Confessions (Penguin Classics)

Augustine was an early Christian writer and theologian who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries. This book is probably his most well known written work which primarily covers his long path to converting to Christianity. Augustine was the son of a Christian mother and a pagan father. While a young man, he was not particularly interested in religion, especially Christianity, but would eventually come to follow a movement known as Manichaeism. He lived a degenerate lifestyle as a young man, but would eventually come to accept the truth of the Scriptures and convert. The book tells this long story of his life from his young age until his conversion and the twists along the way. It is an interesting story of a man's long path to God and the many distractions along the way. It contains some famous stories such as Augustine's experience, as a teenager, of stealing fruit for essentially the thrill of it, an act that as an adult he realizes was sinful. I also found his stories of essentially debunking alternate ideas, like astrology, to be well crafted. The final few chapters are less autobiographical but rather more musings on various theological issues as Augustine attempts to interpret excerpts from Scripture to find some meaning or answer that he wants to derive from them. What is fascinating about this book is that it is the story of a well-educated man who lived more than 1,600 years ago but often struggled with some of the same questions that a person might struggle with today such as the nature of God and how to follow his law. At the same time, as an early Church father, Augustine has had an immense influence on Christian thought for many centuries even to today. Thus, it is worth examining this work to better understand his often tortured path to Jesus and the lessons he learned and questions he considered along the way. I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to those interested in a Christian biography or even those interested in early Christianity in general.

I was very reluctant to read anything from Augustine for quite a while, because for whatever reason I found his good reputation to be off-putting. I confess that I was rather foolish. This book has been one of the most encouraging, edifying, relatable, and moving things I have ever read, and Augustine has very quickly become one of my favorite writers and theologians. The vast majority of Confessions is a long, heartfelt prayer to God, recounting important events throughout Augustine's life, confessing very honestly and diving deeply into his sins and shortcomings, his thought process and desires, as well as the impact and significance of the people in his life who loved him. Augustine takes a very honest yet philosophical approach to examining his past and asking God to teach him and show him how He worked throughout his life in these deeply contemplative prayers. So often I could perfectly empathize with the things Augustine spoke of, and if not myself then I knew of someone else who I felt would be moved by his passionate confessions. The book finishes off with an extremely deep philosophical dive into a number of different topics, which isn't nearly as emotionally moving as the rest of the book, but is deeply enriching and thought provoking in its own way. I've found it to be a very inspiring look into just how deeply we can explore theology, as well as an edifying example of how beneficial prayer is in deep study. I could go on for days about how wonderful this book is, and how much it has helped me to develop and mature just over the course of reading it, but ultimately I'd recommend just reading it for yourself. The translation is very enjoyable, the footnotes are helpful without being distracting (though the insistence on using two numbering systems for the Psalms gets a bit old), and I enjoy Penguin books for being good enough quality to feel nice to read without feeling too nice to mark up (and I've gone through quite a few highlighters on this book!). Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone, and I already have recommended it to quite a few people.

Just exactly what you're looking for if you want to know about St. Augustine.

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Confessions is the story of how one man found himself in Christianity after years of going his own way. Beginning in his childhood, St. Augustine's life is chronicled in this book through his mid-thirties, when he converted to Christianity. It details the specific events throughout his life that helped him change his state of mind about religion and his place in the world. St. Augustine was born in northern Africa well over a thousand years ago, going through his early years without a care for religion or serious responsibility. Over time though, he began transforming himself into a follower of Christ, eventually rising to become the bishop of Hippo, a city in modern-day Algeria. Despite Confessions being written 1600 years ago, its lessons are just as relevant today, as its themes of faith and finding oneself are ever present in society. The book itself is moving and powerful, as St. Augustine does a great job of conveying his true feelings and changing beliefs throughout his life, inspiring others. The only thing about its readability I would warn about is that some chapters can get repetitive with the same themes being repeated over and over again by St. Augustine. This isn't always a bad thing when he's trying to get a point across, but may be frustrating for some readers. PC

As a Catholic, I’ve heard Confessions quoted throughout my life. It was one of those books that I’ve heard so much about that I felt like I had already read it. I’m glad I didn’t let that feeling deter me from picking it up and reading it for myself. St. Augustine writes about his impious past leading up to his conversion. Scattered throughout are tidbits from his life with an emphasis on his mother, St. Monica’s, role as she fervently prayed for his soul and conversion. He discusses his struggle with sin and vices as well as his search for God and his meaning through different philosophies. All roads led him back to Christianity. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn’t expect to given I found City of God to be tedious, repetitive, and intense at times. There is an intensity in Confessions, but it’s a more relatable intensity. The end of the book gets more philosophical, however, the beginning stays in the area of memoir and theology.

This remains a classic -- Augustine's Confessions is beautifully written as a continuous prayer to God. His journey to Christianity (Catholicism) is amazing. And his philosophical arguments for discovering God are generally easy to follow -- a little pondering always helps! But his writings have me eager to tackle City of God soon.

To think this work was written 1600 years ago! The fact that this masterpiece is still in existence is amazing, and also, as you will see, a rare gift. What we find here is a very honest account of one man and his quest to find himself through all of the obstacles that life throws at you on a daily basis. The first thing that struck me is how sincere and honest St. Augustine is. He literally pours out his heart on every single page. Speaking directly with God, he discusses almost every facet of his life from: birth, parents, philosophy, education, mankind, loneliness, despair, gossip, sin, doing right, doing wrong, the joy of doing wrong, and eventually salvation and service. After years of adversity, we see St. Augustine at long last, turns his heart toward God, and he accepts the faith of Christianity as his own. This is a volume that should be read by all, not just by Christians. We can all learn a thing or two from St. Augustine like `no one is perfect'. Only God knows how many times we falter, and how many times we drift even further from doing the right thing. But, the important note is that after St. Augustine realized he couldn't fight it anymore, and that something was missing in his life, he realized that he could never be complete without God in his life. He turned away so many times because he was lost in the lust of all his worldly pleasures, one of them being women. However, when he finally joined with God, he stated that he no longer needed anything, but His words. There are many touching experiences found in this book... Without question, I received more from this paperback than originally anticipated. There is something in this book for all mankind to heed. These are the books that should never be lost for they possess the little secrets that we as human beings can learn from and apply in our own lives so that we can touch others as well. I think I could write a review that is 3 pages long on this detailed material. Within this book, one finds many treasured lessons to apply in everyday life. I wish I could list them all but you will just have to read, and discover them for yourself.