Saint Augustine

[Anonymous No.22916226]

What should I read first? De Civitate Dei or the Confessions?

[Anonymous No.22916248]

Why would you start 400 years into Christianity. If you havent read St. Clement of Rome, you're wrong.

[Anonymous No.22916255]

>>22916226
From what I hear, De Civitate Dei is where you will find more philosophy and at least in Latin it is not an easy work. The reason for that is De Civitate Dei is intended for learned people, whereas Confessiones is for the masses, with simple language, and where his rhetoric shines

[Anonymous No.22916661]

/// Crimp the edges to seal them tightly /// The result is that people have exalted expectations and are shocked when they don't materialize /// It is reserved for those who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty" while in action /// The soldiers were ready at a moment's notice /// Additionally, about 96 percent of the land is under conservation easement, meaning it can’t be developed /// He's a mouthpiece for the pharmaceutical industry /// The army has been whipsawed by a shrinking budget and a growing pool of recruits /// It’s been really hectic here. When things settle down, I’ll give you a call /// He had developed a reputation as an automotive savant and tinkered on cars in his spare time /// Although exports are in this sense an epiphenomenon, they are the most measurable of the two /// She strapped the children in and drove away /// The lotion alleviated the itching /// I'm sure they will charge up the wazoo for tickets /// Farming may seem bucolic, but it is an inherently volatile industry, subject to the vicissitudes of weather, disease, and disaster /// Kept the truth from their unwitting friends /// The wily City veteran is rarely caught on the wrong side of a trade /// He saw no fulsome eulogies carved upon the headstones, often nothing but a name and the two dates of birth and death /// Everyone loved her for her blithe spirit /// He's alternately warm and accommodating, then irascible and prickly /// All the world can now peddle its wares on the internet with few restrictions /// In at least some of these alternative ontologies, the visions that come to us unbidden, in the liminal states of insobriety, hypnagogia, or theurgic ecstasy, are not to be dismissed out of hand as obstacles to our apprehension of truth, but may in fact be vehicles of truth themselves /// That practice kept the dynastic line pure but it also increased the risk of passing on congenital defects /// Of course the hoarders' obstreperous attitudes are due, at least in part, to their various illnesses /// Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead /// Members from both parties should repudiate his comments /// The project was flawed from the outset /// What they researchers found questions the image of pliosaurs as the rapacious big game hunters they're often portrayed as /// Shrapnel from the bomb ripped into the side of the airplane /// The new evidence clinches the case /// He will be loath to leave via the back door, quietly /// Things can change in a heartbeat /// We investigate the issues of inductive problem-solving and learning by doxastic agents /// The ship docked at long last /// If a chief constable takes umbrage at a man and fines him, there is often no promotion for him ///

[En.W. No.22917173]

>>22916248
Anything I should read before St. Clement of Rome?

[Anonymous No.22918500]

>>22917173
Hopefully the entire Bible at least once.

[Anonymous No.22918554]

>>22916255
Yeah, OP you should start with Confessions, it's more digestable. When you're more big-brained you can read City of God.

That said, there is SOME fun thinking in Confessions. Augustine presents a pretty cool theory of time.

But mostly it's an account of his life, addressed to God. Considered the world's first autobiography. His memorializing of his mother, Saint Monica, is a particularly moving passage.

[Anonymous No.22918608]

>>22916226
Confessions is a better read because it's basically one of the earliest autobiographies. It's very readable for what it is, but you should really understand the zeitgeist of fourth-century Rome and Christitanity vs Manichaeism, which most editions of the Confessions will probably assume you do if you're trying to read Augustine.

Confessions doesn't require that much prior reading. As for City of God you should be familiar at least with the New Testament, but ideally with Plotinus and Plato as well. Augustine also even cites Trismegistus in City of God but no one ever seems to bring this up.

[Anonymous No.22919222]

Most of City of God is a reddit debunking of Roman paganism. He's not wrong, either objectivley or within the philosophical framework of paganism, but a tedious debunking post that drags on for hundreds of pages it remains. Things like arguments about how daemons can not fit into classical elemental theory and remain morally good etc.

[Anonymous No.22919509]

>>22918500
Anything I should before the entire Bible

[Anonymous No.22920285]

>>22916255
>>22918554
>>22918608
>>22919222
Thank you guys. I'll read the Confessions first and De Civitate Dei after restudying Plato. I'm quite interested on his rhetoric since I heard about the florid style that africans had writting in latin.