Resumen
Resumen de The Confessions of St. Augustine
Para quién es
For readers who love honest self-examination, the history of ideas, and the roots of Western Christianity. It also suits anyone curious about the ancient world.
De qué trata este libro
The Confessions is the story of one man's life, told to God. Augustine, bishop of Hippo in North Africa, wrote it around the year 400, when he was in his forties and had been a bishop for a few years. He looks back at his childhood, his schooling, his years as a teacher of public speaking, his long search for the truth, and his turn to the Christian faith.
The word confession in the title has three meanings. It means admitting his faults. It means praising God. And it means declaring what he believes. That is why the whole book is spoken to God, with readers listening in. Augustine wants to show how a restless, ambitious young man, pulled by pleasure and pride, came to think that God had been leading him all along.
The first nine books tell his life up to the death of his mother, Monica. The last four turn to questions about memory, time and the opening chapters of Genesis. You get a candid portrait of a mind at work, and a model for how to look honestly at your own past. Let us begin with the question that drives everything: what is the heart really looking for?
En este resumen
- 1The restless heart is the book's questionFree
- 2Childhood shows the roots of sin
- 3Carthage stirs desire and a hunger for truth
- 4Doubts break the hold of the Manichees
- 5Ambrose teaches him to read differently
- 6Evil is not a thing but a lack
- 7A divided will and a voice in the garden
- 8Monica, baptism and a vision at Ostia
- 9Memory, time and scripture complete the search
Idea clave 1 de 9
The restless heart is the book's question
Augustine opens by praising God, and from the first page he sets out the idea that shapes all thirteen books. Human beings were made for God, he says, and their hearts stay restless until they find rest there. Everything that follows is a test of that claim against his own life.
The book is written as a long prayer, and this choice matters. Augustine does not address the reader as a judge or an audience. He speaks to God, who already knows every detail, so there is no point in hiding or polishing. The reader overhears a man who has decided to be truthful.
He was writing in a changing world. He lived in the late Roman Empire, in the province of Africa, where the Church was growing in influence and Roman culture still ran the schools. He had been trained in rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech, and his prose shows it. Yet he uses that skill to confess weakness, not to boast of strength.
The book is arranged in two broad halves. Books one to nine follow his life in order, from infancy to the death of his mother. Books ten to thirteen leave the story behind and ask how a person can know God, how memory works, what time is, and what the Bible means in its opening chapters.
Why write it at all? Augustine had critics who doubted his past and his sincerity. He also wanted to help other people, so he offers his own wandering as a map. Readers who expect a simple tale of sin followed by rescue will find something more searching, because he keeps asking why he wanted what he wanted.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Augustine
- Augustine is the narrator, Monica's son, looking back on his desires, ambitions, and search for religious truth.
- God
- God is the divine listener whom Augustine addresses throughout his account of his life and spiritual struggles.
- Monica
- Monica is Augustine's devout Christian mother, whose prayers and concern accompany his search for truth.
- Patricius
- Patricius is Augustine's father, a modest landowner who does not initially share Monica's Christian beliefs.
- Ambrose
- Ambrose is the bishop of Milan whose preaching challenges Augustine's assumptions about scripture and Christian belief.
- Alypius
- Alypius is Augustine's close friend and former pupil, sharing his intellectual interests and religious questions.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 112,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 7 h 30 min
- Listening time12 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about The Confessions of St. Augustine
What is The Confessions by St. Augustine about?
It is Augustine's account of his life addressed to God. It covers his childhood, his years as a teacher, his search for truth and his turn to Christianity. The last books move to questions about memory, time and Genesis.
Why is it called Confessions?
Augustine uses confession in three ways. It means admitting his sins, praising God and stating his faith. The whole book is written as a prayer, so all three meanings run together.
Is The Confessions hard to read?
The first nine books read like a memoir and are fairly easy to follow. Books ten to thirteen are more philosophical, covering memory, time and scripture.
What is the main message of Augustine's Confessions?
Augustine argues that the human heart is restless until it rests in God. He shows how pride and desire led him astray, and how he came to see grace behind his own search for truth.