Augustine: Confessions
I've never been a fan of (St.)Augustine... after all, he's responsible for the doctrine of original sin (The fall of Adam) which spawned centuries upon centuries of Christian guilt, which as we know still exists today. But recently I started reading his most well known work "Confessions of a Sinner" and I gotta say, there are parts of this book that are awfully thought provoking. In reading it, there's no question that Augustine was a TERRIBLY troubled man (seeing as how he'd repent for the sins he commited as an infant... which he can't even recollect!). There's no doubt that he's articulate, though.
He recollects his adolescent sinfullness: fucking, theft, etc. There was one statement he made that really intrigued me when talking about theft:
He speaks about how him and his buddies went and stole a bunch of pears from a neighbour's tree. He says he doesn't understand why he did this, since he had pears at home which were better anyways. "If any part of one of those pears passed my lips, it was sin that gave it flavour." Then he relates his sin to his defiance of God's law. He says "Since I had no real power to break His law, was it that I enjoyed at least the pretence of doing so, like a prisoner who creates for himself the illusion of liberty by doing something wrong, when he has no fear of punishment, under a feeble halucination of power?"
I think that raises a very interesting question about, not necessarily sin, but of rebellion or mischief. Do we hurt people, and do things that we know are destructive, or less than reasonable, just for the illusion of freedom? And that begs the question, what are we trying to free ourselves from? Our we, at least in our society, so repressed that we have to go to extremes to feel liberated?
There are people that I've encountered, that have certainly been put at disadvantages throughout their lives. However, it tends to be these same people who feel the need to reject all standard norms, customs, social institutions, and belief structures. As much as they may see themselves as enlightened, or "above" the status quo, is it possible that they're just buying into the illusion that by separating themselves from the typical kind of life, they are not held down by the constraints and responsibilities of society? And if so, is this really productive, or are they just fooling themselves?
Thoughts?
He recollects his adolescent sinfullness: fucking, theft, etc. There was one statement he made that really intrigued me when talking about theft:
He speaks about how him and his buddies went and stole a bunch of pears from a neighbour's tree. He says he doesn't understand why he did this, since he had pears at home which were better anyways. "If any part of one of those pears passed my lips, it was sin that gave it flavour." Then he relates his sin to his defiance of God's law. He says "Since I had no real power to break His law, was it that I enjoyed at least the pretence of doing so, like a prisoner who creates for himself the illusion of liberty by doing something wrong, when he has no fear of punishment, under a feeble halucination of power?"
I think that raises a very interesting question about, not necessarily sin, but of rebellion or mischief. Do we hurt people, and do things that we know are destructive, or less than reasonable, just for the illusion of freedom? And that begs the question, what are we trying to free ourselves from? Our we, at least in our society, so repressed that we have to go to extremes to feel liberated?
There are people that I've encountered, that have certainly been put at disadvantages throughout their lives. However, it tends to be these same people who feel the need to reject all standard norms, customs, social institutions, and belief structures. As much as they may see themselves as enlightened, or "above" the status quo, is it possible that they're just buying into the illusion that by separating themselves from the typical kind of life, they are not held down by the constraints and responsibilities of society? And if so, is this really productive, or are they just fooling themselves?
Thoughts?