A Reader's Companion to Augustine's Confessions

by Kim Paffenroth

This book is a tool for teaching and studying the great Christian classic, Augustine's Confessions . It is a unique venture in which thirteen different scholars look at each of the thirteen books in the Confessions and interpret their chapters in light of that book and in light of the rest of Augustine's work. The result is that the richness and ambiguity of Augustine's work shines through as well as the richness and ambiguity of different readings of the Confessions .

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

About the author

I am a professor of religious studies, and the author of several books on the Bible and theology. I grew up in New York, Virginia, and New Mexico. I attended St. John's College, Annapolis, MD (BA, 1988), Harvard Divinity School (MTS, 1990), and the University of Notre Dame (PhD, 1995). I live in upstate New York with my wife and two wonderful kids. In the horror genre, I have written Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth (Baylor, 2006) - WINNER, 2006 Bram Stoker Award; Dying to Live: A Novel of Life among the Undead (Permuted Press, 2007); Orpheus and the Pearl(Magus Press, 2008); and Dying to Live: Life Sentence(Permuted Press, 2008).

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every essay was excellent--except the one about Book 8

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable yet scholarly treatment of the Confessions with insights into controversies, ancient criticisms, and emerging scholarship on Augustine's most-read work. An excellent companion to Augustine's Confessions.

[Linda Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used as a reference while reading Saint Augustine's Confessions. Offered insights and explanations. Not a stand -alone book.

[Amy Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general idea of this collection of essays is that each author argues that each book of the Confessions is the key for the whole work. While I came away with some interesting reads of different books, the essays are uneven and I didn't come away convinced that the approach was more helpful than disjointed.

[John]

This book was a very helpful addition for me. I got a lot of insight into the Confessions from it. Since each chapter is by a different author, the quality varies. Skip the one for Book VIII, which, despite the author's beliefs to the contrary, is little more than pseudoscience.