The Life of Saint Augustine

by Possidius, Michele Pellegrino, John E. Rotelle

In the first part, as the biographer had not intended to repeat anything which Augustine had spoken in his Confessions, he takes few words to run through events prior to the conversion, hardly mentioning the traditional themes of native land, family, and education. There follows a brief account of the life led by Augustine as a layman in the community of friends which formed around him. We are told how he was ordained, of his activities, his establishment of a monastery, his preaching ministry, and his struggles against the heretics. The second part is devoted to four Donatism, Arianism, Pelagainism, and Manicheanism. The third part tells of the spirit in which Augustine awaited death.

Genres: History, Christianity

143 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2015

Reviews

[Ⰰⱃⰿⰰⱀⰴ Ⱆⰾⰴⰵⱃⰻⰽⱁ Ⱅⰵⱄⰾⰰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

BAC Selecciones
Madrid, 2025

Una biografía muy corta.

San Posidio casi no habla nada de la vida de San Agustín antes de su conversión.

Se muestra la habilidad de San Agustín a conversar y a convencer a los no creyentes, sean paganos o sean herejes.

San Posidio nos da una vista interesante sobre el caos geopolítico del siglo V en el norte de África.

Se acercan tiempos similares a nuestra Iglesia?

San Agustín recomienda que los sacerdotes y los obispos se quedan hasta la muerte al lado de sus fieles, en casos de asedios u otros peligros.

Que Dios nos da poder, paz y paciencia en este tiempo.

[Matthew C.]

Lots of great anecdotes and vignettes of Augustine

[Johan Rutgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ontzettend interessant om een biografie over Augustinus te lezen van iemand die hem nog persoonlijk gekend heeft.

[David Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possidius knew Augustine for the entire 39 years or so of his priesthood, and wrote this short Life a few years after Augustine's death. I believe it is the only contemporary biography. His writing is workmanlike and straightforward, and sheds light on Augustine's life and troubled times (so much like our own).

This edition bookends Possidius' work with a nice introduction, explaining what we know about Possidius himself, his relationship with Augustine, and the probable trustworthiness of the text; and good explanatory notes at the end.

This Kindle edition is not ideal. The endnotes are not hyperlinked in the text, so it's not really possible to read the note and easily jump back to the text. I ended up reading all the endnotes after the actual text, so I lost track of what most of the notes were about.

To know about Augustine's life as seen by a contemporary, after you've read Augustine's own Confessions, this book is the place to come.

[Alex]

This book was easy to read and full of instruction.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possidius, a close friend of Augustine, picks up Augustine's biography where the Confessions left off. If you'd like to know more about Augustine, what happened after his conversion, what was his ministry like, what he as a person was like, look no further. This book is a delight to read.