Confessions by Augustine — BOOK VI: Secular Ambitions and Conflicts

1. 1. Augustine, after renouncing Manichaeism, remained in a state of skeptical despair, unable to commit to Catholic Christianity despite his mother Monica's confidence in his eventual conversion.
2. 2. Monica readily abandoned her African custom of bringing food offerings to martyrs' shrines when Bishop Ambrose prohibited it, showing her docility and respect for authority.
3. 3. Ambrose read silently, a practice unusual in antiquity, which Augustine speculated was to save his voice or avoid being drawn into debates.
4. 4. Through Ambrose's sermons, Augustine learned that Catholic exegesis interprets Scripture spiritually, not literally, resolving his earlier objections to Old Testament anthropomorphisms.
5. 5. Augustine came to prefer the Catholic faith's modest demand for belief over the Manichees' false promise of knowledge, recognizing that belief is necessary for daily life.
6. 6. While preparing a panegyric for the emperor, Augustine envied a drunken beggar's carefree cheerfulness, realizing his own ambitions brought only anxiety.
7. 7. Augustine's friend Alypius was cured of his addiction to circus games when Augustine, unaware of Alypius's presence, used the games as a sarcastic illustration in a lecture.
8. 8. Alypius was once nearly convicted of theft after being found with a hatchet dropped by the real thief, but was saved when a witness identified the true culprit.
9. 9. Alypius, as assessor to the Italian Treasury, resisted bribery and threats from a powerful senator, choosing integrity over advancement.
10. 10. Augustine, now thirty, remained indecisive about converting, torn between the desire for wisdom and the attractions of secular success, including marriage and a governorship.
11. 11. Alypius, initially continent himself, began to desire marriage after Augustine argued that he could not live celibately due to his long habit of sexual indulgence.
12. 12. A plan among Augustine's friends to form a contemplative community with common property collapsed over the question of wives, as some already had spouses and others intended to marry.