Confessions Book 8

       How does a new way of reading of Scripture (Ambrose's influence) and a new confidence in Scripture (aided by his reading of the Platonists) lead Augustine to find some answers to questions about the nature of God and evil? Does this mark the end of the need to ask these questions?

       Augustine finds some answers to his questions in the Platonist philosophies, which led him to the truth of God. He retells how he told Simplicanius about how he came to find truth in these writings, and he agreed, saying that he was lucky not to have found other philosophers' works first, because might have led him astray. Augustine writes, "... how fortunate I was to not have stumbled on the writings of other philosophers, works full of fallacies and dishonesty that smacked of the principles of this world, whereas those Platonist writings conveyed in every possible way, albeit indirectly, the truth of God and his word." This shows that Augustine found many answers to his questions in this philosophy, but did not find answers to all his questions, because the nature of God and evil can never be fully understood, which is why this book is still relevant to this day.