1. Augustine reflected upon his theft of pears as pointing to his infection with
sin. Why do you think this episode spoke to Augustine in this way?

2. Augustine also viewed his preoccupation with stage performances as being
a stumbling block to faith. What was his reasoning?

3. What episodes in my life have awakened my to my own sinfulness?

4. When Augstine first read the Bible, he dismissed it as containing fairy tales.
Have I ever felt similarly?

5. Augustine’s mother, Monica, constantly prayed for his conversion to
Christianity. In what ways have my parents or other loved ones been
formative in my own Christian walk?

6. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, first attracted Augustine because he was a
good speaker. Soon, however, his arguments for the truth of the Christian
faith began to take hold of him. Have there been times when a minister of
the Gospel (whether ordained or not) helped me overcome my doubts?

7. Augustine records his conversion experience in the garden, after reading
Romans 13:13–14. Has there been a moment in my life that I could simiarly
identify as a “conversion experience.”

8. Augustine’s key insight was that the believer did not need to overcome
sinfulness through his or her own striving, but through the empowering
grace of God in Jesus Christ. In what ways have I incorporated this truth
into my Christian walk? Are there some areas where I continue to “go it
alone” through my own moral striving?