. Spinning .

I’m at a point of being stuck for a wee bit as Augustine appears to deride formal education for the more natural method of observation.  But there are a few things that seem necessary to take into account, such as if he is upbraiding himself for taking this path or whether he is questioning teaching methods of forced learning of some directions of study, and of which, the simple staples or the literary prose are indeed the better and more of value.

Piled on top of this I take it are some misjudgments by his peers and scholars of his own station that may color his tone of voice.

So this must be reread, in a quiet room, with the open mind of peace.

Being aware of the language use as I read, I’m also aware that unless there’s a copy of the original around to read in the language written by Augustine, the text is subject to the choice of the translator, and therefore, not pure Augustine.  This naturally bothers me.  And why wouldn’t it?  It’s obvious that in English, a teeny comma can change meaning in a sentence.  After four semesters of Spanish, it was even more obvious how difficult it is to capture one language into a fair representation of another.

I’m using Oxford World’s Classics edition, translated by Henry Chadwick (1991), and this comes from Book 1, chapter 12:

If I was conceived in iniquity and in sins my mother nourished me in her womb’ (Ps. 50:7), I ask you, my God, I ask Lord, where and when your servant was innocent?  But of that time i say nothing more.  I feel no sense of responsibility now for a time of which I recall not a single trace.  (p. 10)

Online, I found this translation by Albert C. Outler(1955):

But if “I was conceived in iniquity, and in sin my mother nourished me in her womb," where, I pray thee, O my God, where, O Lord, or when was I, thy servant, ever innocent? But see now, I pass over that period, for what have I to do with a time from which I can recall no memories?

Also online, at Bartleby’s, a Harvard Classic with a translation by Edward Pusey (1909-14):

But if I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me, 28 where, I beseech Thee, O my God, where, Lord, or when, was I Thy servant guiltless? But, lo! that period I pass by; and what have I now to do with that, of which I can recall no vestige?

The first obvious difference is the missing "nourished" in Pusey’s translation.  He also uses beseech in place of ask or pray.  The innocent of Chadwick and Outler’s versions becomes guiltless in Pusey’s. A trace becomes a memory becomes a vestige.  There is an influence of the contemporary as we look at the particular time periods in which the Confessions was translated, and language choice was evidently affected by the translator’s colloquialisms and normal style as well as era.

Basically the meaning among the three remains the same, notwithstanding the tone.  But for the sensitive reader, this is part of the entire reading experience and does indeed change his own interpretation which, of course, is yet another generation of perception.

There has evidently always been the question of whether the egg or the chicken came first, and Augustine, in this epistle of faith includes science in the form of empirical consideration of infants–thereby acknowledging ignorance of his own infancy and the relationship with all mankind in this instance–addresses the nature of man:

Yet for an infant of that age, could it be reckoned good to use tears in trying to obtain what it would have been harmful to get, to be vehemently indignant at the refusals of free and older people and of parents or many other people of good sense who would not yield to my whims, and to attempt to strike them and to do as much injury as possible?

(…) I have personally watched and studied a jealous baby.  He could not yet speak and, pale with jealousy and bitterness, glared at his brother sharing his mother’s milk.  (p. 9)

Augustine does not merely quote the notion of original sin–a religious belief–but rather backs up his opinion that evil is inherent in man’s nature and must be overcome to be abandoned in favor of the good.  This is a point that has been argued likely for thousands of years and there still is disagreement on it.  Why is it relevant or necessary to know? 

Because society must establish some sort of functioning community and it does that by understanding the natural tendencies of the individual.  Rather than blame upbringing or society alone for spoiling a perfect infant predisposed to do good, it needs to recognize that the tendency leans toward selfishness and disregard for others.  Hence, approach the matter from a different point and adapt a reasonable solution accordingly.