At the very beginning of his Confessions, Augustine states "[men's] hearts are restless till they rest in [God]." However, because of how he views the human condition, Augustine explains that man is continuously "scattered" by his own impermanence and is always moving through time. In Books X and XI of the Confessions, and Augustine's discussion of memory, temptation, and time therein, the concept of "scattered humanity" is presented as a condition that is simultaneously undesirable and unavoidable to mankind.
[...] By being scattered in time whose “order [he does] not Augustine believes himself to be falling away from God.[7] Time is in man's mind alone and ultimately a representation of the “distension” of man's soul, the stretching out of the soul into a series of successive events. Through his discussions of memory, temptation, and time, Augustine portrays the human condition as that of utter temporality, corruptibility, and changeability. Man is “scattered” by his life and death in the created world; he is “divided up in time” by his changeable will and the corruptibility of his concentration. [...]
[...] The restless heart: The theme of scattered humanity in Augustine's Confessions At the very beginning of his Confessions, Augustine states “[men's] hearts are restless till they rest in However, because of how he views the human condition, Augustine explains that man is continuously “scattered” by his own impermanence and is always moving through time. In Books X and XI of the Confessions, and Augustine's discussion of memory, temptation, and time therein, the concept of “scattered humanity” is presented as a condition that is simultaneously undesirable and unavoidable to mankind. [...]
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