In book IX Augustine’s mother dies
and Augustine tells a story from her teenage years. Augustine’s mother would sneak wine from her
parent’s cellar all the time and she got in a fight with one of their servants
over it. In the fight the servant basically
called her an alcoholic and that really hit home for her. She realized that what she had been doing was
wrong and this led to her change in faith and why she keeps pushing for
Augustine to convert. Though Augustine’s
mother came to this point by herself and the help of her parents, Augustine
still thanks God entirely. “Through one
unwholesome soul you brought wholesomeness to another” (170, book 8 section
18).
With
Augustine’s sinful past it might make him feel safer knowing that there is a figure
guiding all that he does, so he doesn’t slip up and go back down that lustful
path. Why do you think he is so adamant
about thanking God for everything?
In my opinion, Augustine sees the good work of God through his mother, affirming his own faith and his need to thank God for everything. Through the story of his mother, he is able to understand that God can take a sinful circumstance and transform it entirely, giving him hope in his own life of sin. He also asks God to make him good eventually, but not yet. This also shows his true belief that he knows God is capable of making things good in time.
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