Week 3 Discussion: St. Augustine = Good for Beginners

Does Augustine's proligic use of the category of "sin" in his autobiographical reflections make his work more effective, or does it limit the appeal of what he has produced?

Augustine's use of sin is an effective way to convert people to Catholicism. The thought of being eternally damned is certainly enough to scare me into believing. Augustine's focus on sin reminds me of the stereotypical beliefs of Southern Baptists. One of my parent's friends from Arkansas, a man who is very active in his Baptist church, would tell me about how almost every Sunday some idea of scaring you towards Heaven and away from Hell was included in the church service. Obviously with the large Baptist congregations this technique of fear proves to be fairly effective.

However, an alternative approach to Augustine's idea of always having the concept of sin hanging over ones head is to always be aware of the goodness God brings you. For example, I know this woman, who praises God for every good thing that coms along in her life. On a sunny day, she'd be like "Thank God for the sun!" Or if she had a delicious sushi meal, she'd be like "Thank God for the sushi!" St. Augustine touches on this on page 23 at the end of Book 1 where he says, "My God, I give my thanks to you, my source of sweet delight..." I think this is a more uplifting way to look at what God's power and effectiveness than constantly looking at what one is doing wrong.

Once someone becomes confident in their faith, constantly looking at the sin can be a little depressing in my oppinion. I think we get to the point where we are aware of our sin and certainly need to repent now and again, but it also becomes important to look at the good things. For someone who is already religiously stable, a book like St. Augustine's Confessions might be a little saddening, but for someone new to religion this book would be quite effective in introducing them to the positive attributes of Catholicism and possibly lead them in St. Augustine's path.