This is my first real reading of Augustine. I’m going to attempt over the next month or so to work through all the books of Confessions. If the first sentence didn’t make matters clear, I’m not an expert on Augustine. I also am not a theologian. What I will be offering in this series are first impressions without the context or knowledge to sustain arguments. I invite corrections and offers of context from those knowledgeable.
Book 1 focuses on Augustine’s childhood. For a first time reader, I think the most surprising thing is the prominence of sin so early. Augustine seeks to impart that sin is a part of our lives not just in an abstract (“original sin”) way but in a concrete form. He notes that as a baby he would cry if he wanted to be nursed by his mother or wet nurse, as all babies naturally do. He asks us to understand this as sin. He justifies this by claiming an adult who cried and convulsed to be fed or entertained would be seen to have acted in a disordered way.
Being modern, this strikes me initially as an odd way to consider things. My immediate instinct is to go straight to culpability. Volition is a necessary component of sin in our modern vocabulary. But I don’t think we should get lost here. Going big picture, Augustine is saying that sin is a constant part of our existence. Augustine is pained by the offense he has given God through his sin, including what he deems the sin he committed as a baby. He doesn’t write an apology for his actions (like claiming he wasn’t cognizant of them). His focus is on the pain his actions have caused God.
I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up Augustine’s baptism, since he mentions it in this book. I don’t recall a specific age being mentioned, but it was after the age of reason. He was almost baptized when he has near death, but his health recovered. He clearly believes he would have benefited from being baptized much sooner. He rejects the opinion that it is better to sin while you are still unclean rather than have that sin defile a clean body. At this point at least, he does not seem to see much of a distinction between sin committed before of after baptism. For that matter, he isn’t concerned with making distinctions about the culpability of sin. His primary focus seems to be to emphasis that sin is an obstacle between us and God.
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