speaker

Relationships

• transitioned_fromInfancy

  description

  The speaker describes his progression from the stage of infancy to boyhood, which displaced the earlier stage.

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  Passing hence from infancy, I came to boyhood, or rather it came to me, displacing infancy

• transitioned_toBoyhood

  description

  The speaker describes his progression from infancy to the stage of boyhood, where he was no longer speechless but able to speak.

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  Passing hence from infancy, I came to boyhood, or rather it came to me, displacing infancy. Nor did that depart,--(for whither went it?)--and yet it was no more. For I was no longer a speechless infant, but a speaking boy

• learned_to_speak_throughUnderstanding

  description

  The speaker learned to speak by practicing sounds in his memory, attributing this ability to the understanding given to him by God.

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  did myself, by the understanding which Thou, my God, gavest me, practise the sounds in my memory

• depended_onParental Authority

  description

  During his early life, the speaker's actions and life were subject to and influenced by the authority of his parents.

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  yet depending on parental authority and the beck of elders

• experiencedmiseries and mockeries

  description

  The speaker recounts the suffering and ridicule he endured when obedience to his teachers was demanded.

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  O God my God, what miseries and mockeries did I now experience, when obedience to my teachers was proposed

• was_sent_toSchool

  description

  The speaker was put into school to receive learning, though he initially questioned its use.

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  Next I was put to school to get learning

• was_punished_atSchool

  description

  The speaker was beaten at school if he was idle in learning, a practice judged right by their forefathers.

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  if idle in learning, I was beaten

• prayed_toGod

  description

  As a boy, the speaker began to pray to God, his aid and refuge, asking not to be beaten at school.

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  For so I began, as a boy, to pray to Thee, my aid and refuge; and broke the fetters of my tongue to call on Thee, praying Thee, though small, yet with no small earnestness, that I might not be beaten at school

• sinned_by_transgressingcommands of my parents

  description

  The speaker confesses to sinning by disobeying the commands given by his parents.

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  I sinned in transgressing the commands of my parents

• sinned_by_transgressingcommands of my masters

  description

  The speaker confesses to sinning by disobeying the commands given by his masters (teachers).

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  I sinned in transgressing the commands of my parents and those of my masters

• lovedPlay

  description

  The speaker admits that his disobedience stemmed from his love of play, which was his 'sole delight.'

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• was_sealed_withmark of His cross

  description

  Even from birth, the speaker was symbolically marked with the sign of the cross, indicating an early connection to Christian faith through his mother.

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  I was sealed with the mark of His cross

• soughtBaptism of Christ

  description

  During a near-death illness in boyhood, the speaker eagerly sought the baptism of Christ from his mother and the Church.

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  I sought, from the pious care of my mother and Thy Church, the mother of us all, the baptism of Thy Christ

• extracted_fromSource

  extracted_at

  2026-03-02T21:55:14.454Z

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• desires_to_knowTime

  description

  The speaker expresses a strong desire to understand the fundamental nature and characteristics of time.

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  I desire to know the force and nature of time

• refutes_claim_thatHeavenly Bodies

  description

  The speaker explicitly rejects the notion that the motions of celestial objects are what constitute time itself.

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  Let no man then tell me, that the motions of the heavenly bodies constitute times

• confesses_toGod

  description

  The speaker repeatedly makes confessions to God, acknowledging his lack of understanding about time.

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  And I confess to Thee, O Lord, that I yet know not what time is

• acknowledges_ignorance_ofTime

  description

  The speaker explicitly states his lack of knowledge regarding the true nature of time, despite being able to speak about it.

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  I yet know not what time is

• extracted_fromSource

  extracted_at

  2026-03-02T21:55:26.457Z

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• extracted_fromSource

  extracted_at

  2026-03-02T21:55:29.293Z

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• believedGod

  description

  The Speaker initially believed God to have the physical shape of human flesh, a notion he later found unseemly.

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  it seemed to me very unseemly to believe Thee to have the shape of human flesh, and to be bounded by the bodily lineaments of our members

• struggled with the concept ofHuman Flesh

  description

  The Speaker's initial inability to conceive of God without bodily form was a major cause of his theological error.

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  when I wished to think on my God, I knew not what to think of, but a mass of bodies (for what was not such did not seem to me to be anything), this was the greatest, and almost only cause of my inevitable error

• believedEvil (Concept)

  description

  The Speaker, influenced by Manichaeism, believed evil to be a physical substance with its own foul and hideous bulk.

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  For hence I believed Evil also to be some such kind of substance, and to have its own foul and hideous bulk

• conceivedManichaean Doctrine of Evil

  description

  The Speaker conceived of two opposing masses, influenced by Manichaean dualism, with evil being narrower than good.

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  I conceived two masses, contrary to one another, both unbounded, but the evil narrower, the good more expansive

• endeavoured to recur toCatholic Faith

  description

  The Speaker's mind endeavoured to return to the Catholic faith, but he was driven back by his misunderstanding of it.

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  For when my mind endeavoured to recur to the Catholic faith, I was driven back, since that was not the Catholic faith which I thought to be so

• believedJesus Christ

  description

  The Speaker believed Jesus Christ was extended for salvation out of God's most lucid substance, but only in a way he could imagine in his vanity.

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  our Saviour Himself, Thy Only Begotten, I believed to have been reached forth (as it were) for our salvation, out of the mass of Thy most lucid substance, so as to believe nothing of Him, but what I could imagine in my vanity

• came toRome

  description

  The Speaker came to Rome to diligently practice teaching rhetoric.

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  I began then diligently to practise that for which I came to Rome, to teach rhetoric

• came toMilan

  description

  The Speaker came to Milan after being sent by Symmachus.

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  To Milan I came

• came toAmbrose

  description

  The Speaker came to Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, upon his arrival in the city.

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  To Milan I came, to Ambrose the Bishop

• listened toAmbrose

  description

  The Speaker listened diligently to Ambrose preaching, initially to evaluate his eloquence rather than the content.

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  And I listened diligently to him preaching to the people, not with that intent I ought, but, as it were, trying his eloquence

• began to find defensibleCatholic Faith

  description

  The Speaker began to perceive that the Catholic faith, previously thought indefensible against Manichaean objections, could be maintained without shamelessness.

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  the Catholic faith, for which I had thought nothing could be said against the Manichees' objections, I now thought might be maintained without shamelessness

• understood interpretation ofScriptures

  description

  The Speaker understood how places of the Old Testament were resolved 'in a figure,' which corrected his previous literal understanding that had caused spiritual harm.

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• blamed his despair regardingScriptures

  description

  The Speaker blamed his despair in believing no answer could be given to those who hated and scoffed at the Law and the Prophets, after many places were explained.

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  I now blamed my despair, in believing that no answer could be given to such as hated and scoffed at the Law and the Prophets

• extracted_fromSource

  extracted_at

  2026-03-02T21:55:40.804Z

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