The Desire to Know

Reading Augustine's Confessions is like taking a walk down memory lane for me.  I spent a long time being extremely confused about the same things that he discusses in his writings.  These "unanswered questions" acted as stumbling blocks, limiting me from seeing the power and truth of Scripture.  I was raised in a Southern Baptist church that taught sound doctrine directly from the Bible, but many questions fell into the typical "gray area" that churches tend to avoid.  Reading about Augustine's inner battles of Good vs. Evil and Spirit vs. Flesh offers a new perspective of the situation for me.  I spent so much time desiring to understand everything I could about what I claimed to believe, but a lot of aspects only confused me just as they did Augustine.  Ultimately, faith was the secret answer to most of my questions.  Faith allowed me to trust God and view the world through a different pair of lenses than before.  There was an instance very similar to Augustine's singing voice during his moment of conversion, and although there was not an actual voice, my faith in God was awakened and I realized that trusting Him was the only way I could ever put a cease to my confusion.  A lot of the answers became much more apparent to me through the reading of Scripture, but many still exist because some secrets simply belong to God.  The desire to know everything about a limitless God still exists, as does Augustine's deep desire to understand Him, but I no longer question my faith because it only makes me seek after Him even more than before.

I commented on Amanda's "Compassion vs. Pity"

And we're off...

Honors, round two. Here we go! I have greatly enjoyed Honors already!
Confessions has brought a lot of enlightenment to me. Even in the short amount of time we've been into it. I love how St. Augustine walks us through his life ad his struggles, pre-conversion, in such a real way. He presents struggles that we face everyday, in such a clear way.
Confessions is unlike most books I've ever read and I look forward to finishing it, and continuing this semesters readings! :)

P.s. I commented on Mallory's "Until we find our rest in Thee"

Theodicy and the Hell of Error

Augustine was no stranger to theodicy. He struggled with it honestly and intensely. After his conversion to the catholic church, he inquired as to the origin of sin. God himself is the Creator, the source of all things; does that mean he is the author of evil? If God created everything good, then why does man sin? If man sins because he was tempted by the devil, then why wasn't the devil good? If the devil was at first good but had a corruptible will, did God know it was corruptible? If not, is he still God? If so, is he still good?

These thoughts swept me back again into the gulf where I was being stifled. But I did not so far sink as far as that hell of error where no one confesses to you his own guilt, choosing to believe that you suffer evil rather than that man does it. (1)

It is good to ask questions, but when answers do not suffice, it is better to simply believe the truth we know is true rather than succumb to error through rationalism. God is good; God is just; God is all-knowing and sovereign over all things--this we know from the apostles' teaching. Men and devils sin of their own corruptible wills, yet God who created them is not to blame for their evil acts. The blame is theirs. I'm reminded of that great Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon.

Some seem to believe in a kind of free agency which virtually dethrones God, while others run to the opposite extreme by believing in a sort of fatalism which practically exonerates man from all blame. Both of these views are utterly false and I scarcely know which of the two is the more to be deprecated. (2)

Spurgeon was a Calvinist's Calvinist who firmly believed each man sins of his own volition, that each man's sin was his own and he was responsible for it. He and Augustine would agree: neither sado-theism nor open theism will do. God is good, God is sovereign and man is responsible for his sin. Scripture recognizes no inconsistency between them; therefore we should be careful lest we ourselves walk off the cliff of God's Word into the hell of error.

(1) Augustine's Confessions, VII.3
(2) C.H. Spurgeon, "The Way of Wisdom"

EDIT: Commented on Mallory Searcy's "Until We Find Our Rest in Thee."

compassion vs. pity

So good! Augustine's Confessions is making my pink pen come dangerously close to running out of ink because of how much I have underlined! This guy truly understands the grace of God, in a way that many of us who were raised in church have a hard time appreciating. I just finished the end of Chapter 8 and his conversion reminded me of the story in Luke 7 of the sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet. Because she had greater (sin) debt than the disciples sitting at the table with Jesus, she was more free in expressing her love and Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, her sins are forgiven- for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little" (v. 47). Oh that I may never forget for how much God has forgiven me!
But I digress... I meant to write my blog on the compassion/pity topic we touched on in class yesterday. It's funny how God works, because the night before I spent a significant amount of time looking up the Greek for compassion and pity as they are applied in the Gospels, because they are not interchangeable as something I read suggested. I won't bore you with the extensive notes I took, but I found that σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai)- means "to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)." Love AND pity= compassion. This means that compassion requires action, because love, as shown in the Bible, is not a feeling so much as it is an action. Pity, as shown by the Greek oiktirmos refers more to the emotions. Back to Augustine, while watching tragic plays that arouse the emotion of pity, one is able to detach the self from the action unfolding onstage. They feel for the actors but there is distance of the mind and heart telling them that it is not real and there is no need to become involved. Then, when confronted with a tragic situation in real life, many who have become accustomed to pity automatically detach themselves from the situation and stifle any thought of compassion. Contrary to this, those with compassion see the need and feel pity but also move to help the person out of love...and this is how we become the hands and feet of Jesus. He was never detached and distant from those who needed Him. He saw interruptions of His day and tragic circumstances as an opportunity to show compassion and act in love by meeting their needs. Pity requires nothing of you, whereas sometimes compassion requires all of you. But isn't that just like Jesus? :)
commented on Emily's "it's a gift..."

Until we find our rest in thee.

I'm not going to lie, I'm more than partial to this book. The first time I read this I was 14 and I consider that reading to be my conversion. Before St. Augustine I never understood sin and forgiveness, I never understood the glorious, absolving blood of Christ. I think its dangerous in honors (and in all classes) to 'murder to dissect".* In other words, we take apart the words to find their flaws or trace their argument, instead of receiving the truth they have for us.
Our hearts are restless till we find our rest in thee.
Words like that are beautiful, powerful, bold and true. I don't ever want to focus too much on analyzing the theology and miss the beauty of the truth. That St. Augustine once was lost, but now is found and redeemed in the arms of Christ. And to be redeemed and found means to have ultimate joy in the midst of suffering.





*stolen directly from Wordsworth and a conversation in Brit Lit

I commented on Skylar Michelle's blog

It's a gift...

As I was reading Augustine's Confessions, a paticular passage in Book V:4 stuck out to me, "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 knows and loves its Creator." We've all heard this before, but all the talents and brainpower we have aren't really ours to begin with but are gifts God has given us. No matter how great we think we are, at the end of the day, none of what we've done or have would be possible without God. We are nothing without him. Also, the passage made me think about people who don't know what talents they have or what their purpose is. Augustine is saying that you should be grateful for your life and all that you have even when you don't know what all that entails. j The last part of the passage about the person who's not grateful for the tree, doesn't even own it, and has no love for the tree's creator confused me a bit but I gathered that this talks about people who think that they deserve honor for their talents and strengths even though they had no control over how God made them. (P.S. Commented on Mallory's)

EVERYONE READ THIS (please)

Welcome back! This is a reminder about the guidelines for the blog. Remember that it is part of your grade so if you do not blog your grade will be negatively affected.
Each post should reflect the reading assignments for the week. Try not to simply restate what was said in class; show that you have read by formulating a coherent post that is at least a paragraph (5 sentences) long. You are graded on how well the assignment is done, not just if it is done, so it helps to reference the novel or work that you read and use quotes to clarify your point. Use correct grammar and spelling to the best of your ability and no texting shorthand please.
Each week you also need to comment on a classmate's post and at the bottom of your post please include "I commented on ____________'s post: (title of their post)" (example: I commented on Amanda's post "Everyone Read This") That just helps us out a lot when we are grading your blogs.
Blogs are due Friday morning at 1:00 AM. Have it done before you get in bed on Thursday night. :)
LATE BLOGS DO NOT RECEIVE CREDIT. This is new from last semester- if your blog is late you will receive a zero for that week. You have plenty of time to get them posted. If something happens and the blog messes up, email it to me at agaster62@rams.umobile.edu before the deadline to receive credit.
You do get two blog skips. This means you can miss blogging twice and still receive full credit. If you choose not to use one or both of your skips then the points will be added to your final blog grade as bonus.
Blogging starts next week and a blog is due every week unless otherwise announced in class.
Any questions? Leave a comment or ask any of the Honors Council in class :)
Tantum e tenebris receptum constabit