Read the excerpt below and answer the question behold, i answer to him who asks, what was god doing before he made heaven and earth? i answer not, as a certain person is reported to have done facetiously (avoiding the pressure of the question), he was preparing hell, says he, for those who pry into mysteries. (confessions, book xi. chapter 12) one goal of st. augustine's discussion of time in his confessions is to demonstrate the dangers of intellectual pride discourage readers from exploring mysteries of faith reconcile aristotle's explanation of time with medieval science show that reason can be used to understand human experience