Key Arguments

• He notes that even though man is "a little piece of your creation" and "bearing his mortality with him" and his sin, nevertheless "to praise you is the desire of man," indicating that praise is deeply rooted in human nature rather than in human greatness.
• He says "You stir man to take pleasure in praising you," implying that God himself implants and awakens this desire in humans.
• He formulates the famous thesis "because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you," explicitly grounding human restlessness and desire in being created for God.
• He links praise to the process of seeking and finding God: "‘They will praise the Lord who seek for him’. In seeking him they find him, and in finding they will praise him," suggesting an inherent teleology of the human search that ends in praise.
• He connects praise with faith and preaching: "My faith, Lord, calls upon you. It is your gift to me. You breathed it into me by the humanity of your Son, by the ministry of your preacher," implying that the God-given faith which calls upon God naturally issues in praise.

Source Quotes

146:5). Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you, a human being ‘bearing his mortality with him’ (2 Cor. 4: 10), carrying with him the witness of his sin and the witness that you ‘resist the proud’ (1 Pet. 5:5). Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.1 ‘Grant me Lord to know and understand’ (Ps.

Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.1 ‘Grant me Lord to know and understand’ (Ps. 118: 34, 73, 144) which comes first—to call upon you or to praise you, and whether knowing you precedes calling upon you.

10: 14). ‘They will praise the Lord who seek for him’ (Ps. 21: 27). In seeking him they find him, and in finding they will praise him. Lord, I would seek you, calling upon you—and calling upon you is an act of believing in you.

You have been preached to us. My faith, Lord, calls upon you. It is your gift to me. You breathed it into me by the humanity of your Son, by the ministry of your preacher.2 ii (2) How shall I call upon my God, my God and Lord? Surely when I call on him, I am calling on him to come into me.

Key Concepts

• Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you, a human being ‘bearing his mortality with him’ (2 Cor. 4: 10), carrying with him the witness of his sin and the witness that you ‘resist the proud’ (1 Pet. 5:5). Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation.
• You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
• ‘They will praise the Lord who seek for him’ (Ps. 21: 27). In seeking him they find him, and in finding they will praise him.
• My faith, Lord, calls upon you. It is your gift to me. You breathed it into me by the humanity of your Son, by the ministry of your preacher.

Context

Opening of Book I: Augustine begins his prayer-confession by praising God, reflecting on the human condition, and formulating the programmatic thesis of the whole Confessions about the restless heart.