Benoit 1

Emily Benoit
Korsten p. 5
21 September 2015
Saint Augustines Confessions
Saint Augustine, in Book XI of his Confessions, argues that time is an
essence rather than a measurable object or a linear function, since
temporality only applies to the present moment and not to the past, future,
or God himself, and he also states that this concept is largely why the period
before Creation is called the Beginning, because Creation is the beginning of
time. While this claim can be stipulated, it stands to reason that it is not
altogether untrue, however paradoxical. If time cannot exist in the natural,
temporary world as more than a thought or awareness, then how can it be
measured and thought of as to be past, present, or to come? Saint Augustine
offers this solution: because God is not governed by time and time does not
exist in a natural state, God is eternal, which makes the words that gave the
universe life also eternallife is not a collection of time, but rather the
eternal soul confined to temporality.
This resolution is entirely justifiable. The Bible does reference multiple
times, even in Gods own words that God is, was, and will be; even before
the creation of time, He existed. Saint Augustine refers to Genesis
especially, quoting verse one that says In the Beginning, God created the

Benoit 2

heavens and the earth. Using this, he bolsters his argument that Creation
occurred before the limit of a timeline, therefore perpetually existing and
perpetually being created. Even if the Earth stopped revolving around the
sun, the time would still pass, and Creation cannot be confined by it. The
living would continue to age, the Earth to change, so this would not prohibit
nor accelerate the passage of the present moments.
As to whether or not the revelation is convincing, it is difficult to
discern his meaning entirely at first glance. Only when delving deeper into
the text does understanding develop. The flowery language and intense
spirituality both help and dissuade the total induction of the piece, as it is
tedious to weed through each ode to religion and Old English pronoun, but
the sanctity offers the insight as to how to interpret the thought process of
Saint Augustine, which should be taken in by an extreme philosophical and
religious point of view, otherwise the profounder value to his words become
lost in the vastness of his proposals.