Jack Logue’s Reviews > Saint Augustine Confessions > Status Update

In Book IX of Confessions, Augustine talks about his mother Monica’s death at Ostia after his conversion, showing how she’s calm about dying because her biggest wish that he finally may become a catholic has already come true. Even though he knows he’s supposed to have hope and trust God, he still breaks down and cries for her, and he deals with his grief by praying for her soul.

In Book VIII, St. Augustine is fighting between his mind and his flesh. He keeps asking God why he always says he’ll change “later” or “tomorrow” but never actually does it. At one point he breaks down crying, and then he hears kids singing, “Open the book and read.” He runs home, opens Scripture, and reads a passage about lust that hits him straight in the heart. In that moment, he submits to Christ.

In Book VII of Confessions, Augustine shifts from thinking of God in a physical way to seeing God as eternal and immaterial, helped by Neoplatonic ideas. He realizes evil isn’t a thing in itself but a lack of good, which breaks his old Manichaean beliefs. He briefly “sees” God with his mind, but admits his will and habits still lag behind his new understanding.

In Book VI of Confessions, Augustine is caught between his old life and becoming a true Christian. His mom Monica is happy he left the Manichees but sad that he hasn’t really changed his lifestyle, and by the end he’s closer to believing yet still afraid to fully give up his old habits.