Honestly, if I wrote down my prayers and my questions that I have for God, it would probably look a lot like Augustine's. His, of course, sound much more intelligent and put together than mine would, but still. In the first book, he starts his prayer but then suddenly jumps to questioning what comes first, calling upon God or praising Him? Then whether you must know Him before calling upon Him... but how can we call upon Him if we do not believe in Him? Really, these questions don't seem that important in the big picture because anyone can believe in God and pray to Him, there isn't necessarily a "right" way to do it. Although I question the same sort of things (not to this extent), Augustine's curiousness and sincere need for understanding is very interesting to me.
I commented on Wendy's and Darby's.
These questions that Augustine begins presenting that you mentioned begins to point directly to his opinion on whether you must be specifically chosen by God to be saved or if whether or not we accept salvation is our free choice. Both of these propositions are very controversial in the church even today, because both have scripture that explains each interpretation. However, I am with you. Figuring out which is the "right" answer is not the most important thing because either way, it doesn't change what Christ has done for us.
ReplyDeleteI had these exact same thoughts when reading it too. I would think that anyone could call upon God regardless of whether or not they know him. How would non believers experience his love then?
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