Confessions

Chapter v.—Questions concerning the origin of evil in regard to God, who, since He is the chief good, cannot be the cause of evil, 119

Chapter vi.—He refutes the divinations of the astrologers, deduced from the constellations, 121

Chapter vii.—He is severely exercised regarding the origin of evil, 124

Chapter viii.—By God’s assistance, he gradually arrives at the truth, 125

Chapter ix.—He compares the doctrine of the Platonists Followers of Plato concerning the Logos The "Word" or Divine Reason with the far more excellent doctrine of Christianity, 125

Chapter x.—Divine things are more clearly manifested to him who withdraws into the recesses of his heart, 128

Chapter xi.—That creatures are changeable and God alone is unchangeable, 129

Chapter xii.—Whatever things the good God has created are very good, 129

Chapter xiii.—It is fitting to praise the Creator for the good things that are made in heaven and on earth, 130

Chapter xiv.—Being displeased with some part of God’s creation, he conceives of two original substances, 131

Chapter xv.—Everything that exists owes its being to God, 131

Chapter xvi.—Evil arises not from a substance, but from the perversion of the will, 132

Chapter xvii.—Above his own changeable mind, he discovers the unchangeable Author of Truth, 132

Chapter xviii.—Jesus Christ, the Mediator, is the only way of safety, 133

Chapter xix.—He does not yet fully understand the saying of John, "That the Word was made flesh," 134

Chapter xx.—He rejoices that he proceeded from Plato to the Holy Scriptures, and not the reverse, 135

Chapter xxi.—What he found in the sacred books that cannot be found in Plato, 136

BOOK EIGHTH

HE FINALLY DESCRIBES THE THIRTY-SECOND YEAR OF HIS AGE, THE MOST MEMORABLE OF HIS WHOLE LIFE, IN WHICH, BEING INSTRUCTED BY SIMPLICIANUS CONCERNING THE CONVERSION OF OTHERS AND THE MANNER OF ACTING, HE IS, AFTER A SEVERE STRUGGLE, RENEWED IN HIS WHOLE MIND AND IS CONVERTED UNTO GOD.