Summary
Confessions 9 begins with yet another
prayer extolling God's goodness and mercy and acknowledging the sinfulness of
human beings. Through God's grace Augustine is set free from the
enslavement to temporal goods [9.1]. He
quietly withdraws from his profession as teacher of rhetoric, using health
concerns as his excuse [9.2].
A wealthy friend of his, Verecundus, offers
Augustine the peace and quiet of his country estate at Cassiciacum in Northern
Italy, where Augustine in September of 386 retreats with his mother, son and a
few close friends. It is here that Augustine begins his career as a
Christian philosopher, writing such important works as The Happy Life
and The Soliloquies [9.3 - 9.4].
Augustine returns to Milan in March of 387,
where he, Alypius, and his son, Adeodatus, are all baptized. His
happiness is slightly marred, however, by the death of his son a short time
later [9.6]
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Read
Confession 9.1 - 9.7 |
Summary
Not long before Monica's death, and while
they were still waiting for the boat that would take them back to Ostia,
Augustine describes how he and his mother were looking out upon a garden in
the house where they were staying in Ostia. While they are reflecting on
the joys of the next life, the two have a joint mystical
experience.
Interpretation
Numerous attempts have been made to
interpret the vision at Ostia, not all of which have been successful. Paul
Henry, for one, has attempted to argue that Plotinian elements play a large
part in the vision of Book 9. Augustine, he writes, not only used Plotinian
language to describe the scene but adopts the same progression of ideas as
Plotinus. Henry further maintains that, although Augustine translated
standard Plotinian concepts into biblical language, the characteristics of the
vision are identical to those in the highest Plotinian contemplation: God is
the object of knowledge and the mode of this knowledge is the "vision of
God in himself and by himself without any intermediary." Concerning the
relationship between the visions of Books 7 and 9, Henry argues that both owe
their inspiration to certain sections of the Enneads, although he
admits that the spirit of the two passages is quite different.
This interpretation has been supported by
some of the most influential Augustine scholars of this century. John Burnaby,
for example, maintains that the vision of Milan was "of exactly the
same kind" as the vision at Ostia. "There is no grounds," he
writes, "for the claim that the intervening ‘purgation’ and reception
into the Church gave to the so-called ecstasy at Ostia a ‘Christian’
quality lacking to the earlier experience". The general consensus up
until recently, then, has been to view the vision at Ostia as little more than
a successful rehash of the vision at Milan-both being inspired by the
Neo-Platonic thought of Plotinus.
One author who has chosen to take a more
interesting look at the vision at Ostia is Colin Starnes, who argues quite
coherently for the unique character of this vision. According to Starnes, and
in opposition to the traditional interpretation, the vision at Ostia is intended
to be understood as specifically Christian in character, whereas the vision in
Milan is a Neo-Platonic vision-one that all men can achieve through a
consideration of nature. Although Starnes is essentially correct in arguing
for the uniqueness of the vision of Ostia, he does not go far enough in his
analysis of what makes this vision different from the one in Milan.
Certainly, the end of both visions is essentially the same. As Starnes
observes they arte both "the direct, though momentary, grasp of one and
the same God, seen ‘in himself’-arrived at in both cases through the
consideration of nature, and known in both cases to be the true goal and bliss
of the soul." It should not be at all surprising that Augustine views the
end of the two experiences as being identical: we have already seen that for
him philosophy and true religion can both lead the seeker of wisdom to one and
the same promised land. The difference between the two, as we have also seen,
lies not so much in the goal that is sought but in the way that it is sought.
The reason why Augustine must continue his narrative is precisely because he
wishes to distinguish between that type of vision that is the end-product of
presumption (the vision at Milan) and that which is the end-product of
confession (the vision at Ostia). The unique aspect of the vision, therefore,
lies exclusively in the fact that it is the by-product of grace and is found
only in a life of complete submission to the Church. An analysis of the
visions in Book 7 and 9 makes it clear that Augustine’s aim in continuing
his narrative past the conversion account in Book 8 is to offer yet another
refutation of all philosophically-inspired attempts to attain happiness.
Comparison of
Visions at Milan (7.10) and Ostia (9.10)
|
Milan |
Ostia |
|
philosophical vision |
Catholic vision |
|
effect of the will |
effect of grace |
|
unmediated |
mediated by Christ |
|
individual vision |
communal vision |
|
economy of pride |
economy of humility |
|
use of Neo-Platonic
language |
use of biblical
language |
|
emphasis on the
present |
emphasis on the next
life |
|
direct but fleeting |
direct but fleeting |
|
results: greater
despair |
results: greater
hope |
We have already seen that the vision of
Milan in Book 7 is inspired by Augustine’s reading of the books of the
Platonists, and, based upon this, he attempts to attain mystical union with
God through the force of his own will alone. The entire account is written in
the first person, emphasizing the solitary nature of the experience (I was
admonished;" "I entered;" "I saw"). We have also seen
that Augustine places this vision in Book 7 squarely in the economy of pride:
he receives the books of the Platonists from an "extraordinarily
conceited person;" the writings of the Platonists themselves are replete
with self-glorifying thought and ideas; and he describes himself at the time
of this experience as filled with pride.
The vision at Ostia, on the other hand,
takes place after Augustine has begun to read Paul seriously for the first
time after he has inscribed himself within the Church, and after he has
completely rejected the belief that one can rest in God through the exercise
of reason alone. In the aftermath of his conversion in the garden of Milan,
which he now interprets as the gratuitous acts of a merciful God, he no longer
seeks a life of fame and wealth, but simply to follow god’s will by living
in relative obscurity within the Church, "I was able totally," he
writes "to set my face against what I willed and to will what you
willed.... And I decided in your sight that ....I would diligently withdraw
from a position where I was making use of my tongue in the talking shop." The
pride of Augustine in Milan has thus given way in Book 9 to a humble
acknowledgment of his own moral infirmity and need for divine assistance.
Thus, whereas Henry sees the aim of the vision at Ostia, like the one in Book
7, as an attempt at mystical union with God without the help of an
intermediary, Starnes more correctly observes that the vision at Ostia is
precisely a vision of the mediator. Certainly, there is no question in
Augustine’s mind that without the assistance of Christ he would not have
been able to ascend to God.
It has also been noted that in opposition to
the individual character of the vision at Milan, the vision at Ostia is
communal in character, being shared by both Augustine and his mother. The role
of Monica in this experience should certainly not be underestimated. Indeed,
in Augustine’s early writing she typically is used to represent the Church.
If this is also the case in the Confessions, and there is no reason to
believe that it is not, then the vision at Ostia should be seen as an attempt
at union with God that is founded upon a shared faith grounded in the
authority of the Church. Whereas the frequent use of "I" in the
earlier experience highlights Augustine’s pride and arrogance, the use for
the plural, "we," ("we raised ourselves higher,"
"still we went upward;" we talked;" "we sighted") in
Book 9 emphasizes instead his newfound subservience to the Church.
The fact that the later episode focuses
almost exclusively on the joys of the next life, while the vision at Milan
emphasizes the joys of the present also serves to bear out the fundamental
differences between the two accounts. Whereas Augustine’s aim in Milan was
to seek beatitude here and now through the exercise of his will, at Ostia he
and Monica are completely concerned with the joy they will experience upon
seeing God face to face in heaven. The Christian visio dei, as opposed
to that of the philosophers, can best be described as a vision of a vision--a
fleeting glimpse of the full vision of God that awaits the elect after death.
Man’s ultimate felicity, Augustine finally came to realize, must be
postponed until after he has thrown off the burdens of earthly existence. And
yet Augustine clearly perceives the earthly visio dei of the Christian
to be of such an intensity that, if it were to go on forever, it would be
virtually indistinguishable from the joys of heaven. Though neither the
Christian nor the Neo-Platonist can sustain this vision for more than a brief
period in this life, the Christian is left with something that the
Neo-Platonist is not-the satisfaction that, as a result of his faith in
Christ, he will be able to experience the bliss of eternal knowledge of God
after death.
Despite the brevity and transient nature of
the experience at Ostia, the moral results of this vision differ completely
from that of the vision in Milan. As in the former vision, Augustine’s soul
ascends upward towards "that region of never-failing plenty," where
he briefly intuits the bliss of heavenly existence, though barely touching it
with the "whole strength of [his] hearts’ impulse." The entire
experience is described as "a moment comprehension" (momentum
intelligentiae) and ends as suddenly as it began with Augustine’s
returning to his normal state. This time, however, the experience does not end
in ever greater misery and despair, but rather a greater sense of peace and
hope. As opposed to the first vision, in which he is pulled away from God by
the weight (pondus) of how own carnal habit, the vision at Ostia
reinforces his belief that the goods of the world, over which he had
previously lusted, are nothing compared to the joy of resting in God for all
eternity.
Suggestions
for Further Reading
