In the Confessions Book X, St. Augustine depicts the reality of confession on memory and cognition, continence, and moral vices and sin. Cognition can be defined as the process of thought or thinking. Memory can be defined as the process of creating, storing, and recalling information or experiences on a daily basis. This paper will consider the concepts of memory and sin, along with the possibility of moral transgression and the remedy of continence.
The nature of the power of memory is evident when an individual travels through their memory by looking into its roomy chambers, with countless images that are imported by all of the senses of the body. It is through human senses and life experiences people are able to store memories to use toward decision making in the future. In some cases, memories are easy to recall, and in other instances some memories require much more thought or cognitive power to recall the experience, event through the memory. It is the cognitive ability of the individual which will determine what information collected by the five senses throughout the day are stored into memory or are discarded because the experience or events did not warrant memory or exhibit a foreseeable value.
Memory is often viewed as a great receptacle with indescribable departments working to receive information to be recalled, and brought forward when needed, because they are stored with the sense that received the information in the first place. This explains why there are times where memories may not be recalled until similar events brings the memory forward in the mind. The applies to the strength of the sense involved with a specific memory. As an example, a family may forget they ate a specific dish, until they smell it cooking in the kitchen, look at it on their plate, or after tasting it.
There are also instances when information is not stored in the mind, but the image is still ready and at hand when needed. This can be similar to the images seen in the mind’s eye when thinking about something. Even though it is the senses which stimulate memories, it is memories which process senses, which builds off of the experiences of the past to make decisions in the future. It is the senses which allow people to determine how they felt, o how the memory made them feel, to determine the outcomes of future events and experiences.
Memories also seem to be easier to recall when they invoke either happiness or sadness, because these feelings will inspire a response from the individual based on the memory. It is well known the brain has the ability to stop itself from remembering or recalling painful events, or experiences, because cognitively it is clear a painful memory can have the ability to cause ongoing pain. Forgetfulness can also occur because the exact details were not important so they were deemed irrelevant. This explains why many early memories are forgotten, because during the early years of life, the learning is constant and does not become as important until the beginning of the educational career of a child, when they are utilizing their memories to build off of academically.
Memories of bad experiences and decisions can be absolved through the use of confession, which involves the practitioner speaking to a religious leader to discuss the sin they engaged in, along with admitting the behavior was wrong and needed to be corrected. On one hand, the sinner is judged by the clergy and is reliant on their will to forgive their transgressions and determine the punishment or retribution needed to return to the grace of God. This involves the individual trusting in the benefits of confession, by thinking about how the previous experience went and how it makes them feel.
On the other hand, it is the sinner who is providing the clergy with the information they require to do their job properly, and to stay ahead of negative trends affecting local, national, and international communities. It is quite true the clergy requires the confessions to complete their role, because these individuals want to help people, but it is difficult without a solid memory to give hypothetical examples relevant to the person they are trying to help. This is the only way clergy would be able to stay ahead of trends in crime and would also be able to anticipate behaviors based on past experiences through memories.
Temptation is put in place to place people, which explains why confession is necessary in the first place, but the belief of redemption from poor decisions is usually enough to force people to confess to return to the grace of god. People must be prepared to admit they were wrong, because hope can be found through mercy, which is what the relief the individual feels after they feel they have been forgiven for their sins. The real question is, does the ability to cnfess sin make it easier to ask for forgiveness?
St. Augustine presents this question based on the idea of lord’s grace being able to heal the diseases of the soul, so there is no longer an issue with people failing to be continent in the lord’s wish for people to lie righteous lives. There are times where people are allowed to break free from some of their rules, but everything must be used or consumed in moderation. It is socially acceptable for people to drink alcohol at special occasions and parties, but this does not make it acceptable for people to walk around their community drunk and unaware of the how they allowed the temptation to take control of their life. The inability to consume alcohol or gamble without addition is viewed as a social weakness or character weakness.
God wishes people to exercise restraint towards the desires or passions, especially related to sexual desires which is also referred to as maintaining temperate. God wants people to be continent so they are blindly willing to follow the rule of God. The reality is, all too often, young people will make mistakes in their life and allow these mistakes or sins to consume the rest of their life because they are embarrassed or unwilling to admit in confession what they did. was wrong in the first place.
Some people go as far as, walking away from the life they know and all of the people who knew them best, in order to save face. This usually involves one bad decision snow balling into a long list of deviant behaviors which can be the same or differ from the original sin. In many cases, people who do not consider their memories cognitively tend to enjoy the thrill of the sin more than the opportunity for redemption for these behaviors.
Does the ability of confession and forgiveness weaken the apology given? This is a good question, because it considers the idea of moral transgression becoming more common because they no longer feel required to remain continent to God’s will. Vain-Glory is the highest danger, because this is what keeps most people from confessing and admitting they were wrong. This can also include the idea of people wanting to gain glory through the use of sinful behaviors or actions.
In conclusion, cognition can be considered a part of moral transgressions and the remedy to continence by allowing the individual to look at the moral issues associated with the memory or the past and how it turned out. Even Jesus understood, he was a small piece in a very long story, which included his birth and his death. Jesus requested all of the disciples, poor, and others who were interested in what happened at the conclusion of his story. Memory told Jesus he was not going to get away from the path he was set on, but instead has become a memory of his own which motivate millions of people every day.
Works Cited
Knight, K. New Advent. 2009. 11 May 2016. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/110110.htm>.
