A book review on "The Confessions of Saint Augustine", translated, with an introduction and notes, by John K. Ryan
One of the most colorful and popular saints in the Catholic tradition is Saint Augustine of Hippo. He may be one of the many that are next in popularity to Saint Francis of Assisi. He wrote a very good autobiographical book filled with philosophical and theological insights: "The Confessions". This blog post will seek to present some of those insights.
Some details of Saint Augustine's life
Although the book has not made a clear story of Saint Augustine's life, we can know the familiar details about his life - especially those that have helped him on the road to sanctity. To better understand his autobiography, one can read the material written before the actual content of his writing.
Saint Augustine was born in Hippo, Africa in the early 4th century. He lived a licentious life in his early year and was involved in teaching and ideals that was clearly not in line with Christian teaching. Specifically, he believed in Manichaeism. Because of his mother's, incessant prayers, he gradually converted to Christianity. The famous story that is told about this conversion is in the sermon of Saint Ambrose, whose words deeply touched his soul. Though Augustine sired a son out of wedlock, after his conversion, he included his son in the community which he started - a community that included his mother, his son, his sister, and his friends. His sister eventually became the abbess of the women in the community and he became the leader of the men. This community grew and became what we know now as the Augustinians.
A brief review of the autobiography
The book of "The Confessions" is really very interesting. In the very first chapters of the book, you will have a sense that the man is indeed a holy man and is worthy of sainthood. It is really rare for someone who has achieved the status of bishop and doctor of the church to write about the sins of his "infancy and childhood!" This is something one must really read in order to have a real sense of his holiness. As you read along the other chapters, you will not only have other details of his life, but also learn much wisdom from his prayers and reflection. There is a lot of philosophical insights which you can read about that show St. Augustine's degree of intelligence and education. If you have a basic philosophical background in college, it will be easier to understand what he writes. But more than just his philosophy, his spiritual insights on God and His love and mercy for all mankind is the best.
The chapters in the book
There are thirteen 'books' in the book itself and the following list will give the titles of these thirteen books. One 'book' has as little as thirteen chapters and another has as many as thirty one chapters.
- Book 1: Childhood
- Book 2: Augustine's Sixteenth Year
- Book 3: Later Youth
- Book 4: Augustine the Manichean
- Book 5: At Rome and Milan
- Book 6: Years of Struggle
- Book 7: Problems of Thought and Belief
- Book 8: The Grace of Faith
- Book 9: The New Catholic
- Book 10: A Philosophy of Memory
- Book 11: Time and Eternity
- Book 12: Form and Matter
- Book 13: The Creation of the World
A classic recommended even by non-Christians
This book is so good that it is recommended by non-Christians who have read it without really knowing even the basics of the Christian faith. For those who are busy in their professional lives, this is a book you can read, to divert your mindset from the "ratings race". It will bring you into a world of ideas that are rooted in truths that one can fully understand if given more time. It is the first few chapters of the book which are really interesting and easy to read. Towards the latter chapters, when Saint Augustine speaks more on the development of his Christian philosophy, the tone of the language begins to be heavier. However, you need not read every word nor absorb every paragraph. You can simply choose the parts of the book which will help you get a sense of what he wants us to know about God's love and His mercy, through his experience of conversion to Christianity.
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