Book II of Confessions shows a strong resemblance to Genesis chapter 3. Many scholars believe that is because Augustine modeled the story around Genesis chapter 3. Augustine did this to show God that he was also tempted into sinning. He also did it to show that everyone has a similar situation of being tempted into doing something. The similarities make it very easy to compare to the two stories. A few of the comparisons are, the forbidden fruit and the pears, the serpent and Augustine's friends and many more. These help us interpret what Augustine really meant. In Genesis the story revolves around Adam and Eve sinning because they ate the forbidden fruit. Knowing this, Augustine made his story about him sinning by stealing pears. Biblically the taking of the forbidden fruit is viewed as a fall from grace with god. Augustine is trying to show that he was growing farther and farther away from God. Both sins would not have occurred if it were not for the help of others. In the bible the serpent who convinces Eve to eat the fruit, and Eve convinces Adam to eat the fruit. In Confessions Augustine writes, “since my pleasure did not lie in the pears, it must have been in the crime committed in the company of others who shared in the sin” (Augustine 42). This is another connection that Augustine wanted to make. He believes that humans don’t sin on their own, it takes an outside force to lead them to commit sins. He changed the serpent into his friends to make it more realistic, but also to…show more content… It is easy to see why many consider these pieces of literature as some of the most necessary pieces of theology. Augustine was able to show that biblical times aren't that different from the 4th century and also isn’t that different from modern times. This would not have been possible without writing a story that is similar to the story of the forbidden
