false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158330854m/1683.jpg 27037 176 In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine relates his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of power at the imperial court in Milan, his struggle against the domination of his sexual nature, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother Monica had taught him during his childhood.<br> Now, Henry Chadwick, an eminent scholar of early Christianity, has given us the first new English translation in thirty years of this classic spiritual journey. Chadwick renders the details of Augustine's conversion in clear, modern English. We witness the future saint's fascination with astrology and with the Manichees, and then follow him through scepticism and disillusion with pagan myths until he finally reaches Christian faith. There are brilliant philosophical musings about Platonism and the nature of God, and touching portraits of Augustine's beloved mother, of St. Ambrose of Milan, and of other early Christians like Victorinus, who gave up a distinguished career as a rhetorician to adopt the orthodox faith. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, yet his work contains many references and allusions that are easily understood only with background information about the ancient social and intellectual setting. To make The Confessions accessible to contemporary readers, Chadwick provides the most complete and informative notes of any recent translation, and includes an introduction to establish the context.<br> The religious and philosophical value of The Confessions is unquestionable--now modern readers will have easier access to St. Augustine's deeply personal meditations. Chadwick's lucid translation and helpful introduction clear the way for a new experience of this classic. 1427207 book 398 Confessions (World's Classics) total:3214|5:939|4:1060|3:810|2:291|1:114| 3214 12061 4951 305 4 1 false false Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 25 04:53:09 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 07 14:00:27 -0800 2009
There is a bounteous supply of beautiful words, excellent to read and beautiful to any honest seeker.

Augustine writes not to the public eye, and in fact I ran across him saying in one place--i forgot to mark what page it was on...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri Aug 29 14:37:38 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 07 14:50:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Tue May 06 13:18:04 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 13:21:21 -0700 2008


I wish I could remember the first time I read Confessions but it was sometime back in the mid-90s and that is the closest I can narrow it down. If I had several hours to kill, I could go digging in my old book logs, and find the exact date. S...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Mar 28 08:54:43 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 08:58:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 29 21:19:14 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 21:19:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 26 20:15:15 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 20:15:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false true Thu Jun 18 08:09:31 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 08:35:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 19:06:39 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 20:23:08 -0800 2009
Otherwise, it was very illuminating as to the nature of Christianity (I'm Jewish, so a lot of this stuff is new to me). What was most impre...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 20 17:42:48 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 19:53:14 -0700 2009
I can't say I really remember the whole thing, but I do remember that I was really drawn to th...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Nov 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 11:47:07 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 14:35:47 -0800 2009 Great Ideas series with which I'm so smitten. I'm not sure if you'll find this as shocking as I did, but here it is: some of these books are excerpted. And I say "excerpted" only so as to avoid an uglier word: if pressed, I mus...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Feb 22 23:28:41 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 14:45:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 12:56:26 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 17 12:56:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Aug 08 12:44:43 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 19:46:59 -0700 2009 three or four times more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 24 20:39:42 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 22:47:46 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 20:39:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 05:41:27 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 19:30:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 26 10:22:48 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 10:40:02 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 21 10:57:59 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 11:01:55 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 05 10:09:55 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 10:16:21 -0700 2009 Satyricon, which I think annoyed my T.A. a bit, especially when I tried to argue that Augustine pretty clearly had an Oedipal complex.

TA: There was no such thing as an Oedipal ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri May 22 21:07:42 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 21:17:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 04 11:50:25 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 20:44:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1683