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Confessions

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Translated by F. J. Sheed

Introduction by Peter Brown

Notes by Michael Foley

Superbly narrated by Mike Fraser, F. J. Sheed’s remarkable translation of this classic spiritual autobiography is finally in audio format, with an introduction by noted historian of late antiquity Peter Brown. Incorporated in this edition are a wealth of notes on literary, philosophical, biblical, historical, and liturgical topics by Michael P. Foley, an Editor’s Preface, and a timeline.

This translation is already a classic. It is the translation that has guided three generations of students and readers into a renewed appreciation of the beauty and urgency of a masterpiece of Christian autobiography. This is largely because the translator has caught not only the meaning of Augustine’s Confessions, but a large measure of its poetry. It makes the Latin sing in English as it did when it came from the pen of Augustine, some sixteen hundred years ago. Deeply rooted in the tradition of which Augustine was himself a principal founder, this translation is not only it is a faithful echo, in a language that has carried throughout the ages, of its author’s original passion and disquiet.” (Peter Brown)

Saint Augustine’s Latin presents notable difficulties for translators. And even good English translations have usually dated badly. Frank Sheed’s, which I read a mere fifty years ago, still shows no signs of dating. It captures Augustine’s extraordinary combination of precise statement and poetic evocation as does no other. (Alasdair MacIntyre)

Augustine’s sublime Confessions fairly ring with the music of a baroque eloquence, lavish and stately. F. J. Sheed’s ear for that music makes this translation a memorable opportunity to hear Augustine’s voice resonating down the years. (James O’Donnell)

2011 Sheed & Ward, Inc.; Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Audible Audio

Published August 5, 2024

About the author

Augustine of Hippo

3,333 books2,033 followers
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

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