...Comparison between the Analects and Confessions Both St. Augustine’s Confessions and Confucius’s Analects are important teachings that have great influence on people around the world in the ancient time and nowadays. Both doctrines discuss ethical values of the society back in the time as we can find some similarities between the two. However, there are significant differences between Confucius and St. Augustine’s experiences and believes since they are living in different environment at time period. Their profound differences are the factors that contributed to shape the distinct cultures between the West and the East today. Confucius taught us to love others from the within the family to everyone else in the society. A man’s character was fostered from his role as a son in the family (Analects I, 2). He should be obedient to his parent, and to be respectful to his father’s way when he is living and even after death (I, 11). One of the differences between St. Augustine’s Confessions and Confucius’s Analects is the treatment of one within the family. A good son, according to Confucius, should always obey his parents, not complain, and stay reverent in any situations (IV, 18). His “never fail to comply” teachings was opposite to St. Augustine’s belief. In Confessions, St. Augustine admitted his parents expected in him a lot, and sacrificed for his future. Although his father was praised for providing St. Augustine financial support for his education even more than richer men...
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...December 10, 2011 Dante and St. Augustine Spiritual Journeys During St. Augustine’s life, there was extreme decline while Christianity was being accepted as an official religion. In this era, there was intense political stress, as well as widespread religious concern. The confessions of St. Augustine reveal things in his formative years. During these years, he tried inexorably in overcoming sensual desires, finding faith and understanding philosophical and religious doctrines. Augustine often experienced confusion, blindness and darkness while seeking to find the truth in the creator. Inside him, he truly knew that after he eventually finds him, there would be redemption of his confused heart. Augustine’s confessions begin as a prayer (Kline Para. 5). In 1300 AD, Dante could have headed to hell together with an ancient Roman poet as a guide. In this case, he required better help to find heaven. Virgil’s Aeneid gives an approximation of the Homeric song. The song borrows extensively from Odyssey and Iliad (Kline Para. 7). However, the politics are anti-Greek while there is also a lack of Homer’s irony and a penetrating observation of violence from humans. May be, Virgil could have successfully achieved all of Homer’s effects if he had tried since he is considered to be a strong imitator. However, the Roman imperialist politics determined his agenda. One of Augustine’s confessions consists of the eternal Rose’s yellow that stretches and slopes while diffusing fragrance of...
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...Review: The Impact of St. Augustine's Life LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THE IMPACT OF ST. AUGUSTINE’S LIFE A Paper Submitted To Dr. John Landers Liberty Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Course CHHI 520 CHHI-520 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH I By Dutch Nelson Liberty ID #: L24440559 Lynchburg, Virginia October 7, 2012 Table of Contents Cover Page 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 The Life of Augustine 3 Madaurus 366-370 3 Thagaste 370-371 4 Carthage 371-383 4 Italy 383-387 4 Thagaste 387-390 5 Hippo 390-430 5 Augustine as a Writer 5 Augustine as a Scholar 6 Augustine as a Pagan 7 Augustine and Marriage 8 Augustine’s Journey to Christiainity 9 Augustine as a Christian 10 Augustine as Saint 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 14 Introduction Spiritual leaders exemplify themselves by the way they live and the way they impact the lives of others. This normally determines how their congregation and those who hear their word and see their deeds view them. Augustine’s life has not been totally perfect. He like other humans has erred in some way. However, he has had a positive impact on a number of theologians and philosophers (Smith 2008, 1). This paper looks at his life over his 76 years on earth and seeks to provide evidence that Augustine’s life can be used as an example in the preparation of spiritual leaders. The Life of Augustine Augustine’s life dates from 354 to...
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...St. Augustine of Hippo, commonly referred to as the great doctor of the church, was born in the town of Thagaste, North Africa, in the year 354, and died in the year 430. Born as Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, St. Augustine lived a long life that was filled with countless stories and lessons. His early life, which he describes as “corrupt,” was surrounded with satisfying unruly desires and conflicting world views. His “quest for love,” began when he was young, but progressively reshaped as he grew older. After his conversion to Christianity, he set out to write a spiritual autobiography that displayed both prayers and events to recollect his life in his book, Confessions. St. Augustine’s journey from a sinner to a wisely religious man is just one on the many reasons that he is so well known today....
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...Augustine Dealing with Death “A Friend’s Death” in the book “Confessions,” written in Hippo in 397, pretty clearly identifies what this portion of the text encompasses. The excerpt begins with Augustine’s recurrence of confusion with God; watching his friend suffer so intensely makes him wonder why God doesn’t divinely intervene to end his misery. This leads to a reflection on his recent dark days and more ambiguity with God’s presence. While unconscious, Augustine’s friend receives a baptism that Augustine is sure he would not have preferred if mentally present. With this in mind, Augustine pokes fun of it when his friend comes to, which is seen as repulsively unforgiveable, and threatens to end their friendship. Not long afterwards, the friend passes, which leaves no time for reconciliation for the two. This leads Augustine descending into a deep depression where constantly reminders of his loss lie and ultimately his only relief is found through weeping. Although this time period was extremely devastating to Augustine in the moment, do you think the reborn St. Augustine looks back on this memory as more of a weight off of his shoulders than a devastating loss while writing the selection? In the beginning sentences of the selection, Augustine goes into detail about the diminishing condition of his ailing friend. He goes into depth when describing his friend’s pain, stating that he was “convulsed with fever, lying insensible in a lethal sweat and given up for lost”...
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...Evil, Christianity, and Saint Augustine Sammy Hoag Philosophy 202 Dr. Ryan Murphy December 2015 What is evil? This ‘problem of evil’ and the existence of evil have plagued the minds of people throughout the centuries. It has been one on the most sought after inquiries and one of the most vexing challenges to Christianity, in explaining the existence of God. Many philosophers and thinkers, both secular and Christian, have endeavored to solve this problem. One of the most notable of whom is Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). He is perhaps one of the most influential philosophers in the history of the Christian Church. Augustine spent much of his life trying to solve this ‘problem of evil’ and it proved to be quite an undertaking. This paper will explore the problem of evil and argue how Saint Augustine solidified the ways in which philosophy and religion, specifically Christianity, coincide through his work on the concepts of the problem of and the origin of evil. Understanding the problem of evil is essential to everyone because it affects the manner in which life is lived. Whether defending a belief in God or trying to share those beliefs with others everyone will encounter the problem of evil at some point. According to Ed Miller and Jon Jensen, authors of Questions that Matter:...
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...St. Augustine’s Criticism on Plato and Platonism St. Augustine is one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy. Augustine had a huge influence on the modern period with people including Descartes and Malebranche. One of the main focal points in his life comes in 387 AD, when his conversion to Christianity takes place. In Augustine’s conversion to Christianity, he evolved a different approach to thinking. When Augustine writes about the Manicheans, he tends to focus on their materialism, substantive dualism, and their identification of the human soul as a particle of the Light. These three key qualifications from Platonism provide Augustine with a philosophical framework for both the medieval and modern periods. In the Confessions, Augustine gives his most extensive discussion of the books of the Platonists. In the Confessions, he makes clear that his previous thinking was dominated by common- sense materialism. It was the books of the Platonists that first made it possible for him to conceive the possibility of a non-physical substance. It did provide him however with a non- Manichean solution to the problem of the origin of evil. In addition, the books of the Platonists provided him with a framework where he plotted the human condition. According to Augustine the framework for Platonists can account for the difficulties with which life brings about to us, in the same aspect it offers a theory that the highest ethical goal is happiness and personal well- being. In...
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...Many women share a common goal in life, to become a wife and mother. Once a woman reaches this goal, what is next? How does she behave in such a role? Each of these women wants to obtain such a status, but who knows how to fulfill it? Numerous opinions dance about with only wives and mothers of the past as support for the presented arguments. A woman new to her position needs only to follow in the steps of a great role model to have the chance of also becoming a respected and loved spouse and caregiver. St. Augustine’s mother, Monica, described throughout Augustine’s Confessions and Rebekah, whose story is told in Genesis 25 and 27, share little in character or in their beliefs of marital bliss. Both give examples of how women choose to conduct themselves in marriage and motherhood. Two women, both wives and mothers, hardly compare in their virtues, their view of marriage, or their ideas of a woman’s responsibilities to her husband. A virtuous woman excels at her tasks without experiencing repercussions while a woman of little virtue hatches schemes that a price must be paid in order to succeed. Augustine continuously commends his mother on her virtues through his depiction of her. The story presented in Genesis shows little evidence of Rebekah possessing many admirable qualities. With Monica, lists have been made of all her virtues; some find it difficult to number Rebekah’s due to limited resources or rather their lack of existence. While Monica walks through...
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...Dear Charles, Here's a possible rewrite of your thesis: "This paper will examine Augustine's teachings about 'conferred faith' upon infant during baptism. My claim is that Paul misrepresented Paul's teachings on the family's effect upon the holiness of the child." You'll find the "claim" in chapters 1-14 of Turabian's Manual, which is something that our rubric doesn't bring up, but I think it's a good technique. I notice that you have Greek written in Times New Roman font. I have seen other students do this. I have never been able to figure out how this is done. I notice that when I try to add a letter than it comes out in Latin script. These are quotations that you've pasted. This is amazing. I don't know how they do this! Let me know if you can help me! The only defect in this paper that I want to point out is that much of your paper is not really about Augustine's teaching on infant baptism. All subsequent developments of his teachings really have nothing to do with what happened in Augustine's head. Let's take Pannenberg as an example. He may have followers up there in Lutheran country where you minister. His ideas are influenced by Augustine, but Augustine was not a Lutheran. Some seem to think he was a Lutheran or a Calvinist, but they deceive themselves. You must, of course, take Paul into account because Augustine worked with Paul's writings. Paul was a source that Augustine used—or better, abused or misused, as you and argue. Students find it impossible to focus on one...
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...min into two sides. But there is never pro or con side because every person explains according to his own life and private examples. Also it did not pass along our one of the most famous historic of philosophy Socrates and St. Augustine in their latest compositions. They say that the “Sin” is a thing that harms one’s life in abstract way. Basically Socrates in the “Apology” understands Sin just like an abandon during your self-development therefore he used to say “If you ever do not know anything about knowledge and afterwards just forget it and let it go” so this is a sin. On the other hand the Sin in Confessions by Saint Augustine is a new attempt, he proposes as sin, things which makes you proud. Since both characters have their own thoughts on something, and this understanding makes them really different. For example they both say about sins however they understand different things as a sin. These most incredible Greek philosophers such as St. Augustine and Socrates with ambiguous ideas disputed about what the Sin is. Moreover they have different views on how to look to Sin with different directions. St. Augustine’s book which is called Confession is autobiographic since it was written according his life, and after reading the Confession we can deduce that what were his understandings about sin in his different life ages. Moreover we can find out, how a sinful life he had and how could overcome his sinful life. The main point is that, he continued doing...
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...In the beginning, God created the world. He created the earth, air, stars, trees and animals. He created the Heaven above, the Angels, and every spiritual being. God looked at these things and said that they were good. However, if all that God created was good, from where does un-good or evil originate from? Were we exposed to evil when the original sin occurred? St. Augustine was one of the most respected thinkers in Christianity. In Book VII the Confessions, Augustine reflects on the existence of evil and the problem it faces. For evil to exist, the Creator, God, must have granted it, its existence. This contradicts the Christian view that God is purely good. For a long time, Augustine thought evil must not exists or that God is not entirely good. Original sin. Always asked questions God had to create evil Evil, Augustine entire religious life was based on evil, and how God could create it if he is good. Evil is a major theme in the Confessions, and the City of God. When Augustine was young, he could not wrap his mind around believing in an all good God that also created evil. However, God gave people free will. We can make our own choices. Our choices may be perceived as evil but it is just the lack of goodness in our decisions. The problem with evil and God is the challenge of how an all-powerful and all-loving God can allow his creation to suffer, without helping then and putting an end to their suffering. This challenge is an often quoted reason for being unable...
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...(late teens, early twenties) when I consciously made the decision to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy. This changed my view of self and further influenced the effect the culture of the Church had on my life (shifting from a Western view to a more Eastern one). This essay will be about how my experience with Catholic (and later Orthodox) culture can relate to Richard Rodriguez’s experiences in Late Victorians and how they effected my reading of the story. The first name mentioned in the story Late Victorians is St. Augustine [of Hippo] which is a revealing choice due to the person that St. Augustine was. A 4th and 5th century Bishop he struggled with identity throughout his entire life. Mr. Rodriguez paraphrased St. Augustine as stating, “We are restless hearts, for the earth is not our true home. Human unhappiness is evidence of our immortality. Intuition tells us we are meant for some other city.” (Rodriguez 26) St. Augustine himself stated in his autobiographical book Confessions that in his youth he said, “Give me chastity and continence, but not just yet!” The knowledge of what we are expected to do, and the actions we take in our lives can sometime be intrinsically different. Such events can lead to confusion and a loss of identity but there is always going to be something forming what, and who, we are and become. Regardless of whether its parents (family), society, or religion it is there and makes us act and believe in a way that is beyond us and our understanding. One of...
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...Religions March 3, 2012 CATHOLICISM 2 Many people have many misconceptions about the catholic religion myself included. Among the misconceptions that I had will also come the correct explanation of what really takes place or how things are really done within the religion of Catholicism. I had always believed that people of the catholic religion prayed to different saints and the Virgin Mary as kind of like you would an idol. What I did not realize was that this is not the case at all. As most people of the Christian faith do if we are having a hard time or if we have a prayer request, we ask those of faith to pray for us. In the catholic religion they do the same thing, a lady named Annie who has gone to St. Augustine’s Catholic church since she was a baby explained it to me as. “When they are praying to the saints or to the Virgin Mary they are praying for one of two things, either to ask that person to pray for them, or to ask them to intercede on their behalf.” (Adair, 2012) What interceding does is like when a child gets in trouble, or if they know they are going to get into trouble. They usually will go to one parent and talk or try to explain their side. So that, that parent can go to the other parent on their behalf, and explain what happen in hopes of a lesser punishment, or that the parent that is going to be the one disciplining them. Will have a little more sympathy on them and they won’t get has hard of a punishment. Doing this they hope...
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...Many great thinkers of the Church used reason and logic to search for answers in order to understand and justify the teachings of the Catholic faith. St. Thomas Aquinas provides a clear example in his work of the Summa Theoligica. It is composed of many logical and reasonable arguments intended to direct readers towards the truth found in Catholic teachings. In article three of question two, in the first part of the Summa, Aquinas focuses on the question of God’s existence. He provides a list of answers that appeal to both reason and logic because they are based on empirical observations about the world around us. The first of the reasons explains the existence of God through the theory of motion. Aquinas goes into intricate detail explaining how an object at rest remains at rest until an action is imposed upon it. The action causes the object to move; such action is derived from a previous...
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...Jean Leon Iragena Dr. MacMaster IDST 1128-02 Spring Project March 24, 2011 The Truth behind Free Will: Luther vs. Erasmus The notion of free will is one of the most complex notions to define and to understand; it is defined differently according to one’s interpretation of the scriptures, especially the Bible. Both Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus, influenced by their faith and beliefs, write respectively against and for free will. Both try to adequately answer the questions: Does man have free will? If yes, why and how? If not, how? Possible answers to these questions given by both authors and some scholars who write against or for each one of these opponents’ arguments highlight, especially, the differences in the conception of man’s free will. Luther and his supporters view free will as an imaginary or impossible and dangerous thing to have; Erasmus and his supporters defend that the existence of man’s free will is irrefutable for it is in human nature itself as the Bible says it. In spite of some of Luther’s good ideas that prove man’s absence of free will and Erasmus’ excellent interpretation of the Bible, neither of them fully responds to the human yearning of knowing the concept of free will. After a thorough and wise analysis of the defense and abnegation of man’s free will of these authors, I find it impossible to fully deny or prove the existence of man’s free will. It is important to take into...
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