Customer Reviews
Simply wonderful - By: A. foley, 09 Jun 2008 
Augustine is one of these characthers from antiquity who illustrates that humanity is always & everywhere the same - we share the same form, namely the soul & we thirst always & everywhere for the same thing, namely the infinite, which is God. Augustine is poeticin his treatment of God, he addresses him as a bride to her husband. Let him speak for himself:
"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, & it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not beenin you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, & you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, & you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drewin breath & now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger & thirst for more. You touched me, & I burned for your peace."
His own struggle is the struggle of every man & woman to find God. And, yet, not only was Augustine the master of the inner life, he was a great philosopher - witness the chapter on time, which is wonderful. Miss not also his shared ecstatic vision with his mother, Monica.
This is a great work - but, there are bits that are not easy (his exegesis of Genesis, for example) but persevere, its worth it!.
From Pagan to Saint. - By: Jan Dierckx, 25 Apr 2006 Aurelius Augustinus 354-430 AD.
He was bornin Thagestain Numidia (North-Africa).The Confessions' has two parts. The first part is a kind of autobiography & the second part is a commentary to the first chapters of Genesis.
He taught rhetorics firstin Carthagoin Africa, laterin Milanin Italy. But after a while he developed an aversion not only for rhetorics ( he began to consider it as useless & conceited & as a pool of sins ) but also for his fellow-man.
He began to show neurotic behaviour like having a fainting fit without apparent cause. It's for those reasons that psychologists like to study Augustine's Confessions.
As a result of his problems, Augustine became a Christian & he was one of the first to found a monastery. Later on he became bishop of Hippoin North-Africa.
In the second part of 'The confessions', he tries to explain the first chapters of Genesis. ( This second part is very impressive & is the cause that "The Confessions" isin my personal top five of the best books I read during the last 30 years.)
His plan was to comment on the whole Bible but he soon understood that this was an impossible task for one man.
Nevertheless he's is considered as the Father of modern Theology because of his comments.
To give two examples: When the Bible says that God created man to His image, Augustine explains that it means that man knows the difference between good & evil just like God does, it doesn't mean a physical resemblance.
Another interesting thought is about Creation. Creation is not limitedin space & time: since God is everywhere, Creation is also everywhere & goes on till eternity.
As conclusion I should mention that 'The Confessions'is also important because it is the first publicationin Antiquityin which an author reveals his most inner feelings.
Take and read! - By: Kurt Messick, 03 Feb 2005 Augustine's 'Confessions' is among the most important books ever written. One of the first autobiographical worksin the modern sense, it also represents the first time a psychological & theological enterprise were combined. It also helps to bridge the gap between the Classical world & the Medieval world, exhibiting strong elements identifying with each of those major historical periods.
Most undergraduatesin the liberal arts encounter the book at some point; all seminarians do (or should!). Many adults find (or rediscover) the book later, after school. For manyin these categories, there are concepts, narrative strands & historical data new & unusual for them. However, Augustine's 'Confessions' is still generally more accessiblein many ways that truly classical pieces; it has interior description as well as external reporting that we are familiar within modern writing.
The 'Confessions' shows Augustine's personality well - he was a passionate person, but his focus wavered for much of his life until finally settling upon Christianity & the Neoplatonic synthesis with this faith. Even while remaining a passionate Christian & rejecting the sort of dualism presentin the Manichee teachings, he varied between various positions within these systems. Augustine's varied thought reaches through many denominational & scholarly paradigms.
The 'Confessions' are divided into thirteen chapters, termed 'Books' - the first ten of the books are autobiographical, with Augustine describing both eventsin his life as well as his philosophical & religious wanderings during the course of his life. The text is somewhat difficult to take at times, as this is writing with a purpose, as indeed most autobiographies are. The purpose here at times seems to be to paint Augustinein the worst possible light (the worse his condition, the better his conversion/salvation ends up being); at other times, one gets a sense (as one might get when reading the Pauline epistles) that there is some significant degree of ego at work here (Paul boasts of being among the better students, & so does Augustine, etc.).
Augustine also uses his Confessions as a tract against the Manichean system - once a faithful adherent, Augustine later rejects the Manichean beliefs as heretical; however, one cannot get past the idea that Augustine retained certain of their intellectual aspectsin his own constructions even while denouncing themin his official life story.
The whole of the conversion turns on two primary books - Book Seven, his conversion to the Neoplatonic view of the world, including the metaphysics & the ethics that come along with this system; & Book 8, which describes his conversion to Christianity proper. This is where perhaps the most famous directive, 'Tolle! Lege!' ('Take & read!') comes from - Augustine heard a voice, & he picked up the nearest book, which happened to be a portion of the Pauline epistles, arguing against the undisciplined lifestyle Augustine lived. Scholars continue to debate whether Augustine's conversion to Christianity was more profound or more important than his conversion to Neoplatonism;in any event, Christianity interpreted through a Platonic framework became the norm for centuries, & remains a strong current within the Christian world view; Protestant reformers as they went back to the 'original bible'in distinction from the Catholic interpretations of the day also went back to the 'original Augustine' for much of their theology.
The final three books are Augustine's dealing with the creation of the world via narrative storiesin Genesis 1 exegetically & hermeneutically. This is very different from what is donein modern biblical scholarship, but is significantin many respects, not the least of which as it gives a model of the way Augustine dealt with biblical texts; given Augustine's towering presence over the development of Western Christianityin both Catholic & Protestant strands, understanding his methods & interpretative framework can lead to significant insights into the ideas of medieval & later church figures.
This translation by Henry Chadwick is one of the standard editions of the book available. Chadwick, a noted scholar of early Christianity, provides a good introduction that gives synopses of the books as well as background & contextual information. This is a book that will be of interest to novice readers of Augustine as well as scholars, to students, clergy & laypersons, & anyone else who might have an historical, literary, philosophical, theological or other interestin Augustine - something for everyone, perhaps?
Positively Gorgeous - By: , 05 Apr 1999 No other words for me to try to describe it, but moving, gorgeous, & utterly real. The most exquisite piece of literature or philosophy I've ever encountered as an avid reader of the humanities. Read it!
The Confessions is a very human and poetic account . - By: , 18 May 1998 The Confessions is a strangely vulnerable & lyrical account on a subject where we would expect dogmatism & grandiosity. Despite the "St."in front of his name Augustine comes across as the kind of slob that we might run across at any time. He reminds us of ourselves. Here we do not find certitude or self-satisfaction only a weird kind of singing, of phrasing, of worship. What we find here is a book of poetry.
