The Road to Character

Augustine was born near the end of the Roman Empire and is known for his long and torturous road to Christianity. His mother, Monica, ardently wanted him to be a Christian, but in his early life, he followed his earthly desires instead. He was a well-educated public figure who steadily climbed in the highest political circles of the time. However, he was unhappy. He felt that his work was empty and meaningless and that answering his desires was not satisfying him. However, although he knew his desires were leading him to unhappiness, he could not stop following them. This made him despair of the division within human nature that causes a person to follow their perverse desires even though they know they shouldn’t. Augustine believed God existed, and that he should renounce his desires in order to serve God’s will, but he couldn’t make himself do this. It was not until he had a powerful experience in a garden one day, in which a voice compelled him to open his Bible to a certain page and read, that he finally gave up his desires. His path towards belief had had many stops; first, he had examined himself to see why he couldn’t be happy. In doing so, he’d realized how vast the human mind was. He was then humbled by this realization and felt small in comparison to God. Then, he had accepted God’s grace which showered him with unconditional love: God had already justified his existence and absolved his sins. After accepting God’s grace, he was flooded with gratitude. Finally, this gratitude left Augustine full of energy for returning God’s love. After his conversion, he spent his life writing and preaching, feeling that now that his attention was turned to God, the material world no longer claimed his loyalty.