Catholic Thought discussion

Book X is entitled “Memory,” and Augustine is going on a long philosophical journey, which at times becomes a little dense. My reading pace slowed down quite a bit, as I could absorb only so much at a time. Augustine ponders human memory and how God penetrates everything, even if in our memories or minds we ourselves do not see.

”(2)But the abyss of the human conscience lies naked to your eyes, O Lord, so would anything in me be secret even if I were unwilling to confess to you? I would be hiding you from myself, but not myself from you.”

He moves on in asking “(8) But what am I loving when I love you?” From his thoughts emerges a beautiful prayer in paragraph 9:

I put my question to the earth, and it replied, “I am not he”;
I questioned everything it held, and they confessed the same.
I questioned the sea, and the great deep,
And the teeming live creatures that crawl,
And they replied,
“We are not God; seek higher.”
I questioned the gusty winds,
And every breeze with all its flying creatures told me,
“Anaximenes was wrong: I am not God.”
To the sky I put my question, to the sun, moon, and stars,
But they denied me: “We are not the God you seek.”
And to all things which stood around the portals of my flesh I said,
“Tell me of my God.
You are not he, but tell me something of him.”
Then they lifted up their mighty voices and cried,
“He made us.”
My questioning was my attentive spirit,
And their reply, their beauty.

Later, in paragraph 38 I was so surprised to see his famous prayer Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I love you!… It strikes me how much the theme of beauty comes up again and again.
To understand how Augustine thinks of memory, my edition gives this explanation, and it helps us understand why beauty is a natural outcome here:

”…keep in mind that memory for Augustine is a much more expansive term than how we use it today as the place where we keep past images and experiences. For anyone working out of the Platonic tradition, the memory borders on the divine and the eternal, transcending space and time. It is where all the experiences of one’s life’s story are held together in a single moment. Furthermore, the memory also bridges the two worlds inhabited by the human person, as the mind applies eternal images to temporal realities. The memory hence enjoys a uniquely special role in Augustinian theology because it is here one is most enabled to behold God. Similarily, Augustine’s theology of memory holds a central place in the Confessions because it is the memory that enables each of us to tell our life’s story.”

In the latter part of this long chapter he explores the dynamic of the outer world we perceive and react to with our senses and how it interplays with our inner world, where God resides. He moves from sensual sense of touch to taste, smell, hearing, sight, and the concupiscence of the eyes. He moves on to pride and how it plays a role in our actions. Some of these seemed rather tedious to me, and yet Augustine always has a purpose,

”(65) It is still my constant delight to reflect like this; in such meditation I take refuge from the demands of necessary business, insofar as I can free myself. Nowhere amid all these things which I survey under your guidance do I find a safe haven for my soul except in you; only there are the scattered elements of being collected, so that no part of me may escape from you.”

My pace has slowed down too with Book Ten. This is definitely a difficult one. I haven't finished it so I feel comfortable in making claims about it. Here's what's going on in my mind. When I read, especially a difficult read, the first thing I look for is what is the author doing structurally, because the links between parts is what creates an overarching thought. (By the way I think that comes from Aristotle's Poetics.)

And there's two structures one usually needs to consider, the structure in relation to the overall work and the structure within the section at hand. As to the overall structure, it seems to me that Augustine is summarizing or perhaps the better word is synthesizing the sins of the first nine books here into the three temptations that has governed his life. As to the structure within the Book, it seems to me he's taking those three temptations and rolling them up into some philosophic point about the nature of memory and our relationship to God. I have not been able to grasp what that point is, but I haven't finished the chapter either.

It also seems to me that when Augustine uses the word memory (and it's used a lot in Book Ten) he is using it differently than how we think of memory today. I'm speculating here, but it seems to me he's using the word memory as we would use the word consciousness, or self-awareness, and by consciousness he may mean both conscious and subconscious. What would be the word for that, mind? That is why he delves into the senses and perception.

Now this is pure hypothesis on my part. If anyone has a better understanding, please put it out. This is where a book club comes in handy. We're here to help each other out.

What's doubly frustrating for me is that when I first read Confessions a number of years ago I wrote notes in the margins as I usually do. It seems like I understood it better back then. It seemed like I was getting it on that first read and I'm not now on the second read. I was apparently smarter years ago...lol.

Manny wrote:

I was apparently smarter years ago...lol.

Hahaha. I feel like that a lot......

I agree wholeheartedly about the difficulties in the last three books. Rex Warner who translated my 1963 version warns that readers may be “somewhat repelled by the lengthy speculation of the last section.” (Introduction, (p. viii)

St. Augustine spends quite an amount of space to explore the intricate mysteries of memory. He associates memory with mind. He asks questions about the relationship of images and how we retain other matters in memory not associated with images. This no doubt is early exploration of a much discussed subject matter in modern times and no doubt in history. He does not come to any definite conclusions and asks “when we remember forgetfulness, it is not present to the memory through itself, but through its image; because if forgetfulness were present through itself, it would not lead us to remember, but only to forget. Now who will someday work this out? Who can understand how it is?” (Chapter XVI)

He considers where does God reside in the recesses of his memory. He would like to find God in his memory so that he could consult Him. Man’s life on earth is an ordeal that does not stop. His hope is only in God’s mercy and that alone.

I like his original idea that perhaps we desire happiness because our memories/mind have retained happiness before our original sin—that is before we were born in sin. He doubts whether we retain some kind of knowledge of that happiness but still he raised the question.

He is troubled that he has no control over his memory and mind when sleeping. Thoughts of early life over which he can control his conscience in waking state occupy his dreams sometimes and he is disturbed by this.

Another issue that comes to his mind is the moderation in eating. Where does the need for maintaining bodily health end and eating for the pleasure and satisfaction begin? He considers other senses as well--smelling-he does not seek it. He is torn between attraction of the singing of Psalms and avoiding the pleasure of hearing them.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." (Phil. 4:11-13) He asks God for strength to live according to His commands.

St. Augustine confesses the temptation to fleshly appetite which draws him to gratification of senses and pleasures and also the yearning of the soul for knowledge and learning – “striving for new experiences through the flesh.” (Chapter XXXV, Coulter) He calls it “malady of curiosity” which applies to all the senses. The praise by others leads to the temptation of vainglory. He prays to God for grace to lead him. In looking for a “mediator” to help him in praying to God he finds that the only true one is Jesus who appeared as a mediator between the sinful man and God.

That is quite helpful Galicius. Thank you.

Galicius wrote: "Another issue that comes to his mind is the moderation in eating. Where does the need for maintaining bodily health end and eating for the pleasure and satisfaction begin?"

Reading this passage I was wondering where the middle ground is for Augustine. He doesn't go into the role feasts play in our lives, such as weddings - which we know Jesus attended. Here we do eat for pleasure. From today's perch we would say that feasting is not the same as the disordered impulse towards gluttony, where moderation is habitually abandoned.

I can't say I understand how everything in Book X relates to each other. Here’s what I think I get. Ultimately I think Augustine is building a case of man needing God to arrive at some sort of harmonious resting place, both by establishing how man acquires knowledge of the world through his senses, builds a store of memory, which is vast and multifaceted, forms his mind, which is the storage place for the knowledge of God. It is that mind which comes under attack through various parts of his senses. This I think leads to a conclusion that he is a scattered a conglomeration of “scattered pieces,” a fragmented self which can only be made whole by arriving at a resting place in God. (See paragraph 65) And the means of finding that rest is Jesus Christ as mediator and redeemer of human sin. Sin fragments the soul but Christ, through His sacrifice, reconstitutes it.

Does that make sense?