What’s in the fresco?

This image relates to the days when Augustine was a rhetorician who was “teaching the art of rhetoric, selling talkative skills apt to sway others because greed swayed me” (5.2.2). It is significant, as it represents the more materialistic things that Augustine pursued at that time, such as wealth, reputation, and sexual relationships. The eye is drawn to Augustine, who is sitting in the middle of the room and lecturing his students. Yet more important are the three groups into which his students are divided, each representing a stage of Augustine’s spiritual journey. The first of these groups are the students with smug, skeptical expressions on the far left, as well as the students on the far right who are completely ignoring Augustine. This group represents the time when Augustine ignored the teachings of Christianity, opting for the Manichean religion instead.  The second group is made up of the students who are actually paying attention, yet not with full reverence or admiration for Augustine’s teachings. These students represent the time in which Augustine was learning Scripture yet still had doubts about it, such as how God could allow the existence of evil. The last group is the students that are closest to Augustine. These students are looking up to him with reverent holiness and telling others to pay attention to Augustine’s preaching. They represent the point at which Augustine finally accepts Christianity with great admiration, and soon after, preaches its teachings to others.

After teaching in Rome for a period of time, Augustine receives an invitation to travel to Milan (at that time the capital of the Roman Empire). At the bottom of this page you can see the fresco that depicts his journey. He was invited to travel on an official post horse (indicated in the fresco by the fancy bridle).

What’s in Confessions?

Like the fresco, Book IV in Confessions represents a series of events in which Augustine’s mindset towards Christianity is separated into three stages: skepticism, apathy, and acceptance.  The first stage consists of Augustine’s total skepticism about Christianity and his choice to follow the Manichaean religion blindly.  Without prior knowledge about the ideas of evil or righteousness, Augustine believes he can arrive at the truth by following the dualistic religion.  Under their teachings, he became a “deceiver of others amid a welter of desires…secretly under the false name of religion” (4.1.1).  His total faith in the Manichaeans then shifts to an indifference towards Christianity, demonstrated through his relationship with his girlfriend.  The lack of sacramental bonds due to “the roving eye or reckless desire” with the unnamed girlfriend reinforces Augustine's reluctance to leave his sinful life behind, a life in which he “polluted the stream of friendship with [his] filthy desires and clouded its purity with hellish lusts” (4.2.2, 3.1.1).  The third stage is Augustine's growing admiration of God and his drift from Manichaeism.  Augustine reveals his reaction to his Manichaean friend's death and shows how he mistakenly loved that friend as if the latter would live forever.  However, when the friend is not saved through Augustine’s presence, the experience represents a transitional point in his faith, one that causes Augustine to question his Manichaean beliefs and turn towards the Christianity of his childhood. Book IV reveals the many phases of Augustine’s spiritual growth and a critical part of his journey towards the grace of God.

What’s in it for us?

Just as the listeners around Augustine must progress through three distinct stages before finding true belief in his words, college students also go on a similar three-stage journey. In the first stage, college students are ignorant about the college experience, yet they are reluctant to take advice. They determine that they already know everything about college, and have no need of or desire to listen to those willing to help them, such as counselors, upperclassmen, and teachers. They pay little attention during orientation, and like the students in this fresco, talk and text amongst themselves about “more important” matters. But as school begins, and the struggle to balance work with fun emerges, the freshmen start to realize their need for advice. In this second stage, the students remain skeptical of their situation, knowing they need help, but are unwilling to admit it. They relate to the people sitting closer to Augustine, more focused than the farther, yet still hesitant to acknowledge their desire to learn from him. Finally, in the third stage of their journey, college students fully accept that they can learn from others and openly welcome the advice they are given. They take it to heart and follow it devotedly, utilizing the tools they are given, such as tutoring centers and the library, to improve. This is the last step of the journey, and is shown in Augustine’s fresco through the followers huddled closely around his chair. A quote by Augustine that still relates to modern lifestyles reflects, “I should have lifted it up to you, Lord, to be healed, but I was neither willing nor able to do so” (4.7.12).