The Confessions

The Confessions is a spiritual non-fiction autobiography by Saint Augustine of Hippo, covering the first 35 years of Augustine's life, with particular emphasis on Augustine's spiritual development and how he accepted Christianity. For Augustine, “confessions” is a catchall term for acts of religiously authorized speech: praise of God, blame of self, confession of faith. The book is a richly textured meditation by a middle-aged man (Augustine was in his early 40s when he wrote it) on the course and meaning of his own life. Augustine writes about his regrets to led a sinful and immoral life. He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology. The dichotomy between past odyssey and present position of authority as bishop is emphasized in numerous ways in the book, not least in that what begins as a narrative of childhood ends with an extended and very churchy discussion of the book of Genesis; the progression is from the beginnings of a man’s life to the beginnings of human society. Augustine is especially influenced by the powerful intellectual preaching of the suave and diplomatic bishop St. Ambrose, who reconciles for him the attractions of intellectual and social culture of antiquity, in which Augustine was brought up and of which he was a master, and the spiritual teachings of Christianity.

Edited at 2022-08-22 10:04:12