calls his past sins with great pain (25). He confesses that he was unable to distinguish between love and lust. He committed the sin of fornication. Augustine regrets not being forced to marry, this would have interfered with his public life, so he did not marry. However, he feels he should have married in order to be cured of his concupiscence of the flesh.Of special interest is his candid remembrance of stealing from a pear tree with his friends. He points out that he was not in need of the pear and he did not even eat it, but rather he took delight in the act of stealing with his friends. According to Augustine this is very important because it shows that we as humans, because of original sin are inclined towards evil. We take delight in the act of evil as evil. This is disturbing, but it shows that we have free will and with that the power to sin. Augustine says he was in love with my own ruin, in love with decay (30). This shows us what will happen if we do not have sanctifying grace. Augustine was looking for happiness and could not find it. He know realizes that happiness is from God and he is sorry he did not see that then.Book III.Augustine focuses on his seventeenth year to his nineteenth year, during which he was a student at Carthage. Augustine states that he was in love with loving (37). He is looking desperately for something to fill the void in his heart, but it is only God who can do that. During this time Augustine takes on a mistress. He lived with her for thirteen years and they had a son Adeodatus, whom he was very fond of. It is here that Augustin begins his philosophical journey. He is greatly influenced by Cicero's Hertensius. This awakened in him a desire for wisdom and aroused a love for philosophy that was to culminate in his conversion to Christianity. Although, Augustine warns us that philosophy can lead one astray and away from the doctrines of the Church. We should not let this happen. A...
