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Album Title – Cassiciacum Letters – EP

Summary

An EP inspired by Augustine’s early letters from Cassiciacum (c. 386 AD), reimagined as a reflective 1980s rock cycle of truth, friendship, longing, and the soul’s search for blessedness.

ChatGPT Model – 5

Suno Model – 4.5

Note:  Suno models 4.5+ and 5 were available to me however I was unable to find prompts to make those models sound Augustinus Vox. I did however find a new band 😆

Suno style

atmospheric synths, rock, slow, dynamic tempo shifts, 80s rock ballad, ballad, epic guitar riffs, male vocals

Literalness level – 3 to 2 (faithful leaning towards interpretive)

Note: At present I am working with a four scale categorization. Literal (4), faithful (3), interpretive (2), free (1)

Extra

If for some strange reason you like me you are curious to listen to this album in the style of slow contemporary worship then you can do so here

Tracklist

1. Truth over Eloquence
2. Gratitude and Redirection
3. The Friend of My Soul
4. The Search for Blessedness
5. Bound in Love

Lyrics

Track 1 – Truth over Eloquence

[Intro – soft synth pad, clean guitar picking, distant reverb]

[Verse 1] 
I chased the shine of empty fame, 
Words of fire without a flame. 
But style alone can never last, 
The truth is stronger than the past. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
Better broken words that rise with truth, 
Than golden lies that waste our youth. 

[Chorus] 
Truth over eloquence, fire over form, 
A heart that seeks wisdom can weather the storm. 
The world may love style, but I want the real, 
The word everlasting, the light I can feel. 

[Verse 2] 
The stage is loud, the crowd will cheer, 
But when it fades, what will we hear? 
Only the voice that calls within, 
The place where honesty begins. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
Better stumbling speech that lifts the soul, 
Than perfect songs that leave us cold. 

[Chorus] 
Truth over eloquence, fire over form, 
A heart that seeks wisdom can weather the storm. 
The world may love style, but I want the real, 
The word everlasting, the light I can feel. 

[Bridge – guitar solo, swelling synths] 
Turn from shadows, seek the flame, 
The voice eternal calls your name. 

[Final Chorus – soaring vocals] 
Truth over eloquence, fire over form, 
A heart that seeks wisdom can weather the storm. 
The world may love style, but I want the real, 
The word everlasting, the light I can feel. 

[Outro – gentle synth fade, echoing guitar harmonics]


Track 2 – Gratitude and Redirection

[Intro – warm synth pad, clean electric guitar with chorus effect]

[Verse 1] 
You gave me words, a gift of flame, 
A sharpened art, a honored name. 
But style alone will fade away, 
Only the truth will always stay. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
So I thank you with an open hand, 
But point us both to higher plans. 

[Chorus] 
Gratitude and redirection, 
Every gift can find perfection. 
Not for glory, not for show, 
But for the truth all hearts should know. 

[Verse 2] 
The world will cheer a golden tongue, 
But shallow songs are quickly sung. 
When voices fail, the light remains, 
The one eternal truth sustains. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
So I honor what you’ve shared with me, 
But turn us toward eternity. 

[Chorus] 
Gratitude and redirection, 
Every gift can find perfection. 
Not for glory, not for show, 
But for the truth all hearts should know. 

[Bridge – soaring guitar solo over pulsing synths] 
Every word can serve the flame, 
When it bows before His name. 

[Final Chorus – layered vocals, soaring harmonies] 
Gratitude and redirection, 
Every gift can find perfection. 
Not for glory, not for show, 
But for the truth all hearts should know. 

[Outro – fading synth echoes, guitar harmonics drift away]


Track 3 – The Friend of My Soul

[Intro – soft piano over ambient synths, clean guitar arpeggios]

[Verse 1] 
Through the distance, through the years, 
Through the laughter, through the tears, 
Nothing stronger, nothing more, 
Than the bond that we live for. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
Not in riches, not in fame, 
But in love that has no name. 

[Chorus] 
Friend of my soul, closer than breath, 
Through every trial, through life and death. 
Together we seek the light above, 
Forever bound in truth and love. 

[Verse 2] 
Questions rise and answers fall, 
But our hearts outlast them all. 
Side by side in every fight, 
Restless hearts that chase the light. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
Every step though paths divide, 
We still walk here side by side. 

[Chorus] 
Friend of my soul, closer than breath, 
Through every trial, through life and death. 
Together we seek the light above, 
Forever bound in truth and love. 

[Bridge – soaring guitar solo, synth swell] 
Though the world may pull apart, 
Faith still ties the hidden heart. 

[Final Chorus – layered vocals, full band] 
Friend of my soul, closer than breath, 
Through every trial, through life and death. 
Together we seek the light above, 
Forever bound in truth and love. 

[Outro – fading guitar echoes, soft synth drone]


Track 4 – The Search for Blessedness

[Intro – ambient synth drone, slow arpeggiated guitar, distant choral pad]

[Verse 1] 
They called me blessed, but I still seek, 
Wisdom’s voice is faint, my heart is weak. 
Not in ignorance, not in pride, 
But in the truth where life abides. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
The world is vast, yet questions remain, 
Infinity whispers through joy and pain. 

[Chorus] 
The search for blessedness, beyond the sky, 
Not in the flesh, but the soul’s reply. 
Eternal light, unbroken flame, 
The truth immortal calls my name. 

[Verse 2] 
The stars still turn, the atoms fall, 
But deeper laws are known to all. 
No fleeting dream, no fleeting breath, 
Can give the life that conquers death. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
The soul is greater than all we see, 
Immortal truth is our destiny. 

[Chorus] 
The search for blessedness, beyond the sky, 
Not in the flesh, but the soul’s reply. 
Eternal light, unbroken flame, 
The truth immortal calls my name. 

[Bridge – soaring guitar solo over swelling synth] 
Not in shadows, not in lies, 
But in the wisdom that never dies. 

[Final Chorus – layered vocals, higher key modulation] 
The search for blessedness, beyond the sky, 
Not in the flesh, but the soul’s reply. 
Eternal light, unbroken flame, 
The truth immortal calls my name. 

[Outro – fading piano chords, soft synth shimmer]


Track 5 – Bound in Love

[Intro – shimmering synth pad, slow electric guitar chords]

[Verse 1] 
No distance can divide our way, 
We find each other day by day. 
Even silence speaks the same, 
Our hearts are joined beyond a name. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
Every bond will fade with time, 
But this love is still divine. 

[Chorus] 
Bound in love, unbroken tie, 
Stronger than the earth or sky. 
In the light our souls remain, 
Love eternal, never vain. 

[Verse 2] 
The world may change, the world may go, 
But this fire will always grow. 
Faith has sealed what death can’t part, 
Woven deep within the heart. 

[Pre-Chorus] 
Every bond will fade with time, 
But this love is still divine. 

[Chorus] 
Bound in love, unbroken tie, 
Stronger than the earth or sky. 
In the light our souls remain, 
Love eternal, never vain. 

[Bridge – melodic guitar solo with synth undercurrent] 
Every prayer that I lift for you 
Draws us both toward what is true. 

[Final Chorus – soaring vocals, layered harmonies] 
Bound in love, unbroken tie, 
Stronger than the earth or sky. 
In the light our souls remain, 
Love eternal, never vain. 

[Outro – gentle fade, guitar harmonics echo]

[What you read below is an AI recreation of my own thoughts as I discussed and read letter 1 to the AI. I wanted to write a blog post and thought hey I am not as much a writer as much as a talker…why not try talking to AI about the letter then have it give me back my thoughts in the form of a blog post. I think it worked rather well in the end! One thing it did leave out is I suggested that Augustine maybe should nickname Hermogenianus “Herm”]

In his first letter, Augustine gives us a fascinating glimpse into his mindset just after writing Against the Academics. He begins with striking humility: he insists he never meant to “attack” the Academic skeptics, only to imitate their method. Their skepticism, he suggests, once played an important role in God’s design—protecting people from falling into a simplistic materialism that reduced the soul to mere body.

That’s such an unexpected move: Augustine seeing even skepticism as a tool of providence. It reminds me how easily we think of doubt as an enemy of faith, yet Augustine shows it can also guard us against worse errors.

Philosophers in Cloaks, and Experts Today

Augustine goes on to lament that in his day there were fewer genuine philosophers, just people who wore the philosopher’s cloak without deserving the name. That resonates with our own age of information overload, where flashy presentation can masquerade as expertise. Augustine calls us not to be fooled by appearances, but to hold onto the deeper hope that truth really can be found.

Wrestling with Skeptics, Not Drifting into Laziness

Another point Augustine raises is how dangerous it is to give up the search. He gently teases people who would rather sink into laziness than keep wrestling with hard questions. It’s strangely familiar: how easy it is to scroll, to drift, to settle into distraction rather than pursue wisdom. Augustine urges us to do better.

And he practiced what he preached. He wasn’t reading narrowly. He was engaging with a wide range of thinkers, including skeptics like Carneades, showing that truth-seeking meant engaging ideas—even difficult or daunting ones—head on.

Friendship, Feedback, and Humility

I also love the way Augustine invites honest feedback from his friend. He asks Hermogenianus not to flatter him, but to really say whether the conclusion at the end of his book seems reasonable. This kind of intellectual friendship—valuing truth over praise—feels refreshing in any age.

The Ending: Truth as Nourishment

Augustine closes on a beautiful note: breaking free from despair about ever knowing the truth nourished him. Truth, he says, is food for the soul. That line lingers. Augustine is reminding us that truth isn’t just an abstract concept—it’s sustenance, something that feeds and strengthens our very being.

It’s a timeless encouragement: don’t despair, don’t give up the search. Truth is not only possible, it’s nourishing.

This image below was an early AI fail. I asked the AI for an album cover and it gave me one with a person in it. It really made me laugh quite a bit.

In case you ever wonder how Augustine might have appeared if he was an 80s rock star here you go…

I am sorry to disappoint anyone who might happen across this but Augustine didn’t write any science fiction that we know of cool as that would be. If he did, I imagine it would probably be some sprawling epic tale similar to something like the Lord of the Rings, Dune or Foundation.

On the other hand I did do some experimenting to transform a small portion of one of his works into a children’s science fiction story. It turned out somewhat ok. The goal was to experiment with to help me learn in a fun way and also in a way perhaps my nephews and nieces would enjoy. Here is a sample chapter.

Can you guess which work it comes from?

Hint – The beginning kinda gives it away.

If you cant figure it out try copying the text into an AI and asking it to guess.

Captain August and the Truth Stars
Book 1 of the Truth Stars Series

Chapter 1 – The Wind That Pushes

Captain’s Log (to Admiral Roman):
“Fortune’s winds toss us about, Admiral, but Sophia reminds me: we are not leaves—we can steer.”

The starship Cassiciacum drifted through a stretch of quiet stars.
Captain August tapped the glowing wheel, steadying the hum of the engines.
Licen leaned over the control panel, pretending to fly with his arms out.

“Easy sailing today,” August said.

Just then—WHOOSH! A cosmic wind, bigger than any storm on Earth, shoved the ship sideways.
The crew tumbled into their seats with a thump.

Licen laughed so hard his helmet nearly slipped. “Wheee! The wind feels like a roller coaster!”

But Tryg gripped her chair, eyes serious. “What if it blows us into an asteroid field? Or spins us around until we’re lost?”

Ally tilted her head, silent as usual. She seemed to be weighing both sides, her eyes following the stars sliding past the window.

Another gust whooshed the ship, and the engines groaned.

From the center of the cockpit, Sophia’s gentle glow brightened. Her voice was calm and steady:
“The wind can push, but it cannot choose your path. You are not leaves to be blown—you can steer.”

Licen blinked. “Even when the wind is stronger than the engines?”

“Yes,” Sophia said. “Because wisdom is stronger than luck. The ship listens to you.”

August nodded, gripping the wheel tighter. “Sophia’s right. Fortune might toss us around, but we don’t have to drift.”

The ship steadied. The crew gathered around the navigation map.
A thousand specks of light glimmered there, each one a Truth Star, hidden among the galaxies.

Licen leaned forward eagerly. “So all we have to do is find them?”

Tryg shook her head. “Not just find them. We need to know them, to be sure they’re real. Otherwise we’ll just be chasing light.”

“Searching is half the fun,” Licen shot back.

“And finding is what makes it matter,” Tryg replied.

Ally cleared her throat softly. “Maybe both will matter. We’ll see.”

August smiled at them. “Admiral Roman would like this. He always told me: ‘Don’t let the wind decide. Steer your own way.’”
He placed his hand on the glowing map. “Crew, our quest begins now.”

One by one, Licen, Tryg, and Ally added their hands. Sophia’s light flickered brighter, almost like a smile.

The ship’s engines purred, stronger than before, as if Fortune’s wind had become only background noise.

The Cassiciacum sailed forward, chasing its first Truth Star.

Truth Star Lesson:
“Wisdom helps us steer, even when the wind blows wild.”

Here are letter 1 through letter 4 translated in a simple style as mentioned before.

Letter 1

Augustine to Hermogenianus

I would never dare to attack the Academics—not even in jest. The authority of such great men is weighty, and I wouldn’t disregard them unless I believed their real opinion was quite different from what most people assume. That’s why I tried to follow their example rather than fight them—because honestly, I’m not able to refute them. 

It seemed fitting for the times that, if anything pure flowed from Plato’s fountain, it should be hidden away in shady, thorny places, where only a few people could drink. If it flowed out in the open, the great crowd would rush in and muddy it, so that nothing pure could remain. And really, what belief is more “fitting” for the masses than to think the soul is nothing but a body? Against that kind of thinking, I believe God wisely raised up the Academic approach. 

But things are different in our own day. We hardly see any true philosophers—only people dressed in the philosopher’s cloak, and I don’t think they deserve so great a title. So now it seems necessary to bring people back into the hope of finding truth. If the Academics’ clever words once scared some people away from seeking understanding, I want to call them back. Otherwise, a strategy that was once helpful for uprooting deep errors could now end up blocking the growth of knowledge. 

Back then, the rivalry between different schools of thought was so passionate that the only danger was people accepting something false as true. When someone was shaken from what he thought was unshakably certain, he would only search harder and more carefully for what was real. People were more earnest in their morals, and truth was sensed as lying hidden in the deepest layers of reality and of the soul. 

But now things are different. People avoid hard work and neglect the pursuit of learning. So when they hear that even the sharpest philosophers concluded that nothing can be fully known, they just give up—closing their minds forever. The more energetic ones don’t dare to think they could succeed where Carneades himself failed, even though he devoted incredible energy, talent, study, and even a long life to the pursuit. And if anyone does resist laziness enough to read those same books, which seem to prove that human understanding is impossible, they fall asleep in such a stupor that not even the trumpet of heaven could wake them. 

That’s why I value your honest judgment of my little books so highly. I trust your wisdom and friendship so much that I know neither error nor flattery will find a place in your reply. So I ask you especially to consider carefully, and write back to me: do you approve of what I suggested near the end of the third book? Perhaps I phrased it more as a suspicion than a certainty, but I believed it was more useful to accept than to dismiss as unbelievable. 

Whatever the case, what pleases me is not so much that I “defeated the Academics” (as you kindly say—though I think more out of affection than accuracy), but that I broke free from that hateful chain: the despair of truth. That despair had been holding me back from the rich nourishment of philosophy, and from the truth itself, which is the food of the soul.

Letter 2

Augustine to Zenobius

We both agree, I think, that everything we experience with our physical senses is constantly changing. It slips away, it flows, it never stays the same even for a moment. In Latin, we say such things “are not,” because they cannot truly be present. That’s why true and divine philosophy urges us to restrain and quiet the most harmful love of such things—a love full of punishment—so that our whole mind, even while still living in this body, might bear and burn for realities that are always the same, and not for some passing beauty that is only a stranger to us.

Because of this, and because the mind sees you as true and simple—someone who can be loved without anxiety—we still admit that we long to meet you and see you. When you are absent from us in body and separated by distance, we still desire your presence as long as we are allowed to. If I know you well, you even love this fault in us. And because you wish all good things for your dearest friends, you probably fear that we will be “cured” of this longing.

But if you are so strong in mind that you can both recognize this snare and even smile at those caught in it, then you are indeed remarkable and different. As for me, while you are away, I want to be missed. Yet I watch myself as much as I can and strive to love nothing that can be taken from me against my will.

In the meantime, I urge you—whatever you are doing—to finish the discussion you began with us, if we truly care for ourselves. I would never allow it to be completed with Alypius, even if he wanted to; but in fact, he doesn’t. It’s simply not in his nature right now to work with me. So let us keep you with us by as many letters as we can, though I don’t know why you keep slipping away.

Letter 3

Augustine to Nebridius

I’m not sure whether it was your flattering words or something real that made me feel as you wrote; it came on me suddenly, without much reflection, and I’m not sure how far I should trust it. You’re wondering what I mean. Well, you almost persuaded me—not that I’m truly happy (that belongs only to the wise), but that I’m “sort of” happy, the way we call something “roundish” or “square-ish” even when it’s far from perfectly round or square. Last night after supper I read your letter by lamplight; I was already lying down but not yet asleep. And there I was, Augustine talking with Augustine in bed: “Is Nebridius right? Are we happy?” Of course not; even he wouldn’t deny we’re still foolish. “But what if even fools can be happy?” That’s hard to swallow, because what misery is greater than foolishness itself? 

Why did you think so? Did reading those little books of mine lead you to believe me wise? Surely your joy isn’t that reckless, especially since I know how weighty your judgment is. No, you wrote what you thought would delight me, because you yourself were delighted by whatever you found in my writings. You wrote in joy and didn’t stop to ask what your joyful pen should or shouldn’t commit to paper. If you had read the Soliloquies, you’d have rejoiced even more—but still you wouldn’t have found a better name for me than “happy.” So you quickly poured the highest title on me, leaving yourself nothing greater to say. See what joy can do! 

But where is this happy life? Where? Oh, if it really existed, it would drive away Epicurus’s atoms. If it really existed, it would know there’s nothing “below” except the world. If it really existed, it would know that the outermost sphere moves more slowly than the middle, and other such things we know. But how can I be happy when I don’t even know why the world is so big? The geometry that makes it what it is would allow it to be as large as anyone pleased. Or how can I avoid admitting that bodies can be divided without limit, unless I suppose there’s some smallest base-unit from which a definite number of particles arises? 

If no body is absolutely smallest, how can there be one absolutely largest? Unless perhaps what I once told Alypius in a very hidden way has real force: that the intelligible number grows infinitely but cannot be infinitely diminished—you can’t break it beyond the monad; while the sensible number (the measure of bodies) can be diminished without limit but cannot be increased without limit. And so perhaps rightly philosophers place “riches” in the intelligible world but “poverty” in the sensible. What’s more pitiful than something always capable of becoming less? What’s richer than something that can grow as much as you wish, go where you wish, return when you wish, and—best of all—love that which cannot be diminished? Whoever understands these numbers loves the monad above all, and no wonder; through it the others are loved. Yet why is the world so large? It could have been larger or smaller. I don’t know; it’s simply as it is. And why here rather than there? In such matters, wherever it were, the question would still arise. 

One thing especially puzzled me—the infinite division of bodies. Perhaps the answer lies in that opposite “force” of the intelligible number. But wait—let’s consider this new thought: surely the sensible world is said to be some kind of image of an intelligible one. Yet look at mirrors: however large the mirror, it never gives back an image bigger than the object. In small mirrors—like the pupils of our eyes—even a large face appears tiny. So the images of bodies can be made smaller if the mirrors shrink; but they cannot be made larger by enlarging the mirrors. Clearly something is hidden here—but now it’s time to sleep. For I don’t seem to be made happy by searching, but perhaps by finding. And what is that “something”? Maybe it’s that little line of reasoning I love to caress as if it were my own and which pleases me too much. 

What are we made of? Soul and body. Which is better? Obviously the soul. What do people praise in the body? Nothing but beauty. And what is bodily beauty? The harmony of parts with a certain pleasant color. Where is that form truer—where it’s genuine or where it’s false? Who doubts it’s better where it’s genuine? And where is it genuine? In the soul. Therefore the soul is to be loved more than the body. But in what part of the soul is this truth? In the mind and the understanding. What opposes it? The senses. Therefore the senses must be resisted with all the soul’s strength. And if sensible things please us too much? Make them not please. How? By getting used to going without them and by seeking better things. But what if the soul dies? Then either truth dies, or truth isn’t understanding, or understanding isn’t in the soul, or something mortal can contain something immortal. But our Soliloquies already show that none of these is possible; yet by some bad habit we still fear and hesitate. Finally, even if the soul did die—which I’m convinced it cannot—we’ve at least made sure that happiness cannot consist in the joy of bodily pleasures. 

In all this perhaps, Nebridius, I seem to you if not happy, at least “quasi-happy.” Let me seem so to myself as well—what do I lose by it, and why should I deny myself a good opinion? These were my thoughts; then I prayed, as usual, and slept. 

I wanted to write this to you because it delights me that you thank me for hiding nothing that comes to my lips. And I rejoice that I please you this way. With whom could I play the fool more gladly than with one who cannot be displeased with me? Yet if it’s really up to fortune that one human loves another, see how “happy” I am—so glad about things of chance, and desiring such goods to overflow on me. But the truest sages—the only ones who may rightly be called happy—refused to fear or desire fortune’s goods. Or is it “refused to be desired”? You decide. It’s a nice coincidence, because I want you to teach me this declension. For when I join similar verbs I get unsure. “I desire” goes like “I flee,” “I taste,” “I throw,” “I take”—but is the passive “fugiri” or “fugi”? “sapiri” or “sapi”? I don’t know. I could look at “jaci” and “capi,” but I’m afraid lest someone catch me and make me a laughing-stock, proving that “to throw” and “to take” are one thing but “to flee,” “to desire,” and “to taste” another. Likewise I don’t know whether in these three the penultimate syllable should be long and inflected or heavy and short. 

So I’ve provoked you into a longer letter. Please let me read you a little longer. I can’t write as much as it pleases me to read you.

Letter 4

Augustine to Nebridius

It’s amazing to me—completely unexpected—what I found when I went back to see which of your letters I still owed a reply to. I discovered only one left, the one where you asked us to tell you, since you imagine our retreat is as peaceful as you wish it were with you here, how far we’ve advanced in distinguishing between the nature of things perceived by the senses and those grasped by the mind. But I think you already know this: the more deeply someone becomes entangled in false opinions, the more easily the mind grows used to them by living with them. How much more easily then can this happen with truths! Yet this happens only gradually—just as we mature with age. There’s a huge difference between a child and a young man, but if you asked a boy every day whether he had become a young man yet, he would never say so.

Please don’t take this to mean that we’ve reached some kind of “mental youth,” a stable strength of understanding in these matters. We’re still children—but, as the saying goes, perhaps “fine” children, and not bad ones. For often, when the eyes of the mind are disturbed and weighed down by the worries and wounds of sensible things, that little line of reasoning you know so well gives us a breath of relief: that the mind and understanding are better than the bodily eyes and this everyday sight. That wouldn’t be true unless the things we understand were more real than the things we see. Consider with me whether anything truly strong can be brought against this reasoning.

For my part, refreshed by it and praying to God for help, I’ve begun to lift myself toward Him and toward the things that are most truly true. Sometimes I’m filled with such a confident sense of the things that abide forever that I marvel at needing any reasoning at all to believe in them—they’re as present to me as I am present to myself. Think about this too; I confess you’re even more diligent in such matters than I am, lest I still unknowingly owe you a reply to something. For it’s hard to believe that all the burdens I once counted could be laid down so suddenly, even though I don’t doubt you’ve received my letters for which I have no replies.

Right now I am exploring Augustines letters as well as different approaches to translations. The end goal is a planned EP containung 5 songs covering the first 4 letters written during Augustine’s short retreat at his friends home in the countryside. Why 5 songs for 4 letters? Because I can’t count of course! No really actually letter 3 is significantly larger and I want to give more space to it.

My source for the letters is Migne’s Patrologia Latina Volume 33.

Here is a handy link to that source: https://la.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Patrologia_Latina/33

One you are at that page navigate to the first link

Epistolae (Augustinus Hipponensis), J. P. Migne; PL 33, 0061-1094

From here select

Epistles 1-15

This will take you to the text of the letters.

One thing that is helpful is that if your using Google Chrome to access that link, Chrome will automatically attempt to translate the letters for you. This makes it immediately easy to begin to read the letter. This said however the translation is quite literal and stiff and not as readable as it could be. I think this may stem, from its programming to translate things literally.

This is where ChatGPT can come in handy to provide a better translation. I aimed for a approach that was similar to the New Living Translation of the bible to make the text quite readible.

In case you’re not familiar with the New Living Translation, it is a translation of the bible that is very readable aiming for a reading level of about 6th grade. This is not to be confused with the Living Bible which is more of a thought for thought translation. The NLT is generally a word for simple word translation.

The prompt for the AI is something like

Keep Augustine’s meaning intact, but speak it in today’s language — clear, rhythmic, vivid, with imagery alive and paragraphs digestible. Accuracy first, but always through the lens of readability and impact.

Below is a translation of Letter 1. It relates to the first dialogue Against the Skeptics. I also have a audio version for easy listening I made using a tool called ElevenLabs.

---

Augustine to Hermogenianus

I would never dare to attack the Academics—not even in jest. The authority of such great men is weighty, and I wouldn’t disregard them unless I believed their real opinion was quite different from what most people assume. That’s why I tried to follow their example rather than fight them—because honestly, I’m not able to refute them. 

It seemed fitting for the times that, if anything pure flowed from Plato’s fountain, it should be hidden away in shady, thorny places, where only a few people could drink. If it flowed out in the open, the great crowd would rush in and muddy it, so that nothing pure could remain. And really, what belief is more “fitting” for the masses than to think the soul is nothing but a body? Against that kind of thinking, I believe God wisely raised up the Academic approach. 

But things are different in our own day. We hardly see any true philosophers—only people dressed in the philosopher’s cloak, and I don’t think they deserve so great a title. So now it seems necessary to bring people back into the hope of finding truth. If the Academics’ clever words once scared some people away from seeking understanding, I want to call them back. Otherwise, a strategy that was once helpful for uprooting deep errors could now end up blocking the growth of knowledge. 

Back then, the rivalry between different schools of thought was so passionate that the only danger was people accepting something false as true. When someone was shaken from what he thought was unshakably certain, he would only search harder and more carefully for what was real. People were more earnest in their morals, and truth was sensed as lying hidden in the deepest layers of reality and of the soul. 

But now things are different. People avoid hard work and neglect the pursuit of learning. So when they hear that even the sharpest philosophers concluded that nothing can be fully known, they just give up—closing their minds forever. The more energetic ones don’t dare to think they could succeed where Carneades himself failed, even though he devoted incredible energy, talent, study, and even a long life to the pursuit. And if anyone does resist laziness enough to read those same books, which seem to prove that human understanding is impossible, they fall asleep in such a stupor that not even the trumpet of heaven could wake them. 

That’s why I value your honest judgment of my little books so highly. I trust your wisdom and friendship so much that I know neither error nor flattery will find a place in your reply. So I ask you especially to consider carefully, and write back to me: do you approve of what I suggested near the end of the third book? Perhaps I phrased it more as a suspicion than a certainty, but I believed it was more useful to accept than to dismiss as unbelievable. 

Whatever the case, what pleases me is not so much that I “defeated the Academics” (as you kindly say—though I think more out of affection than accuracy), but that I broke free from that hateful chain: the despair of truth. That despair had been holding me back from the rich nourishment of philosophy, and from the truth itself, which is the food of the soul.

Thanks!

-Kyle

Someone might wonder “how are you making this music?”

Well the answer is quite simple actually

For the most part I utilize the tools and resources below which you can expand to read more!

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a large language model or LLM which is freely assessable online and also through paid subscription. When people talk about artificial intelligence or AI typically they are talking about ChatGPT or some other LLM. Basically it’s a really sophisticated “chatbot” that essentially does something similar to the text prediction function on your phone. The difference is the LLM can produce large blocks of text and synthesize large blocks of content making it especially useful for creative projects like this. I use a paid version of ChatGPT to help with learning, planning and lyric writing. In a later post I’ll detail the process I go through which is easily replicated with the tool. The paid version of ChatGPT is important to ensure better responses. Think of ChatGPT as like a smart but imperfect companion in the journey who acts as a consultant and creative assistant. And you may need to replace your assistant if they are behaving bad.

Suno

Suno is an artificial music generator tool which can produce very polished music. I use this tool once I nail down lyrics for songs to produce the songs. In a later blog post I’ll share how I do this and the process I use. For publishing music on the internet commercially on streaming platforms like YouTube Music, Spotify and Apple Music it’s necessary to utilize Suno’s paid subscription because it issues a commercial license and allows for downloading songs to publish on platforms. Think of Suno like a helpful music production studio who helps bring your musical ideas to life.

Original Latin texts found in the public domain

For any project involving ancient authors it’s important to utilize original language versions of their texts as much as possible. This ensures that your interacting with the text as close to possible to how it was written by the original author. I primarily utilize a very old edition of the Latin Fathers produce by Jacobus Paulus Migne who lived in the 1800s. Jacobus was a scholarly rock star of 1800s scholarship who put together a massive volume containing the writings of many ancient authors. Primarily I’m working out of Volume 32 of his Patrologia Latina. Personally I don’t speak or read Latin but with the use of AI tools like ChatGPT it’s possible to easily access and read these texts via translation into modern English. Just always make sure to double check things!! LLMs are a lot like our brains, they are imperfect and so we always need to carefully double check things.

Thanks,

-Kyle

“Where ancient wisdom rocks the soul!”

This is the first post on the Augustinus Vox blog — thank you for being here!

Augustinus Vox is more than a band. It’s a project born from a restless heart, dedicated to bringing the timeless wisdom of Augustine of Hippo and his fellow ancient voices to life through the power of music. Inspired by retro 1980s rock and ballad styles, each album reimagines Augustine’s writings — from his early Cassiciacum dialogues to his later works — as concept albums that sing of philosophy, poetry, and faith.

But music is only the beginning. I also plan to host other content, all aimed at opening up the world of the ancients in fresh and creative ways. Along the way, I’ll also share how modern tools — especially artificial intelligence — can help bring these treasures of the past into the present in exciting new forms.

Think of this blog as a journey: part musical diary, part philosophical exploration, part creative workshop. Together, we’ll explore what it means to let Augustine’s voice (and those of his contemporaries, like Ambrose) speak again in our time.

Thank you for checking out Augustinus Vox. The adventure is just beginning — and I hope you’ll join me as we follow the restless search for truth and the ascent of the soul.

— Kyle