Profound to diseased? Or just a bad day?

In Chapter 12, A Frivolous Answer, on page 286, Augustine says, "See, I answer the man who says, 'What did God do before he made heaven and earth?' I do not give the answer that someone is said to have given, evading by a joke the forces of the objection: 'He was preparing hell,' he said, 'for those prying into such deep subjects.' It is one thing to see the objection; it is another to make a joke of it. I do not see the answer in this way. I would rather respond, 'I do not know,' concerning what I do not know rather than say something for which the man inquiring about such profound matters is laughed at, while the one giving the false answer in praised."
But, at the end of Book 11, in Chapter 30, God Alone is Eternal, page 302, he says, "I will not endure the questions of such men, who by a disease that is their punishment, thirst for more knowledge than they can hold, and say, 'What did God do before he made heaven and earth?'..."

How did Saint Augustine go from saying that the man who asked this question was asking about "such profound matters" to saying he was diseased and thirsted "for more knowledge than they can hold”?

Did he decide that the man who asked these questions really was bad? Or was Saint Augustine just having a really bad day?

Problems with St. Augustine's definition of the Past

On page 293, Book 11, Chapter 20: Three Kinds of Time, Saint Augustine says that what is in the past, is only what is in memory, but there are problems with this theory.

Let's say that, somewhere deep in a forest, there is a tree. Now a wind blows and knocks down the tree. No one ever saw the tree fall, so did it really happen since it is not in anyone's memory? You could say that someone saw the tree before and after it fell, and then say that tree had fallen, but what if no one had even known the tree existed? Would tree's life really be in the past, because according to Saint Augustine's theory, what is in the past, is only what is in memory.

Is there a problem with my logic?

~Hannah

House of grass. Men like grass.

In book 9, chapter 7 Saints Gervase and Protase, page 216, it says "For long had I sighed after you, and at length I breathed in you, as far a breath my enter this house of grass."

The footnote after "house of grass" led me to Cf. Isa. 40:6, which says, " A voice says, 'Cry out.' And I said, 'What shall I cry?' All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field."

I am confused about the relationship between "men like grass" and a "house of grass."

Corn, wine, and oil, Oh my!

On page 212, Book 9, Chapter 4, St. Augustine is talking about vanity. Then, at the end of the chapter, he says, "For in your eternal simplicity I would possess other 'corn, and wine, and oil.'"

The footnote at the end of this quote directed me to Psalms 4:8, which is, "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety."

I am rather confused. How does Psalms 4:8 realte to "corn, and wine, and oil?"

~Hannah

An Open Heart

St. Augustine has an open heart when he is studying scripture and philosophical writings. He is looking for answers and is open to the possibility of God. My friend's father is also very well read in scriptures, philosophy, religion -- but he is an atheist. He reads with a closed heart and because of this he is unable to believe in God. St. Augustine studies and uses his mind (and heart) to become closer to God rather than using his intellect to shut himself off from God.

~Hannah

Is God a Spoil Sport?

In Book 8 St. Augustine is attempting to decide whether to become a Christian. He wants to be a Christian but cannot find it in himself to give up his wordly pleasures. Is God being a spoil sport by making us give up our worldly pleasures to follow Jesus?

I don't think He is. One of St. Augustine's biggest problems is being chaste. God knows that St. Augustine will be happier when he gives up pre-marital sex. He is not trying to spoil St. Augustine's fun, but rather to protect him and give him a  better life. St. Augustine still doesn't understand that having a physical relationship with a woman without the long term committment of marriage is not going to bring him long term happiness. God knows this and in time St. Augustine will, too.

In response

I loved the video; it was funny! I also like the pear line :)

In response to "In answer to Hannah," I agree that our ideas and St. Augustine's are almost identical, but St. Augustine says that to create an evil, there must be good to start with, while we say that to do an evil deed, the evil-doer must have either wanted a good, or was good by not killing his fellow evil-doers. They are not identical, but very similar.

Also, in "Good beings, Corruptible beings," I can not find any problem in your logic.

~Hannah