Augustine's Youthful Sin (Book II)

What the the pear tree episode in book II tell us about Augustine's view of sin and the nature of human depravity?

Augustine and Sex (Book II)

What is your reaction to Augustine's view on sex? (see section 3) How about singleness and marriage? How did Platonism and ascetic views of his day influence his views here?

The invention of the inner self (Book 1.2 (ii))

Philip Cary, a philosophy professor of mine at Eastern University, argued in his dissertation that Augustine was the first writer in western civilization to "invent the concept of the self as an inner space." In other words the idea of an inner world within a human being comes from the pen of Augustine. His book was 90 bucks so I didn't get it and read exactly how he argued his thesis. But in your knowledge of other ancient writers do you think this is the case? Pay close attention to the way he speaks in book 1.2 (ii). Maybe we can keep our ears open to see if this language arises again in the book. Perhaps someone (ehem Pete) who really knows Latin can help us here with the intricacies of translating that passage.

Augustine's Childhood (Book I)

As your reading the beginning of Confessions and about Augustine's childhood, why do you think he emphasizes his sinfulness as a child and youth? Do you think his analysis of the psychology of children is accurate?

Augustine and Plato (Whole Book)

Augustine has been noted to be heavily influenced by Platonism. Specifically it is often argued that he has been influenced by the Neo-Platonist Plotinus. You might want to read a little bit of his work the Eeneads to check on this. Chadwick has said that Augustine uses Plotinus' language to describe his relationship with God.

As you read have you found this to be so? How have you found it? Do you think he is adapting Platonism in a way that remain consistent with Biblical Christianity (a little anachronistic here perhaps)? Ancient Christianity? or has he gone too far?

Introduction

I strongly recommend reading Henry Chadwick's introductory essay in his translation of confessions. It will give you some necessary background. For more information on Augustine and his life and works, Peter Brown's biography is reputed to be excellent.

My first question is one that we should focus on some in our discussion time. Why did Augustine write confessions? Any thoughts? More questions?

How this blog works

Alright guys so this blog is basically gonna work backwards. Rather than having a series of long blog entries written by a single author with a few comments here and there, the blog entries will be short, and the majority of the content will be found in the comments. In this way we hope to create a space for conversation and dialogue, rather than just one person sharing their own ideas.

Here's how it will work:
Whoever is leading the discussion on the book we are currently reading--in this case it is me Matt Stephan--this person will be responsible for posting one or two questions every week to stimulate the exchanging of ideas.

Everyone will try to take a few moments every week to answer the questions.

I think that is simple enough. If you have any questions or comments, this is a great opportunity to test the comment feature, which we will all be using every week. :)