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Saint Augustine and Classical Education
In Saint Augustine’s deeply personal work, Confessions, he shares the story of
his life up to his eventual conversion to the Christian faith. His odyssey
through life is, at times, one of bitter inner conflict between his intellect
and faith. Augustine’s classical education had a profound affect on the way he
viewed the world, and eventually had a major affect on the way he approached
Christianity. He is definitely an “intellectual” Christian, and viewed many
aspects of his faith from this perspective. Augustine’s attitude towards
classical literature and thought was at times slightly self-contradictory. It
is clear, however, that although he was grateful for the education he was
given, it was not necessary to his conversion. At many points throughout his
life, his education actually seemed to hinder his flight towards Christianity.
Augustine continually incorporated Bible verses and passages into his own
writing, artfully blending the Scriptures in with his own views. His attitude
toward intellect is best illustrated by this short passage in Corinthians:
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God
is stronger than man’s strength… but God chose the foolish things of the world
to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong”
-(Corinthians 25-28)
Augustine believed that the pursuit of wisdom without recognizing the
importance and the power of God was useless. In his view it was a sin for a man
to have that much pride and arrogance about his own intellect. Augustine
recalled that as a very young man he himself succumbed to excessive pride. He
fervently desired the recognition and prestige that came with being an
accomplished rhetorician. He “squandered the brains [God] gave [him] on foolish
delusions.” (I, 37)
Augustine considered his pursuit of worldly wisdom a futile effort at this
point in his life because he did not fully understand the meaning behind what
he was learning.
“ I read and understood by myself all the books that I could find on the
so-called liberal arts, for in those days I was a good-for-nothing and a slave
to sordid ambitions. But what advantage did I gain from them? I read them with
pleasure, but I did not know the real source of such true and certain facts
they contained… for what good was my ability, if I did not use it well?” (IV,
89)
He thought that a person did not necessarily need wisdom to understand and
embrace God; he need only have faith. In book five, Augustine spoke of this
principle by comparing two men:
“A man who knows that he owns a tree and thanks you for the use he has of it,
even though he does not know its exact height or the width of its spread, is
better than another who measures it and counts all its branches, but neither
owns it nor loves its Creator. In just the same way, a man who has faith in you
has all the wealth of the world…” (V, 95)
It can be argued that his intellectual pursuits further complicated his
conversion because he was tormented by certain philosophical questions that
became obstacles to his ultimate goals. In his youth he was obsessed with
counting all the branches, while never seeing the whole tree. At times
Augustine asserted that his pursuit of worldly wisdom was in direct conflict
with his journey towards God.
“What, then, was the value to me of my intelligence, which could take these
subjects in its stride, and all those books, with their tangled problems, which
I unraveled without the help of any human tutor, when in the doctrine of your
love I was lost in the most hideous error and vast sacrilege?” (IV, 89)
Despite all of the negative aspects of his education on which Augustine
focused, it is obvious that his schooling was an essential part of his
character. Other than Christianity, his education was the most important factor
that shaped his early life. Augustine would have been a different man without
this education, and without it his conversion would also have been different.
His circuitous route to his final acceptance of God would have been far less
significant were it not for this long and difficult intellectual struggle. It
is clear that his education in rhetoric provided him with the skills necessary
for shaping Confessions into a highly persuasive work. Confessions is not only
a self-analysis, but also a testimony to the power of the Lord. Augustine
wanted his readers to be fully convinced that the ultimate and only Truth was
what he had discovered after his years of conflict between philosophy and
faith. His credo, “I believe in order that I may understand,” (VI, 127) said
much about his attitude towards the relationship between faith and reason.
When Augustine made the decision to fully convert to Christianity in Book VIII,
it was truly a “leap of faith.” He knew then that he had to leave part of his
philosophical pursuits behind and commit himself fully to Christ.
“For I felt that I was still the captive of my sins, and in my misery I kept
crying ‘How long shall I go on saying, “tomorrow, tomorrow”? Why not now? Why
not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?’” (VIII, 177)
Augustine then heard a child say “Take it and read, take it and read,” and he
interpreted that as a divine command to pick up the Bible. He read the first
section he opened to, Paul, and made the decision to become a celibate and
devoted servant of God. Augustine was a rationalist man throughout the work,
and yet his most defining moment is one of pure faith.
Only after years of personal struggle did Augustine arrive at his own religious
revelation. This ultimately made his conversion much more profound. To fully
and eloquently express himself and his thoughts was essential to his writings.
Clearly, he used his knowledge of rhetoric and the arts to express his views
more effectively. His prose is both immaculate and powerful. The result was a
masterpiece that greatly affected the growth of early Christianity.