St. Augustin

A detailed Summary of St. Augustin

From the analysis of St. Augustine Confessions and Beowulf, it is clear that the two authors, St. Augustine and the poet respectively, differ on their views of death, which helps to paint a better picture of the world that each writer lived in. In Augustine's writings, death plays a major role in life; it serves as the stepping stone to a greater existence in heaven. In Augustine's world, Christianity and God both play an important role in how death is viewed. In the poets writings we see a different perspective, one in which the time you spend on earth is of great importance; very little thought is given to life after death. Although God is mentioned and discussed throughout the writing, it is a very different perspective than the one shown by Augustine.

In the writing of St. Augustine, the reader gets a small glimpse of what life was like in the Roman Empire in the forth century, and more particularly how death was viewed during this period. According to the Confessions, life, though valued, was just a time spent before God chose to bring your soul to heaven; contingent of course on the fact that you were a Christian. "Yet in a moment, before we had reached the end of the first year of a friendship....you took him from

When we look at the world of the poet of Beowulf, we see a very different world. In the world of the poet, life is seen as very important; almost no thought is given to where the soul goes after dying. Making the most of ones life, while you are living, it seems is unparalleled in importance. "My father was a noble leader well known among nations...He lived through many winters, and was an old man when he departed from this world (Beowulf, 10)." Beowulf speaks of his father's long life and notoriety as if that is all that is left of him. There is no mention of his faith or the transcendence of his soul, as one would come to expect in the Confessions. "They set a golden banner high over his head; then they gave him to the sea and let the water carry him away. Their spirits were saddened, their hearts mournful. Men on earth, even the wisest of counselors, do not know how to tell who truly received that cargo (Beowulf, 4)." This passage clearly points to the insecurity and skepticism of life after death that existed in the world of the poet. This insecurity seems to be the reason that the characters of Beowulf spend all their lives trying to do great and noble deeds so as to be remembered always. Some might argue that the continual references to god as the almighty power and the decider of each person's fate as a parallel to the beliefs of the Romans of St. Augustine's time. "...and fight for my life, enemy against enemy; he whom death takes there must trust to the judgment of the Lord (Beowulf, 14)." However, this passage alone, though it does contend to a belief in god much the same as in Augustine's work, loses much of its validity when the rest of the piece is considered. "At times they made sacrifices to idols in heathen temples, entreating the devil to help them relieve the distress of the people (Beowulf, 7)." This passage is a clear indication that the faith in god held by the people of the

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Approximate Word count = 1297
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels