Confessions Books III-IV
Study Questions

BOOK III

1. What trouble does St. Augustine get into while in Carthage?
2. How do St. Augustine’s friendships with some other young men in Carthage harm his soul?
3. What impact does Cicero's Hortensius have on St. Augustine? What passion is kindled within him?
4. How does he view the Bible at this time? Why does he dismiss it?
5. What attracts St. Augustine to Manicheanism? How did it help him “solve” the problem of evil?
6. Discuss Monica’s dream. How did it give her hope?

BOOK IV

1. In Carthage, St. Augustine lives with a woman for fifteen years. What was the difference between this relationship and marriage?
2. Why does St. Augustine flirt briefly with astrology? Why does he reject it?
3. Why was St. Augustine inconsolable at the death of his friend? What reason did he give?
4. St. Augustine believes when we truly love another, we do not love that person in himself, but rather in God. What does that mean?
5. How does St. Augustine’s pride rear its ugly head in this book?