St. Augustine--The Confessions Bks I-IV

Considering the length of the reading, and after discussion with some of our participants, we decided to divide the reading over two sessions. This is the first of two. We'll meet at our fellow participant, Jamie's house. She asks that you all consider: "I have ample tea and coffee on hand, but ask folks to bring nibbles if so inclined. If you'd like other beverages (soda, beer, wine), please bring it as I do not drink sodas at all and having open bottles of wine is hit-or-miss."

The Reading:
"Of all relationships, that between a man and the God he loves is perhaps the most intimate. The Prayers such a man utters inwardly, the confession of his weakness and his need for help, the adoration and the worship with which he lifts his eyes up to the Almighty, are such private matters that no one but God can be privy to them. They are secrets from everyone else simply because they are incommunicable to other men. Even were we to overhear their verbal articulation, we would be hearing words only, words that could not have the same personal meaning for us.

"Why, then, did St. Augustine put into a book feelings and thoughts which are addressed to God? God knows them before they were set forth in writing and, after the book is written, we who read it remain outsiders--like readers of a love letter. Yet there is good reason to believe that St. Augustine intended it for us to read. Instead of asking why he wrote it, the question to ask, perhaps, is what he hoped we might learn from reading it.

"The writer of an autobiography usually regards his life as of sufficient interest to justify other men in learning about it. But while we can learn something about the growth of St. Augustine's mind and the development of his character by reading the Confessions, that would not seem to be his reason for publishing the book. Can it be that he hopes us to learn something about ourselves--the secret about ourselves which only God knows and we can learn only by examining ourselves as St. Augustine did?"--M. Adler introducing the reading for the GBF.

From herein all regular meetings will begin with a brief chat and introduction of new and old members. We will then start with a review of the four rules of Shared Inquiry. The leader will pose the first question and discussion will generally last for an hour and an half, with the first and greater portion of the meeting emphasizing interpretation and the second part evaluation. We'll end with post-discussion comments and critique. Since this is a social and not merely intellectual group, continuing friendly conversation beyond the formalized session is always encouraged.