in, his change in desire shows that he is coming closer to finding truth and self. Augustine says "I no longer wished individual things to be better, because I considered the totality" (VII, xiii, 19). In this statement we recognize that Augustine has the ability of understanding God, truth, and knowledge, and in turn, have faith. He discovers another large stepping stone to his effort in finding self, truth, and faith: Augustine says he "was astonished to find that he already loved God" (VII, xviii, 23). The fact that he could discover he loves God before he even knew who or if accepts Christianity helps him understand more about faith. Augustine finally figures out what it takes to be a person of truth. The more you understood about faith , the closer you are to truth and contentment. Contentment is the main theme of the section where Augustine realizes his true beliefs. The only thing that separated him from others was that he was not yet a child of Lady Continence from Book VIII. This means his understandings and faith did not coincide and neither did divinity and contentment. The final step, as suggested by Augustine, is to "cast yourself upon him, do not be afraid" (Vii, xi, 27). He is saying to trust in God and he will carry you to truth. Before, Augustine was living the life of thievery and sexual pleasures, but then stops living the life and is happy without those carnal pleasures. This is the point at which truth is split. The truth in oneself can can only take a person so far as being able to be a good person by not committing sin, or trying hard not to. The truth in God is a universal fact: God is good, therefore God is truth, because a lie is evil, and God cannot be evil. The step from simply being a good person to understanding and having faith in God makes the truth in God different from the truth in oneself. In other words, a person can be good without believing in God, except that in order to be forgi...
