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Confessions (World's Classics)

by Augustine of Hippo, Henry Chadwick (Translator)

3.70 · rating details · 7,641 ratings · 525 reviews

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 c...moreIn 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.
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.
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.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.(less)

Paperback, 311 pages

Published August 15th 2008 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 397)

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Sep 25, 2010

K.D. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 501 Must Read Books (Memoirs)

Shelves: 501, religion

I never dreamed that one day I would finished reading a 300-page memoir written by a ancient Catholic saint. See, how many saints who lived during the first millennium have written himself a memoir?

I twice tried to read The Holy Bible (once in English and once in Tagalog) from cover to cover but failed. I just got distracted by too many details and hard-to-remember names and ancient places and I could not appreciate what were all those characters are doing. Excuses, excuses. They say...moreI never dreamed that one day I would finished reading a 300-page memoir written by a ancient Catholic saint. See, how many saints who lived during the first millennium have written himself a memoir?

I twice tried to read The Holy Bible (once in English and once in Tagalog) from cover to cover but failed. I just got distracted by too many details and hard-to-remember names and ancient places and I could not appreciate what were all those characters are doing. Excuses, excuses. They say that reading The Holy Bible needs the Holy Spirit to come to you so that it will be the spirit who will whisper the words to your ears so that you will understand the word of God. Maybe the spirit is still contemplating whether a sinner like me is worth his time and effort.

Until I came to this memoir. Written by a self-confessed sinner who is now considered one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity: Saint Augustine (latin word for church father)of Hippo (354-430)

It took me more than 4 weeks to finish this book. Not a straight read. It is impossible to do that. The memoir is like a letter of St. Augustine to God and in the letter, he is conversing and confessing. He pours out his thoughts, his doubts, his questions. Some of those are funny (based on what we all know now with the advances in science and technology). He tells Him his weaknesses, what wrongs he has done to others. His sins in thoughts, in words, in actions.

Reading it is like uttering a prayer. Read a page or two and you get that feeling that you have achieve your daily quota of prayers. St. Augustine poured his heart out in each page of his memoir. Something that is inspiring for me to ask myself those questions he threw out to God and reflect on those thoughts that he put on the pages.

There are so many quotes that I would like to capture here but if I do that, I think I will be quoting half of the book. Most of them are in long and winding sentences but this first paragraph of Book 11 is my favorite:

Is it possible, lord, that, since you are in eternity, you are ignorant of what I am saying to you? Or, do you see in time an event at the time it occurs? If not, then why am I recounting such a tale of things to you? Certainly not in order to acquiant you with them through me; but, instead, that through them I may stir up my own love and the love of my readers toward you, so that all may say, "Great is the lord and greatly to be praised." I have said this before and will say it again. For love of your love I do it. So also we pray - and yet truth tells us, "Your father knows want things you need before you ask him." Consequently, we lay bare our feelings before you, so that, through our confessing to you our plight and your mercies towards us, you may go on to free us altogether, as you have already begun; and so that we may cease to be wretched in ourselves and blessed in you - since you have called us to be poor in spirit, meek, mourners, hungering and athirst for righteousness, merciful and pure in heart."

Now, I have to give The Holy Bible another try. I could not have finished this whole book and pointed that beautiful part if there was no Holy Spirit upon me.

Oh ye of little faith.(less)

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Aug 21, 2009

Sarah rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone

Recommended to Sarah by: Dr. Harmon

Shelves: rereads, theology

Chadwick's translation of Augustine's Confessions (note that this is a confession to God, while read by men) is one of the best. It is not costly in a monetary sense; new it is a mere 6.95. However, it is deceptively short. A chapter will take you two hours if you give it the attention it deserves. Augustine is a circular writer. He is not a bad writer - he was known to be a merciless editor, in fact. But he goes around and around, especially later on in the last chapters of the book when h...moreChadwick's translation of Augustine's Confessions (note that this is a confession to God, while read by men) is one of the best. It is not costly in a monetary sense; new it is a mere 6.95. However, it is deceptively short. A chapter will take you two hours if you give it the attention it deserves. Augustine is a circular writer. He is not a bad writer - he was known to be a merciless editor, in fact. But he goes around and around, especially later on in the last chapters of the book when he is wondering aloud, in a sense, about more neo-platonic and loftier, metaphysical questions he is asking of God and thinking aloud/reasoning as best he can with his brilliant mind on paper; recognizing that that mind is a gift from God and he is to steward it. It gets hairy. It gets *hard* to stick with.

If you can, and you do, you will find yourself perhaps having some of the same reactions I did:
a)I always wondered the same thing!, or
b)I am not even smart enough to have even thought to have wondered that
or possibly even
c)I have no idea what he's even talking about anymore.

Had I not taken a course solely on The Confessions, when I had to read De Trinitate in a later theology class I most likely would have had a crisis of faith and quit. Because I was used to his style of writing and knew who the Manichees were, what the background was and the Neo-Platonic, socio-historical setting Augustine was situated in, I could confront De Trinitate and later, "for fun," I was brazen enough to take on The City of God.

There was nothing Augustine didn't talk about or no issue he didn't confront as Bishop when he was alive, because he was a very prolific writer. He spent his time not in fancy robes as one may imagine, but answering questions of the people - he was an ad hoc theologian. We are still reaping the benefits of that today, for his answers were good ones and are still relevant. Before he became bishop, though, he lived the life he spells out on the pages of the Confessions, which are not tales of endless days skipping carelessly along smooth paths by any stretch of the imagination. He reveals facets of himself not very becoming of a bishop; facets that are human. He was the first to admit to having such personality traits and publish a book about it and turn it back into praise to God when it was previously just material for gossip.
Remaining human all the while, he points steadfastly to God, which is why this book is so crucial to know intimately. He speaks of heartbreak and loss in a way that you want to turn to it when you go through it (I did). He speaks of those who will naysay you when you have changed, speaking of who you were and not who you are, and you will again want to turn to his words. It is invaluable.

(less)

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Mar 07, 2009

James rated it

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Shelves: philosophy, study-group, u-of-chicago, autobiography, classics, spiritual

I have read this book several times, both as part of the Basic Program of Liberal Education at the University of Chicago and most recently as one of the monthly selections of a reading group in which I participate. Like all classics it bears rereading and yields new insights each time I read it. But it also is unchanging in ways that struck me when I first read it; for Augustine's Confessions seem almost modern in the telling with a psychological perspective that brings his emotional growth aliv...more

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Sep 03, 2011

Jerome Peterson rated it

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"Confessions" is the type of book with a heavy dynamic caliber that it should be read slow, thoughtfully, and with a highlighter. Saint Augustine doe not hold back in his shortcomings. He paints a black, very personal, wicked youth. He confesses all and bares his soul. The passages about his mother were extremely soulful revealing the man as an affectionate son. He writes with hopeful authority; yet in a humble voice and always in a way that I could relate with it in today's hectic pac...more

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Oct 06, 2011

James rated it

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Shelves: autobiography, religion, philosophy, non-fiction, history

It was slow, it was dense, and it was militantly Christian. So why is that The Confessions is such an unavoidably fascinating work? Augustine appears here as a fully realized person, with all the good and the bad that that implies; it's as if the book was a conversation with God and a fly-on-the-wall was taking dictation. Since God obviously would have known Augustine's transgressions before they even occurred, Augustine thus has nothing to hide in this personal narrative, or at least makes it a...more

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Feb 21, 2011

Bryan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone interested in Christianity, spirituality, philosophy, and theology

Recommended to Bryan by: Mrs. King, my high school English teacher

Shelves: read-multiple-times, christianity, highly-recommend, theology, religion, to-read-again

I went into this book with wary expectations, but by the end of it was fully enthusiastic about Augustine's account of his conversion.

There were two things that always kept me from reading this book: the first was that I read only part of his quote "Lord, give me chastity, but not yet," when I was younger and so it didn't settle with me. I mistakenly thought that "The Confessions" were Augustine's attempts to confess a sin in order that he could keep doing it, and ...more

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Apr 18, 2010

Nathaniel rated it

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I hated this book when I read it in ninth grade. I'm somewhat more tolerant of it now, which still isn't saying a lot. This is an important book to read once to understand how Church dogma developed in the period between Rome and the early Middle Ages, but that doesn't mean it's the least bit interesting outside of an academic context, at least not unless you're a die-hard apologist for the Catholic Church. In fact, most of it is self-righteous dogmatic crap with a majorly and stupidly overdevel...more

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May 06, 2008

booklady rated it

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Recommends it for: Any Christian adult

Shelves: hagiography, literature, classic, spiritual, scripture, 2004, worth-reading-over-and-over, prayer, non-fiction

Second reading 12-30 August 2004

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. Since I don't have that kind of time at the moment, I'll just settle for the second time I read the book which was when I took a class in Spiritual Classics. It was the first book we read in the class...more

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Mar 28, 2008

Frank rated it

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Certainly a classic that has withstood the test of times for 1,700 years and is still just as valid, maybe more so. I think there are more quotes still used from this book than from any other this old other than the bible. I think this is the type of book that is best appreciated by just reading a little at a time, not trying to get through the book but just making it a constant companion. I find the sections with his mother (St. Monica - she became a saint just praying and working on the conver...more

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Aug 06, 2011

David Boyce added it · review of another edition

This is one of those books that you always see on college reading lists and fill with you dread. Not only is the translation I in archaic English it is also a really long discourse. Don't get me wrong, it is not boring. Far from it! It is very interesting to follow St Augustine through a retelling of his own childhood and especially those events that lead to him being a Christian Bishop in a Roman outpost. The bits that really captured my imagination were the descriptions of the everyday which s...more

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Jan 14, 2012

Jon rated it

· review of another edition

This review is specifically about this new Penguin translation by Garry Wills. It is very up-to-date, in reasonably contemporary English, unlike many of the other translations out there. I would quibble with some of his word choices, but he makes a valiant effort to make sure actual echoes from section to section of Augustine's work are still there. My real problem with this edition is that, apart from a four page introduction largely about the translation, there is no other critical matter. No ...more

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Nov 08, 2011

Todd Dow rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favorites

This is one of my favourite books. Augustine is a cornerstone figure in Christianity. He transformed the Christian church from a rebellious faith in tension with Judaism and pagan beliefs into the official church of the Roman Empire.

Augustine was far from saintly in his life: he chased plenty of skirts and he had a child out of wedlock prior to his religious transformation I read this book at a critical point in my journey of faith and learning that Augustine's ability to lead the Chr...more

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Jul 18, 2011

Juan rated it

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This was not an easy read. There's a lot to chew on, on just about every page. A chapter will take you two hours if you give it the attention it deserves. Much of the second half of the book is rather circular-- he goes around and around and I must admit he lost me in several places. He spends a lot of time making a point by proving that its opposite is untrue by showing what it would mean if it were true. Then he builds the case for the point he is making by comparing it back to the thing h...more

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Jun 29, 2011

Mrs. C. rated it

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I read the Rex Warner translation of *The Confessions of St. Augustine*, not this particular translation, so my comment is about the content of the book, not the translation or edition. The first part of the book is Augustine's autobiography of his childhood, his education, his paganism, his immorality, and his conversion to Christ. It is as fresh as if you were reading the words of a person today. What always stands out to my students (eighth-graders at a classical Christian school) is the s...more

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Jun 28, 2011

Jared rated it

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The translation is not bad, but definitely has a Roman Catholic spin to it. I am sure a protestant would translate a few passages a little bit differently. By no means am I saying this is an inaccurate translation (I am unable to judge that). I just happen to remember the word penitence in the book which a protestant would not put down. As far the Confessions themselves go, it is quite an amazing read all the way through book 9. After that Augustine makes a switch from autobiography to philo...more

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May 20, 2011

Bojan Tunguz rated it

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I first came across St. Augustine's "Confessions" when I was a freshman in college. It was a monumental experience in terms of both the content of his writing and the freshness and relevance of his writing style. After re-reading them again recently, I am still struck with how contemporary the book feels. Aside from many of its 4th century particularities, the concerns that St. Augustine had and the way he frankly and honestly dealt with them could be lifted from almost any contemporar...more

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Mar 10, 2011

John Foley rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who want to make faith their own

Recommended to John by: Undergraduate Teacher

This is one of my personal favorite books. I have read this book every year for the last three years. Only ten books make that list for me.
The Confessions is one of the most important books written for western society. Not only does St. Augustine speak to his time but he also connects Greek philosophy with Christian praxis; thus connecting the past to the future. He takes the notion of the hero, and places himself at the center of the drama, therein communicating to future gener...more This is one of my personal favorite books. I have read this book every year for the last three years. Only ten books make that list for me.
The Confessions is one of the most important books written for western society. Not only does St. Augustine speak to his time but he also connects Greek philosophy with Christian praxis; thus connecting the past to the future. He takes the notion of the hero, and places himself at the center of the drama, therein communicating to future generations about their hero. Do not get me wrong Augustine does not believe himself to be the hero for western civilization but the reader who participates in his book, or in the Christian religion. There is no more Troy to take, no more suitors to out wit, only mastery of concupiscences. Now the Christian becomes the hero and the victory becomes that over sin.
This idea was not novel. People had been reading Homer allegorically for centuries. But as i stated before it was defining. Augustine gave a voice to his times. This book does not define western society but he speaks to it. He does not create a trajectory by which the west follows but he captures the spirit of the west that will remain until the advent of globalization.
This book should also be read in the context of a prayer. Note the first sentence, 'You are Great, O Lord..." This book is written as a prayer. Furthermore, these confessions of his are not mere confessions of sin as one might understand confession in a twentieth-century context. They are confessions of God's greatness, confessions of praise, confessions of Scripture, confessions of life and confession of sorrow. Thus, my hope is that as any person reads this book one would enter into dialogue with Augustine, push against his 'confessions' and see what pushes back.

Note on Translation: I have read countless versions of this book even parts in the Latin (with some help for a friend) but this is one of the best. I always recommend to read it along side another translations to really understand what the author intended. But, what the hell! Reauthor this text. Make it alive to you, in your time and in your situation. For only then can one true experience a book.(less)

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Feb 28, 2011

Karen rated it

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Wow, if you're ever struggling to give up something bad for something better (who isn't)- this book is inspiring! It is full of beautiful imagery about coming closer to God and giving up things to know Him.

I have to many favorite quotes to write, but here are a few of my favorite parts.

St. Augustine was a bit of a sex-addict, from what I read, and he tried to give it up time and time again. He was coming closer to God from his studies, and he felt like two different people. H...more

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Dec 31, 2010

Galicius rated it

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Shelves: latin, philosophy, biography-autobiography, list-for-people-desiring-higher-edu

The “shows” that St. Augustine enjoyed in his younger life were the Coliseum horror events with victims thrown to animals and gladiator shows. He describes failure of mind to master the free will. When they go to Rome the first thing that his friend Alypius wants to do is go to the Coliseum. The spectacles horrify St. Augustine. Alypius says he will go but not participate in the spectacles and be absent while present but his curiosity overcomes him and he feels worse for it.

Confe...more

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Sep 26, 2010

Chris rated it

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Shelves: 2010-reading-list, university-reading

Augustine tells the story of his life up until his conversion to Catholicism (from Manachee beliefs) in this book which is considered by many to be one of the first true autobiographies of the western world.

We read this book for an English literature class in University, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by it. What I expected to be a slow, sluggish read weighed down by too many old religious references was... well, it was that. But in between the bible quotes you ...more

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Jun 06, 2010

Natasha rated it

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Shelves: early-classics

This is the earliest known authentic autobiography according to Norton's Anthology. St. Augustine writes his story of conversion to Christianity and confesses his misdeeds prior to his conversions. He recounts his journey through intellectual pursuits, mysticism, and finally finds his way home to his mother's religious teachings. Throughout his confessions, he relates to God as a very personal God who is concerned for Augustine's well-being and ever forgiving.

I found Augustine's ac...more

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Oct 29, 2009

Natalie Wickham rated it

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Shelves: theology, biography-autobiography

A fascinating autobiographical account of a man who has gone down in history as one of the greatest philosophers and theologians that ever lived. His oft-quoted words, “Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee” perhaps best sum up the heartfelt writings contained in this collection. One cannot help but both smile at his subtly humorous monologues (“There I put my ear to the cauldron and heard from within and all around a song of unholy loves. I did not love,...more

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Aug 26, 2009

Ruthie rated it

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Recommended to Ruthie by: Dr John J Thatamanil

This book elucidates how directly self-narration brings about self-realization. The "personal testimony" of religious conversion occupies a momentous place in the evangelical Christian tradition. The act of narrating an encounter with the divine takes on the characteristics of a creative act. When St. Augustine narrates his "conversion" he brings his feelings, impressions, perceptions about the holy out of the realm of subjectivity and emotion and into a format he can apprehe...more

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Jun 18, 2009

Jay rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 16, 2009

Daniel Toker rated it

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Shelves: philosophy

My only criticism is that the book sometimes lagged - but this is true of almost all philosophical and theological works, especially classical ones.

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 impressive was Augustine's razor-sharp self-awareness. I couldn't believe that a classical author could have written with what I had previously taken to be uniquely modern Angst (in Existentialist terms). ...more

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Jun 20, 2009

Sonia rated it

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Read this in a Philosophy of Religion class my Senior year of high school. It made me realize how fundamentally selfish I am. Sadly, I don't really think that's changed, but maybe someday . . .

I can't say I really remember the whole thing, but I do remember that I was really drawn to the idea of "ordered love." At the time I read this, I was busy resisting the idea of God, so in my mind I replaced the love of god that Augustine places on the top of his list with more of a ...more

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Nov 05, 2009

Emily added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009

I hate to say it, but I have some bad news about the Penguin 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 must admit that this edition of Augustine's Confessions is - I can barely stand to write it - ABRIDGED.

To Penguin's credit, they don't try to hide the abridgment, as some expurgators have d...more

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Jul 16, 2011

Annemarie Donahue rated it

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Shelves: medieval-li, religious

Excellent book that I would never have picked up if it were not for an amazing graduate class I am taking this summer with possibily the world's coolest teacher! This book is a good read for anyone of a any religious persuasion and since I'm an atheist and still enjoyed it that means ANYONE can read this and learn from it.
Augustine, not to be confused with the St. Augustine who evangelized Europe under the rule of St. Gregory I (Gregory the Great), was a wealthy young man, living in Romani...moreExcellent book that I would never have picked up if it were not for an amazing graduate class I am taking this summer with possibily the world's coolest teacher! This book is a good read for anyone of a any religious persuasion and since I'm an atheist and still enjoyed it that means ANYONE can read this and learn from it.
Augustine, not to be confused with the St. Augustine who evangelized Europe under the rule of St. Gregory I (Gregory the Great), was a wealthy young man, living in Romanized African. Growing up in Carthage Augustine had great educational opportunities to take advantage of, and he rose to become a fine orator and teacher of rhetoric. Leaving Carthage to teach in Italy he eventually became a professor of rhetoric in Milan, but suffered a crisis of faith. He had to separate from his long-time companion, a woman whom he was not married to, but had a son with. This forced separation (his appointment was contingent upon an arranged marriage) made him question the society and the social system he was buying into, and helping to keep it up as his role as a professor was to teach students to work within this system. He quit his post and returned to Carthage where he embraced the Christian faith his mother Monnica had grown up with. (Augustine's father was a pagan)
Rome at this time was a bipartisanship religious empire with Christianity and Paganism having equal footing. Augustine became a priest after his baptism in 387 (he was baptized with his son) and eventualy rose to bishop after opening his home as a monastery.
This book focuses on the very real questions of defining Christianity and the Christian God, which for a medieval author would be difficult. This is not the story narrative interactive god of pagan tradition (he doesn't dress up like a bull and pick up chicks) but one that does not interact with the population and leaves them to understand Christianity in the role of the world for themselves.
His chapter on Sin (Book II) is particularly interesting as it ties into our modern interpretation of law. In many ways this book is very contemporary and offers a lot to a modern philosopher to read and enjoy.(less)

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Nov 23, 2010

Pat rated it

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Kind of interesting to see exactly when and where the Christian faith took it's hard left turn into general shittiness. By way of excusing David breaking three commandments (coveting, adultery, and murder) he opens the door for moral relativism and fascism (We can't judge our betters, God's law is inconcievable even though it's written down in unambiguous language on a bulleted list man's morality is fickle etc.) and he also essentially considers any pleasurable experience to be a sin. He tal...more

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Oct 24, 2010

Iris rated it

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Shelves: 2010, christianity, classic, made-me-think, non-fiction, school-reading, worth-re-reading

I am glad I made the effort to read Saint Augustine's Confessions. It is not a difficult book, but there are so many ideas to think about that it requires time to process it. The first nine books are his confessions of sin. He reviews his life and how God leads him to Christian faith. These read through fairly quickly. Most of the meat is in the last four books - his confessions of faith. He spends one book considering the memory. After that he begins an in-depth look at Creation. An ent...more

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About Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo (/ɒˈɡʌstɨn/ or /ˈɔːɡəstɪn/; Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis) (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province. His writi...moreAugustine of Hippo (/ɒˈɡʌstɨn/ or /ˈɔːɡəstɪn/; Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis) (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity.

According to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine "established anew the ancient Faith." In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus. After his conversion to Christianity and baptism in AD 387, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, and he framed the concepts of original sin and just war.

When the Western Roman Empire was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the church, the community that worshipped God.

In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of Reformation due to his teaching on salvation and divine grace. In the Eastern Orthodox Church he is blessed, and his feast day is celebrated on 15 June. Among the Orthodox, he is called "Blessed Augustine", or "St. Augustine the Blessed".(less)

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The Enchiridion on Faith Hope and Love (Augustine Series 1)

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“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” — 57 people liked it

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