One of the most important Christian writers, Saint Augustine serves as a bridge between the classical period and late antiquity. His autobiography of personal struggles, conversion, and contemplation on God sheds light both on how people of late antiquity observed Christian traditions and on how Neoplatonism influenced Christians' relationship with God. Augustine constantly investigates the question of evil in his Confessions. To seek an answer to this dilemma, he draws on the Christian tradition and Neoplatonic philosophy. Neither alone is sufficient to answer the question of the existence of evil. By combining the two traditions, Augustine can achieve spiritual wisdom by going through Christian initiation, studying biblical texts, and contemplating God inwardly and upward. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the first part of the Confessions, Augustine is struggling to renounce the temptations of the material world and become a devout Christian. He relies heavily on Christian traditions to make the decision to convert. Monica, Augustine's mother, influences her son with her demonstration of faith and devotion. His piety and visions inspired Augustine to convert. As a good Christian, she obeys the rules of Bishop Ambrose and focuses on the personal cult of the saints. Augustine, seeing these gestures, naturally feels guilty for not having converted. An important vision he receives at the Garden of Milan shows an important Christian belief that happiness and comfort are in God. Lady Continence reveals to Augustine that only believing in God can lead to true continence. Furthermore, following the command to “take and read,” Augustine finds the answer in the Bible. Subsequently, he is able to abandon his attachment to lust and desires. These events show the impact of Christian traditions on Augustine's initiation process. Furthermore, Augustine believes in salvation through storytelling and in the importance of the present as a critical moment for redemption. These beliefs are rooted in the Christian tradition that past sins are forgivable as long as one begins to believe in Jesus and God in the present. In the Gospels, for example, Jesus reiterates that whoever believes in him will be saved and forgiven. Paul's letter to the Romans shows that Christians should not be slaves to sin but slaves to God. After Augustine's conversion, he is no longer a slave to the flesh and bodily pleasures. Instead, look to God for help and guidance. His idea of salvation through storytelling offers Christians a way to redeem themselves from their sinful past. The Gospel teaches that we must submit to God like a child, with innocence and a pure mind. Augustine, however, believes that children are essentially sinners. Consequently, he argues that Christians can gain God's favor by reflecting on the past and learning from past mistakes. Essentially, a person can go back to their childhood and regret the crimes they committed through storytelling and interrogation. Therefore, Augustine's conversion and memory of the past are influenced by Christian traditions. Augustine's profound analysis of biblical stories and texts draws on and reshapes the Christian tradition. Instead of taking the Bible literally, Christians should have a spiritual understanding of the written text. This figurative interpretation of the Bible is not new. The Gospel of John, for example, begins with the Word and the Word made flesh. These lines reveal that God's words may not have a single literal meaning but represent something.
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