Contents – Book VII

Contents – Book VII Book VII Chapter I He regarded not god indeed under the form of a human body, but as a corporeal substance...

Chapter I – He Regarded Not God Indeed Under The Form Of A Human Body, But As A Corporeal Substance Diffused Through Space.

BOOK SEVEN The conversion to Neoplatonism. Augustine traces his growing disenchantment with the Manichean conceptions of God and evil and the dawning understanding of God’s...

Chapter II – The Disputation Of Nebridius Against The Manichaeans, On The Question “Whether God Be Corruptible Or Incorruptible.”

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER II 3. But it was not sufficient for me, O Lord, to be able to oppose those deceived deceivers and those dumb...

Chapter III – That The Cause Of Evil Is The Free Judgment Of The Will.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER III 4. But as yet, although I said and was firmly persuaded that thou our Lord, the true God, who madest not...

Chapter IV – That God Is Not Corruptible, Who, If He Were, Would Not Be God At All.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER IV 6. For in my struggle to solve the rest of my difficulties, I now assumed henceforth as settled truth that the...

Chapter V – Questions Concerning The Origin Of Evil In Regard To God, Who, Since He Is The Chief God, Cannot Be The Cause Of Evil.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER V 7. And I kept seeking for an answer to the question, Whence is evil? And I sought it in an evil...

Chapter VI – He Refutes The Divinations Of The Astrologers, Deduced From The Constellations.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER VI 8. By now I had also repudiated the lying divinations and impious absurdities of the astrologers. Let thy mercies, out of...

Chapter VII – He Is Severely Exercised As To The Origin Of Evil.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER VII 11. By now, O my Helper, thou hadst freed me from those fetters. But still I inquired, “Whence is evil?”–and found...

Chapter VIII – By God’s Assistance He By Degrees Arrives At The Truth.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER VIII 12. But thou, O Lord, art forever the same, yet thou art not forever angry with us, for thou hast compassion...

Chapter IX – He Compares The Doctrine Of The Platonists Concerning The Logos With The Much More Excellent Doctrine Of Christianity.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER IX 13. And first of all, willing to show me how thou dost “resist the proud, but give grace to the humble,”[184] and...

Chapter X – Divine Things Are The More Clearly Manifested To Him Who Withdraws Into The Recesses Of His Heart.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER X 16. And being admonished by these books to return into myself, I entered into my inward soul, guided by thee. This...

Chapter XI – That Creatures Are Mutable And God Alone Immutable.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XI 17. And I viewed all the other things that are beneath thee, and I realized that they are neither wholly real...

Chapter XII – Whatever Things The Good God Has Created Are Very Good.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XII 18. And it was made clear to me that all things are good even if they are corrupted. They could not...

Chapter XIII – It Is Meet To Praise The Creator For The Good Things Which Are Made In Heaven And Earth.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XIII 19. To thee there is no such thing as evil, and even in thy whole creation taken as a whole, there...

Chapter XIV – Being Displeased With Some Part Of God’s Creation, He Conceives Of Two Original Substances.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XIV 20. There is no health in those who find fault with any part of thy creation; as there was no health...

Chapter XV – Whatever Is, Owes Its Being To God.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XV 21. And I looked around at other things, and I saw that it was to thee that all of them owed...

Chapter XVI – Evil Arises Not From A Substance, But From The Perversion Of The Will.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XVI 22. And I saw and found it no marvel that bread which is distasteful to an unhealthy palate is pleasant to...

Chapter XVII – Above His Changeable Mind, He Discovers The Unchangeable Author Of Truth.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XVII 23. And I marveled that I now loved thee, and no fantasm in thy stead, and yet I was not stable...

Chapter XVIII – Jesus Christ, The Mediator, Is The Only Way Of Safety.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XVIII 24. I sought, therefore, some way to acquire the strength sufficient to enjoy thee; but I did not find it until...

Chapter XIX – He Does Not Yet Fully Understand The Saying Of John, That “The Word Was Made Flesh.”

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XIX 25. But I thought otherwise. I saw in our Lord Christ only a man of eminent wisdom to whom no other...

Chapter XX – He Rejoices That He Proceeded From Plato To The Holy Scriptures, And Not The Reverse.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XX 26. By having thus read the books of the Platonists, and having been taught by them to search for the incorporeal...

Chapter XXI – What He Found In The Sacred Books Which Are Not To Be Found In Plato.

BOOK SEVEN CHAPTER XXI 27. With great eagerness, then, I fastened upon the venerable writings of thy Spirit and principally upon the apostle Paul. I...

Book Seven

BOOK SEVEN The conversion to Neoplatonism. Augustine traces his growing disenchantment with the Manichean conceptions of God and evil and the dawning understanding of God’s...

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