Augustine's Story Of His Own Conversion example essay topic

Augustine and Conversion Conversion can best be defined as surrendering a particular way of life in order to accept another. The very nature of this process indicates the presence of sacrifice. The convert acts almost entirely on faith, giving up the life that seemed right, a life in which they were comfortable, relying only on the assumption that letting Jesus into their hearts will give their life more meaning and direction then what they had known before. Augustine says that conversion requires cooperation of intellect and emotion, which may have a crippling effect of habit on will, and a need for God's grace to have an unhampered will. He also says that conversion requires a public confession.

Augustine himself struggled with conversion, due in large part to his fascination with women that led to his addiction to sex. Augustine's struggles in converting make his psychology on conversion a plausible one. Augustine's long road to becoming a Christian started when he first became interested in philosophy. This happened in Carthage in the year 372 AD. It was at this time that he read Cicero's Hortensius.

This writing, which explained the search for true wisdom, the pursuit of truth for life, and how people should live that led Augustine to search for a religion or way of life that he could be at comfort with. For nine years from 373 until 382, Augustine followed the ways of Manichaeism, a Persian dualistic philosophy which at the time was widespread throughout the Western Roman Empire. With its fundamental principle of conflict between good and evil and its claim of a rational interpretation of Scripture, Manichaeism at first seemed to Augustine to correspond to experience and set up the best platform on which to build a philosophical and ethical system. Another thing that interested Augustine was that its moral code was not too strict. Manichaeism at the time seemed like the best way to live out his wish of 'Give me chastity and continence, but not just now.

' ; Later Augustine ran into many contradictions in Manicheism doctrines, which led him away from this philosophy and turned him to skepticism. Soon after finding out these contradictions Augustine left Carthage and headed off to Rome and then on to Milan. While Augustine was in Milan he met Saint Ambrose, who at the time was Bishop of Milan. It was through the guidance of Ambrose and hearing stories of men that had gone through conversion before and had found their way to Jesus that Augustine finally decided to convert to Christianity. Augustine's story of his own conversion shows that reforming one's life in order to follow the teachings of Christianity is not always an easy decision. Augustine was interested in Christianity, but was not sure that he wanted to give up the lifestyle he was accustomed to.

This strong hold on the lifestyle he was used to became a vice. This vice was something that he would have to lose in order to fully convert to Christianity. After many years, Augustine finally understood that the temporary pleasures of sex were heavily outweighed by the lasting spiritual improvements that Christianity would bring'... he appeared to me not so much brave as happy, because he had found a reason for giving his time wholly to you. For this was what I was longing to do; but as yet I was bound by my own will'; (Chapter 5). Augustine's first-hand experience with conversion makes his conversion philosophy one that can be seen as correct.