The Apology, The Bible, And St. Augustine's Confessions
907 Words4 Pages
. In our FYS text, there are three passages that highlight this idea that knowledge is indeed power which will be used in support of this argument, and these three are: Plato’s “The Apology”, The Bible’s “Genesis”, and St. Augustine’s “Confessions”.
The first passage in which knowledge is an example of power is Plato’s “The Apology”. The whole reason for the actual trial of Socrates is that he was thought by his accusers to be: “…guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the Earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and teaches these same things to other.” (P.4) Simply put, he is on trial because they believe him to be learning about things they consider blasphemous, and then teaching these…show more content… Augustine’s “Confessions”. Augustine believed that knowledge of God was the highest form of intelligence because after he had attained this knowledge, he had realized that he was on the wrong path in life all along. Augustine found that he was too preoccupied with the idea that human power, such as having wealth and status, was the highest form of power. However, he soon finds out that it is instead knowledge of God which gives him the power to reprimand for the sins of his youth. Augustine writes: “In seeking for you I followed not intelligence of the mind, by which you willed that I should surpass the beasts, but mind of the flesh.” (P.33) This basically is when Augustine comes to understand that it is his knowledge of God that makes him feel fulfilled and not the desires of the body. In gaining this knowledge Augustine receives the power to change his life, first by becoming a devout follower of God, and second by confessing his sins so that his soul may be saved. As it can be seen powerful knowledge can take many forms, and for Augustine it was the knowledge of God’s existence that helped him achieve the power which he believes saved his