I think that the most vital aspect in Augustine's Confessions, more specifically his books "Student at Carthage" and "The birth-pangs of Conversion", is the concept of True Love. Augustine tells us that love is paradoxically balanced between reason and passion, as both reason and passion can be both good and evil at some time or another. So it is not necessarily an equilibrium. The whole idea that love has to be right or wrong, hot or cold, or good or evil is cultivated in a very Western thought process. Eastern thought uses the analogy of a circle to explain thought or argument. There is no need to balance on pointy edges to "weigh" the pros and cons. There are no sides in a circle, and its' focus is interminably the center of

the circle, which gains strength from the entire circumfrence. To apply the anaolgy, Christ is the center, along with Faith and Truth. All three are in and of themselves, love, by definition. Christ is Love in humanity, Faith is Love in spirit, and Truth is Love surrounding an omnipotent creator. These are absolutes.

"I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End", claims Jesus. How can this be possible, we ask. God is the Ultimate Paradox, the True Mystery. This was the ending statement of Dante when he reached the highest heaven; no words can ever capture the essence of the Creator. "I AM" is a powerful statement in and of itself. Jesus is staking claims on the name YHWH, which cannot be uttered by the lips of his followers, but can be known only in a spirit of praxis, of ac

Some common words found in the essay are:
True Mystery, Love Augustine, God Foucault's, Dante's Inferno, St Augustine, TS Eliot, Truth Love, Faith Truth, Student Carthage, Augustine Dante, st augustine, reason passion,
Approximate Word count = 535
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)