Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Take and read, September 19, 2005
Augustine's 'Confessions' is among the most important books ever written. One of the first autobiographical works in the modern sense, it also represents the first time a psychological and theological enterprise were combined. It also helps to bridge the gap between the Classical world and the Medieval world, exhibiting strong elements identifying with each of those major historical periods.
Most undergraduates in 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 many in these categories, there are concepts, narrative strands and historical data new and unusual for them. However, Augustine's 'Confessions' is still generally more accessible in many ways that truly classical pieces; it has interior description as well as external reporting that we are familiar with in 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 and the Neoplatonic synthesis with this faith. Even while remaining a passionate Christian and rejecting the sort of dualism present in the Manichee teachings, he varied between various positions within these systems. Augustine's varied thought reaches through many denominational and scholarly paradigms.
The 'Confessions' are divided into thirteen chapters, termed 'Books' - the first ten of the books are autobiographical, with Augustine describing both events in his life as well as his philosophical and 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 Augustine in 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, and 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 aspects in his own constructions even while denouncing them in 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 and the ethics that come along with this system; and Book 8, which describes his conversion to Christianity proper. This is where perhaps the most famous directive, 'Tolle! Lege!' ('Take and read!') comes from - Augustine heard a voice, and 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, and 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 stories in Genesis 1 exegetically and hermeneutically. This is very different from what is done in modern biblical scholarship, but is significant in 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 Christianity in both Catholic and Protestant strands, understanding his methods and interpretative framework can lead to significant insights into the ideas of medieval and 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 and contextual information. This is a book that will be of interest to novice readers of Augustine as well as scholars, to students, clergy and laypersons, and anyone else who might have an historical, literary, philosophical, theological or other interest in Augustine - something for everyone, perhaps?
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you , July 18, 2007
Augustine's writings have withstood the test of time and it is clear to see when reading. The confessions begin with Augustine giving praise to God. It proceeds then into early childhood of Augustine and how his parents made him go to school to study Latin. As he continued to grow in his studies he also began to grow an addiction to sexuality. He brags to his friends of the sexual encounters that he has been through. In this same chapter he also speaks of how he and his concubines stole pears. He explains how this is something that he would have never done on his own, but with his friends he enjoyed it for the shear sake of stealing.
Augustine's studies increased as he continued to search for wisdom. These searches led him into the direction of the Manichaeism and to becoming a teacher of rhetoric. Shortly after this, one of his friends was baptized right before his death. Augustine teased his friend in regard to his conversion. However this also left Augustine with many questions regarding Manichaeism. He became very excited because he had the opportunity to meet the Manichee bishop Faustus. He had many questions for him, but after meeting with him, he found that Faustus did not have any answers to give him than what he had already known. This left Augustine to turn from Manichaeism and shortly after that he began to lean more towards Christianity.
Augustine's mother Monica had arranged for him to get married to a Christian girl. During this time he had been reading profusely and finally came to a conclusion about Jesus. He was in a moment of despair and heard a young girl's voice singing, "take up and read, take up and read." Upon hearing this he grabbed his Bible and began to read a passage in the book of Romans and after reading it he gave his life to Christ. He continued to give lengthy illustrations of memory and temptation. The remaining chapters of his book went into great detail about creation, the deity of Christ and the Trinity.
There are many pearls of wisdom to be gleamed from Augustine's work. Augustine does a fantastic job of tackling many questions in regards to Genesis. Also, the confessions would be great for a defense regarding the Trinity. This is great to appeal to since the confessions were written around 397. This could help show someone that the teachings of the Trinity were not just something that was conjured up, but have a historical standing. I highly recommend that you "take up and read."
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite as advertised..., July 13, 2008
Potential buyers of this book should note a few things:
a) The English translation of the book in question on this page is not by Henry Chadwick, or any other modern translator, but rather, it is by the 19th cen. scholar E.B. Pusey. In fact, this version is so old that it is no longer copyrighted and thus it is in the public domain (which can easily be located, for free, online). Therefore, the language is antiquated, King-James-Bible style English. So beware.
b) Amazon, the company that owns the publisher of this book (BookSurge), has apparently put out this cheap edition because the aforementioned public domain translation could be reprinted and used for free. Which is not a bad thing, per se, but buyers should know this ahead of time.
c) The publication is quite bare-bones; no translator or editor information is listed, there is no preface, intro., or other text inside the two covers except for the text of the Confessions itself.
d) But hey...it is cheap! And I'm actually enjoying the struggle of reading its beautiful, but sometimes confusing, old English style.
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