On November 30, 1896 two bicyclist discovered the body of a huge sea creature that has washed up on a beech near St. Augustine, Florida. Scientists thought it was some kind of giant octopus that might of measured more then 100 feat long. It was named Octopus giganteus and a specimen was sent to the Smithsonian. Later on, tests revealed that the "St. Augustine Monster was not a octopus at all? It was actually a giant mass of whale…
Palm Coast: Back Door to St. Augustine So, you’re moving to Florida. Or, you’d sure like to. No one probably has to drill you on Sunshine State specifics, like those flash cards that once helped elementary-school students memorize multiplication tables. Remember those?…
First, Augustine draws a parallel between himself and a passage from the Old Testament in the chapter “Pear Theft”, in which Augustine is persuaded by his friends to steal pears from a local tree. The parallel between Augustine’s retelling and the story of Adam and Eve from the book of Genesis is both evident and purposeful. Adam is persuaded into taking the forbidden apple from Eve, leading to the eventual banishment from the Garden of Eden while Augustine is peer-pressured into stealing pears which signals his metaphorical banishment from enlightenment and acceptance of…
St. Augustine has had an enormous impact in the shaping of Western Christianity. In On Free Choice of the Will, Augustine describes the effects of human agency on inherent truth and emphasizes the idea that humans are bound by certain truths but are free to interpret them as they please. Perhaps the most influential aspect of Augustine’s writing was his insistence on using reason to prove his ideas, a concept that was contrary to the traditional Christian method of inquiry. Through his ideas of God and the nature of wisdom, he heavily influenced Christianity.…
There is one question every person must eventually ask themselves. Does God exist? This question guides humanity and tells us what we ought to do. When people answer no to this question, there are usually three different reasons or doubts, they have. The first is intellectual doubt, which deals with the logic and reasons for God.…
I find that this book has many aspects that are easily relatable to my own personal walk with God and my life growing up in a Christian household. At first we just accept what our parents believe as our own however, as we grow up and mature, we must find ourselves and determine our personal beliefs just like Augustine did. This is an important part in the journey of maturing as people in the faith. It is important to see what the world has to offer and to compare different beliefs so that we are able to strengthen or search for our own. I enjoyed experiencing Augustine’s testimony and life and making connections of my own.…
Saint Augustine opened my eyes into realizing how important religious beliefs and the prospect of sacred living. He not only spoke about God's Grace and the search for God's love, but the way spiritual wisdom can approach us or make our lives much better. Augustine was going through rough times before encountering God's path, however he never gave up his religious beliefs. As days go by for me, I question myself if I believe just like Saint Augustine did. At the end of the day, I believe!…
As a Christian, Augustine has opened up to be a friend to all that believe and accept the same things he does. His fellow Christians are his community that he surrounds himself with. Over the course of Confessions Augustine has grown himself and through his…
The pursuit of happiness is not just a fundamental right and theme found in the United States’ Declaration of Independence. It is an inward aspiration and impulse that has rooted itself as a fundamental need and craving for humanity. In Confessions by Saint Augustine, the pursuit of happiness, or simply desire, is an evident theme found within the juxtaposition of Augustine’s crimpling longings and struggle for earthly and spiritual desires. However, Augustine’s earthly and fruitless desires for lust, philosophical recognition, and theological knowledge, leads to the birth of his spiritual desire for fulfillment and ultimate conversion to Christianity.…
For Augustine, the sacred Scripture played a significant role in his conversion and acceptance of God’s grace in his life. After Augustine had been contemplating his poor life choices, he had opened the Bible and read the first passage that he saw, which told him to convert and Augustine immediately did so. After his conversion to Catholicism, he lost all the fears and doubt about God and the differences between good and evil that he had been harboring inside of…
Advising on ways to convert and becoming a martyr. By sharing their story, they allow people to experience their journey, meaning people can start to relate their own experiences to the narratives which in turn inspires more people to convert to Christianity. Especially Augustine because he distinguishes how God has always guided him throughout his life even when he was not a Christian, this allows non-Christians to relate themselves to him and begin to think about converting as a way of saving their own soul and initiate their path to…
Augustine, known as one of the four founding fathers of the Catholic church, helped to shape and mold the rights and wrongs within the religion. From Augustine’s interpretations of the bible and its scriptures, many people who wished to follow an idealistic Christianity turned to Catholicism. Correspondingly, the two differ when it came to their attitudes towards faith. While Abelard was always an avid Christian throughout his life, Augustine did not become a believer in God or the Holy Spirit until later. Even so, Abelard looked to religion as a backbone of comfort, whereas Augustine looked to it for wisdom.…
St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, challenged his readers by his unique viewpoints. He challenges readers to pick either The Worldly City or The Heavenly City. Also, he advises his readers to obey God and avoid worldly, materialistic items. By appropriating Greek, Roman, and Hebrew cultures Augustine relates to society. Augustine believes that creation was initiated by God, and in the big picture the fall of Rome is irrelevant.…
In contrast, Augustine was born in Thagaste, a province of Numidia in North Africa. His Christian faith proved to play a major role in his philosophical teachings. While Plato’s worldview was more materialistic, Augustine’s worldview was…
This paper reviews the concepts of Aesthetic philosophers and how their theories developed new standards of Aesthetics from the Classical Greek Era, to the Modern Era. The first section of this text describes the philosophers perspectives of Aesthetics during each era, an explanation as to what the philosophers concepts mean, and a possible example or reference to modern society. The second section of this text compares and contrasts the philosophers that have been discussed in this text. From the past to modern society, the perspectives and attitudes of Aesthetics has certainly evolved.…