ng throughout some Catholic communities. Proponents of this movement expressed their distrust of erudite language or polished oratory. Some Christians said that God's truth couldn't be couched in the language of rhetors and orators. Augustine, a product and teacher of these arts, defended them, saying that education and oratory skill neither increased nor decreased the power of the true religion. Here, Augustine attempts to balance the philosophical and academic achievements of the pagans with the Christian faith, holding that Christians can benefit from the works of the pagans while maintaining the sanctity of their faith. This will be a recurring theme in his writings.
This chapter marks the beginning of the breakdown of Augustine's Manichaean faith. The radical skepticism of the Academics dealt it a serious blow, but the end was hastened by Bishop Ambrose's figurative interpretation of the Bible. Finally, Augustine had a chance to use his education in the pursuit of faith. The figurative, rather than literal, interpretations of Biblical texts found in the last books of Confessions provided Augustine with a way to reconcile his grave misgivings with the Old Testament stories - and particularly with Genesis. In the earlier books, Augustine struggles with his vision of God; a problem left over from the Manichaean faith of his youth, which asserted that good and evil were physical entities, and God an entirely spiritual being. Augustine is preparing the reader for his dramatic conversion and the equally dramatic "proof" he will offer of the spiritual existence of God.