with God in Augustine’sConfessions

Books VII–IX

Carl G. Vaught

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2004 State University of New York

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For information, address the State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Vaught, Carl G., 1939– Encounters with God in Augustine’s Confessions : books VII–IX / Carl G. Vaught. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6107-6 (alk. paper) 1. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. Confessiones. Liber 7-9. 2. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. 3. Spirituality—History—Early church, ca. 30-600. 4. Christian saints—Algeria—Hippo (Extinct city)—Biography—History and criticism. I. Title.

BR65.A62V37 2004 270'.2'092—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2004043451

For Jennifer and Cheryl

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Contents

Preface Introduction The Framework of the Enterprise Unity and Separation in Augustine’s Thinking Speaking and Hearing as Primordial Phenomena Problems of Access to the Text 1. The Philosophical Conversion (Book VII) The Concept of God(7.1.1–7.2.3) The Problem of Evil(7.3.4–7.8.12) Neoplatonism and Christianity(7.9.13–7.9.15) The Neoplatonic Vision(7.10.16–7.17.23) The Need for a Mediator(7.18.24–7.21.27) 2. Augustine’s Christian Conversion (Book VIII) Initial Hesitation(8.1.1–8.1.2) The Conversion of Victorinus(8.2.3–8.4.9) The Bondage of the Will(8.5.10–8.5.12) Stages of Liberation(8.6.13–8.11.27) The Decisive Moment(8.12.28–8.12.29) The Christian Community(8.12.30) 3. Mother and Son: A Shared Mystical Experience (Book IX) Retirement and Baptism(9.1.1–9.7.16) Monica’s Character(9.8.17–9.9.22) The Garden in Ostia(9.10.23–9.10.26) The Death of Augustine’s Mother(9.11.27–9.13.37) Notes Bibliography Index vii

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Preface

When Augustine writes theConfessions,there are no confessionals. Rather, he speaks to God directly, praising his creator and confessing his sins without depending on an earthly mediator. The Catholic penitent ap- proaches the confessional with fear and trembling, while the faithful Protestant refuses to approach it at all. By contrast, Augustine lives before this distinction emerges and stands in between the alternatives it gener- ates, taking confession seriously, but addressing the same source of power that the Protestant reformer encounters directly. Like the Catholic he is, the great rhetorician incarnates the relation between God and the soul by constructing a verbal confessional; but like the Protestant he anticipates, he explodes what he constructs by responding to a passage from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and by describing the transformation that occurs 1 when he listens to the voice of God in silence (8.12.29). To be sure, Augustine’s account of his conversion has often been regarded as the most remarkable rhetorical construction in the text, either fabricating an event that never occurred, or embellishing an episode that could have been 2 described much less dramatically. However, Augustine himself under- stands the episode as a divine interjection that transforms his fragmented heart into a center of certainty and serenity (8.12.29). An equally important but less controversial point is that Augustine’s Confessionsunfolds on three levels: the author praises the greatness of God, confesses his sins by writing an autobiography, and defends his faith by describing the conditions that make memory, temporal experience, and existential transformation possible. In each case, the dynamism of his discourse takes us beyond the surface of the text into the presence and absence of the one to whom he speaks. The richness of the language Augustine uses permits him to stand before God as a unique individual, but it also enables him to reach out to his audience so we can overhear what he reveals about the texture of his life. Since God already knows

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