Ambrose Bierce

morals, other times by exemplary and virtuous action on her part. He ended up, of course, falling in with the Manicheans in his earlier adult life, although the seeds that his mother planted were still lying dormant. Eventually, as he meets Saint Ambrose, he sees in Ambrose’s teachings answers to the philosophical troubles that he had been having and rejects the Manichean teachings.…

The Journey to Saint Hood After reading the book “Confessions of Saint Augustine,” I felt comfortable being able to write my semester paper over this book. This book begins with the life of Saint Augustine. The first nine books (chapters) are mostly made up of the younger days, birth to middle aged, to around the time he converted to Catholicism. For this paper, I went back through and re-read the book to try and interrupt some of the dialogue better than I did the first time. After reading…

Augustine wrote confessions as a bishop. He wrote about many situations from his earlier life. When reading Confessions you must keep in mind that these are the words of an older man talking about his past self. If young Augustine had written Confessions it would have been a much different book. Love is an interesting topic. We all love or are loved in one capacity or another. Romantic love is a different beast altogether. Often times we are obsessed with the idea of love and we will do…

1 Nestorius placed a special emphasis on the humanity of Jesus. He began preaching against the title Theotokos or Mother of God, beginning to be used of the Virgin Mary. He distinguished between the logos (“divine nature”) and Christ (the Son, the Lord) as a union of divine nature and human nature. He refused to attribute the human acts and the sufferings of Jesus to the divine nature, arguing that God could not suffer on the cross, as God is omnipotent. Therefore the Virgin Mary, could not be…

Augustine’s conversion played a very significant role in his life. It shaped him and his thoughts, especially towards doing God’s work. When he was not conversed yet, his sins and guilt made him feel uncomfortable. As he said in the beginning of Book (VIII) thus before he was conversed, (Thus I was sick at heart and in torment, accusing myself with a new intensity of bitterness, twisting and turning in my chain in the hope that it might be utterly broken! For what held me was small thing, but it…

In the Confession’s introduction, Augustine used repetition of grammatical forms in the same sentence, Isocolon. “The more Augustine learnt about astronomy, the greater the tension in his adherence to the Manichee faith.”(Introduction, XV) The sentence tells us how Augustine continued in association with astronomy and slowly ceased his belief in the Manichee community. Augustine reflects on his own speech, “But in these words what have I said, my God, my life, my holy sweetness?” (Bk. I, p.5)…

Aptly titled, Confessions of St. Augustine, is a purging of Augustine’s mind and soul to God. He is alternately pouring out his sins of flesh and mind while praising God for allowing him to do so as well as atone for the sins of his youth. Frequently he relates tales of when he found himself compelled to sin and how, having found the err in his ways, he has turned his life to the study and worship of God through the Catholic church. Explanation, though not justification, comes in how he…

St. Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions details his life as it pertains to his views on theology and how they were shaped. One of the views noted was his distaste for tragedy. In the first half of the Augustine and Culture Seminar, the Oresteia, a trilogy of Greek tragedies was discussed. This essay will explore why Augustine would have an unfavorable view of the work, and also why he might have some leniency toward it. Before Augustine’s view of the Oresteia can be predicted, it is important to…

Within the Confessions St. Augustine divides his thoughts up into various sections of his life. Two sections that spoke out more than the rest were firstly the topic of his dear friend who had passed away; the next was that of the consolation in others. St. Augustine pondered on the memories that he had shared with his fellow friend along with the grieving process that encompassed death. He looked to God to help him cope with the loss as well as the fluctuating emotions that entailed. As humans,…

The Rule of St. Augustine Applied to Dorm Living The dorms of St. Norbert College mirror the dynamics and interaction found in a small community. Many bonds are forged in the lower classmen housing and these often times harbor everlasting friendships that stand the test of time. However, this is not always the case. Especially in freshmen housing, many quarrels arise between residents as well as RAs. In attempt to steer away from such hazards, I am in search of a plan of action that would build…