In Confessions, Saint Augustine takes an autobiographical approach with respect to his life in order to exemplify theological dogma held to be true by the Christian church. But more importantly, such a personal approach to the work is to show parishioners that even he, pious Augustine—a devout man of God, seemingly without aberration from the teachings of Christ—had to wrestle with carnal desires. Corporeal urges, though while not necessarily bad for their own sake, do, as Augustine seems to assert, create a rift in the relationship between God and his creations. A reader of Confessions can easily relate to the internal conversations Augustine has concerning the nature of God, if any, and priorities throughout life. However, it is important for a modern-day reader of Confessions, one wishing to examine the work in an objective manner, to not simply accept the work as is. The historicity of an “I had an encounter with God” account can never be determined. Therefore, when one stumbles across such assertions, the faculties of the mind must be employed in order to arrive upon probable explanations as to why the individual described the period in his or her life as having to do with a deity (in most cases, historically, it served an etiological function). In the case of Augustine, as will be seen through his own words, he did not arrive at the conclusion to shun material emotions in order to strengthen a relationship with a perceived deity. No, Augustine suffered through emotional trauma following the death of his friend, and because of that trauma developed a lifestyle to avoid future distress, and then rationalized that with already present ideas of religion.
Being a teacher of rhetoric and an astute philosopher, Augustine is extremely logical and the majority of his interpretations are derived only after extensive reasoning. Therefore, his theological ideas can be more easily deconstructed than theses based more on faith than reason. Naturally, and as can be rightly expected, a theological idea cannot exist without faith; it would be a solely logical idea otherwise. Augustine describes a time in his life in Book IV where he suffered through severe emotional distress and he concluded: do not value things that cannot last above things that will. Augustine described all components of the material world things that will not last and God, his deity, a thing that will last (though even that is contestable). Nonetheless, Augustine detailed his general mental state at the time, “I lived in misery, like every man whose soul is tethered by the love of things that cannot last and then is agonized to lose them” (77). Then, at the death of his friend, Augustine “lived in a fever, convulsed with tears and sighs that allowed [him] neither rest nor peace of mind” (78). Overall, he was in a completely depressed state, and it was not until after this state that Augustine developed the idea to love all material actualities less than God. Had Augustine not experienced any traumatic events throughout his life (i.e., the death of his beloved friend), no impetus would have existed for him to develop the idea to hold material emotion below that of deity-directed emotion.
Unfortunately, no agreement can be made between Augustine and objective interpreters, then, that the appropriate course of action is to no longer love things of the material world, but only a static entity above the realm of humanity. While one can suffer great agony and negative emotion to lose material things (material things refers to any object, person, or dynamic belief system), one can also obtain great joy. Punishing one’s self—withholding something that is rewarding—just for fear of losing that rewarding object is not an agreeable means of living. It is living out of complete insecurity and anxiety, and instead assigning emotions and attachment that should be directed toward tangible items and living beings to a manifestation of the mind that may or may not exist.
Augustine clearly has lowered the place of material reality in his mind and raised that of his deity in order to avoid further emotional trauma. And with no knowledge of psychology at the time, this reassignment of emotional attachment was rationalized as a means to construct a strengthened relationship with God, rather than being recognized as what it truly is: a defense mechanism. Augustine clarifies it even further for the reader who still may be skeptical as to the true cause of his ideas (i.e., not God), “Blessed are those who…love their friends in you…They alone will never lose who are dear to them, for they love them in one who is never lost, in God” (79; emphasis added). There is no way imaginable to state one’s intentions in any other way. You will “never lose who are dear” to you if you love your friends in God. The motivation behind loving friends in God quite clearly has nothing to do with strengthening a relationship with the deity, but has everything to do with managing negative emotion at the loss of a friend. It seems that the early Christian Church and its teachings served primarily as a psychologist for parishioners.
While humans live in the material realm, the only realm that certainly exists, it is important to realize when material and carnal pleasure is overshadowing and overtaking other important aspects of life. For instance, it may be difficult for one to pursue truly pursue knowledge and enlightenment if always under the influence of mind-altering substances, even if pleasure is the result. One may attribute the need for balance to a religious reason—or any reason he or she may wish, that is an individual’s prerogative—but the fact is that balance is important to achieve throughout life. A balance must be achieved between material pleasures and those brought about by simply using the mind. It seems that Augustine was striving to achieve some semblance of balance in his life between material pleasure and emotions, and he was not—until later in life, if ever—able to achieve success. His struggles are those of humanity, and while he clearly developed theological principles to cope with psychological trauma and not because of religious awakening, it does not negate the usefulness of those principles to others.
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