Posted by Greg Syler on June 22, 19100 at 15:44:00:
In Reply to: Re: The Confessions posted by Jack on March 13, 19100 at 17:07:41:
: : I have a question to be resolved...Augustine's Conversion seems to be moral rather than religious...so in what sense is his conversion a real one? and How did it resolve his previous difficulties?..If anyone has any insights into the matter, I'd love to hear it...Thanks
: Augustine's conversion was in 3 stages as indicated in his Confessions: Book 7 talks about his intellectual conversion; Book 8 his moral conversion, and Book 9 his religious conversion.
Dan, you are quite right. It is helpful, as well, to keep in mind that the three-stage progression of Augustine's conversion experience follows the lines of transformation outlined in Plotinus' philosophical system, a system of thought best described as neo-Platonic and heavily influential on the thought of young Augustine of Hippo. This is only to agree wholeheartedly with Dan's prior response, for the move from intellectual to moral to religious conversion is true to Plotinus' three-step understanding of conversion: first, the mind is reformed; then, the person's character; finally, the person is brought into a near mystical state (the religious experience) which is something like the stamp of authenticity or the ultimate guarantor of the conversion. With this knowledge, we see the ways in which Augustine's philosophical and rhetorical studies not only formed his character but also we see the way he bridged the two worlds of philosophy and theology, a struggle all along, of course.
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