Augustine: Confessions and Enchiridion

by Augustine of Hippo

The Confessions of Saint Augustine is considered the all time number one Christian classic. Augustine undertook his greatest piece of writing with the conviction that God wanted him to make this confession. The Confessions are, in fact, an extended poetic, passionate, intimate prayer. Augustine was probably forty-three when he began this endeavor. He had been a baptized Catholic for ten years, a priest for six, and a bishop for only two. His pre-baptismal life raised questions in the community. Was his conversion genuine? The first hearers were captivated, as many millions have been over the following sixteen centuries. His experience of God speaks to us across time with little need of transpositions. This new translation masterfully captures his experience.This second edition included a new annotated bibliography by William Harmless, S.J.

Genres: Biography

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 397

About the author

Early church father and philosopher Saint Augustine served from 396 as the bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria and through such writings as the autobiographical Confessions in 397 and the voluminous City of God from 413 to 426 profoundly influenced Christianity, argued against Manichaeism and Donatism, and helped to establish the doctrine of original sin.

An Augustinian follows the principles and doctrines of Saint Augustine.

People also know Aurelius Augustinus in English of Regius (Annaba). From the Africa province of the Roman Empire, people generally consider this Latin theologian of the greatest thinkers of all times. He very developed the west. According to Jerome, a contemporary, Augustine renewed "the ancient Faith."

The Neo-Platonism of Plotinus afterward heavily weighed his years. After conversion and his baptism in 387, Augustine developed his own approach to theology and accommodated a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed in the indispensable grace to human freedom and framed the concept of just war. When the Western Roman Empire started to disintegrate from the material earth, Augustine developed the concept of the distinct Catholic spirituality in a book of the same name. He thought the medieval worldview. Augustine closely identified with the community that worshiped the Trinity. The Catholics and the Anglican communion revere this preeminent doctor. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider his due teaching on salvation and divine grace of the theology of the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox also consider him. He carries the additional title of blessed. The Orthodox call him "Blessed Augustine" or "Saint Augustine the Blessed."

Santo Agostinho

Reviews

[Jeremy Counts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find myself always coming back to this book. When I first read it as a newly converted Christian, I desired to learn about those who came before me. Augustine's Confessions was the one that I instantly grew to love. Over time I observed that while Augustine was a great critical thinker, he was also a man who had a deep love for God and His Word. In every page you will find him quoting Scripture; whether it be to give praise to the Holy Trinity, or to qualify a certain idea he's explaining. Throughout the book I couldn't help but be in awe, that the convictions and struggles he underwent are the same convictions and struggles that Christians experience today (1500 years later). Truly a timeless work.

[Batseba]

I finished the audio-book of Augustine’s confessions. Augustine’s confessions is a confession born out of deep reflection bathed in the Scriptures, deep mysteries in a man partly resolved by the Scriptures, philosophical, a confession of a broken-hearted man marked by doxology finally loosed from the bond of sin - finally resorting to the one and only Saviour - embarked in the process of sanctification with the desire of perfection! I also loved his argument for God’s immutability, eternity, and otherness of God. And yes, God created all. By the way, I love Augustine’s mother so much - that “handmaiden of God” as Augustine called her and the mother of this saint!

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best translation in my opinion.