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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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Interpreting three conversion accounts, Morrison accents the categorical difference between the experience of conversion and written narratives about it. He explains why experience and text can only be related to each other in fictive ways. The accounts are sample cases taken from different periods in Western history. The earliest and most famous, by Augustine of Hippo is from north Africa under the late Roman Empire. The next was written by Herman-Judah, a Jew who lived in Cologne in the 12th century, in the shadow of crusading pogroms. It is the first known autobiographical account of a conversion after Augustine's "Confessions". The English translation in this book will make the text accessible to many readers for the first time. The latest account, by Constantine Tsatsos, president of the Hellenic Republic, is from 20th century Athens. Unlike the others, it is not autobiographical. By this and other contrasts, it highlights issues of criticism raised by the other two studies.In working out his critical case studies, Morrison raises such questions as whether one can assume that a conversion actually occurred because there is a text about it, and if so, whether one can accept the narrative as a historically accurate description of events. Taking the texts as imaginative renderings into words of experiences that could not be expressed, he examines what the authors suppressed as well as what they told, and their guiding motives. He presents the narratives as deliberate fabrications calculated to achieve specific objectives. "For all three writers", Morrison writes in his preface, "concealment was a condition of the experience and the narrative of conversion. Despite their extreme differences, the hermeneutic project of conversion remained thinkable for them all because of metaphor, defined by tradition with a repertory of meanings...As writers, they took for granted the difference between what was called conversion and a fictive tale about it". The companion volume "Understanding Conversion", outlines the critical framework for the method applied in "Conversion and Text". ... Read more

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By his own account, St. Augustine of Hippo (A.D.354-430) lived a life of sin until his conversion to Christianity at the age of 32. Twelve years later he gave a personal account of his search for truth in The Confessions of Saint Augustine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not the best version.
This translation is not as readable as the book "You Converted Me" a modernized translation by Robert J. Edmonson,CJI felt like I had to translate this myself as I read it.

Not quite as advertised...
Potential buyers of this book should note a few things:

a) The English translation of the book in question on this page is not by Henry Chadwick, or any other modern translator, but rather, it is by the 19th cen. scholar E.B. Pusey. In fact, this version is so old that it is no longer copyrighted and thus it is in the public domain (which can easily be located, for free, online). Therefore, the language is antiquated, King-James-Bible style English. So beware.

b) Amazon, the company that owns the publisher of this book (BookSurge), has apparently put out this cheap edition because the aforementioned public domain translation could be reprinted and used for free. Which is not a bad thing, per se, but buyers should know this ahead of time.

c) The publication is quite bare-bones; no translator or editor information is listed, there is no preface, intro., or other text inside the two covers except for the text of the Confessions itself.

d) But hey...it is cheap! And I'm actually enjoying the struggle of reading its beautiful, but sometimes confusing, old English style.

Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you
Augustine's writings have withstood the test of time and it is clear to see when reading. The confessions begin with Augustine giving praise to God. It proceeds then into early childhood of Augustine and how his parents made him go to school to study Latin. As he continued to grow in his studies he also began to grow an addiction to sexuality. He brags to his friends of the sexual encounters that he has been through. In this same chapter he also speaks of how he and his concubines stole pears. He explains how this is something that he would have never done on his own, but with his friends he enjoyed it for the shear sake of stealing.

Augustine's studies increased as he continued to search for wisdom. These searches led him into the direction of the Manichaeism and to becoming a teacher of rhetoric. Shortly after this, one of his friends was baptized right before his death. Augustine teased his friend in regard to his conversion. However this also left Augustine with many questions regarding Manichaeism. He became very excited because he had the opportunity to meet the Manichee bishop Faustus. He had many questions for him, but after meeting with him, he found that Faustus did not have any answers to give him than what he had already known. This left Augustine to turn from Manichaeism and shortly after that he began to lean more towards Christianity.

Augustine's mother Monica had arranged for him to get married to a Christian girl. During this time he had been reading profusely and finally came to a conclusion about Jesus. He was in a moment of despair and heard a young girl's voice singing, "take up and read, take up and read." Upon hearing this he grabbed his Bible and began to read a passage in the book of Romans and after reading it he gave his life to Christ. He continued to give lengthy illustrations of memory and temptation. The remaining chapters of his book went into great detail about creation, the deity of Christ and the Trinity.

There are many pearls of wisdom to be gleamed from Augustine's work. Augustine does a fantastic job of tackling many questions in regards to Genesis. Also, the confessions would be great for a defense regarding the Trinity. This is great to appeal to since the confessions were written around 397. This could help show someone that the teachings of the Trinity were not just something that was conjured up, but have a historical standing. I highly recommend that you "take up and read."

Take and read
Augustine's 'Confessions' is among the most important books ever written. One of the first autobiographical works in the modern sense, it also represents the first time a psychological and theological enterprise were combined. It also helps to bridge the gap between the Classical world and the Medieval world, exhibiting strong elements identifying with each of those major historical periods.

Most undergraduates in the liberal arts encounter the book at some point; all seminarians do (or should!). Many adults find (or rediscover) the book later, after school. For many in these categories, there are concepts, narrative strands and historical data new and unusual for them. However, Augustine's 'Confessions' is still generally more accessible in many ways that truly classical pieces; it has interior description as well as external reporting that we are familiar with in modern writing.

The 'Confessions' shows Augustine's personality well - he was a passionate person, but his focus wavered for much of his life until finally settling upon Christianity and the Neoplatonic synthesis with this faith. Even while remaining a passionate Christian and rejecting the sort of dualism present in the Manichee teachings, he varied between various positions within these systems. Augustine's varied thought reaches through many denominational and scholarly paradigms.

The 'Confessions' are divided into thirteen chapters, termed 'Books' - the first ten of the books are autobiographical, with Augustine describing both events in his life as well as his philosophical and religious wanderings during the course of his life. The text is somewhat difficult to take at times, as this is writing with a purpose, as indeed most autobiographies are. The purpose here at times seems to be to paint Augustine in the worst possible light (the worse his condition, the better his conversion/salvation ends up being); at other times, one gets a sense (as one might get when reading the Pauline epistles) that there is some significant degree of ego at work here (Paul boasts of being among the better students, and so does Augustine, etc.).

Augustine also uses his Confessions as a tract against the Manichean system - once a faithful adherent, Augustine later rejects the Manichean beliefs as heretical; however, one cannot get past the idea that Augustine retained certain of their intellectual aspects in his own constructions even while denouncing them in his official life story.

The whole of the conversion turns on two primary books - Book Seven, his conversion to the Neoplatonic view of the world, including the metaphysics and the ethics that come along with this system; and Book 8, which describes his conversion to Christianity proper. This is where perhaps the most famous directive, 'Tolle! Lege!' ('Take and read!') comes from - Augustine heard a voice, and he picked up the nearest book, which happened to be a portion of the Pauline epistles, arguing against the undisciplined lifestyle Augustine lived. Scholars continue to debate whether Augustine's conversion to Christianity was more profound or more important than his conversion to Neoplatonism; in any event, Christianity interpreted through a Platonic framework became the norm for centuries, and remains a strong current within the Christian world view; Protestant reformers as they went back to the 'original bible' in distinction from the Catholic interpretations of the day also went back to the 'original Augustine' for much of their theology.

The final three books are Augustine's dealing with the creation of the world via narrative stories in Genesis 1 exegetically and hermeneutically. This is very different from what is done in modern biblical scholarship, but is significant in many respects, not the least of which as it gives a model of the way Augustine dealt with biblical texts; given Augustine's towering presence over the development of Western Christianity in both Catholic and Protestant strands, understanding his methods and interpretative framework can lead to significant insights into the ideas of medieval and later church figures.

This translation by Henry Chadwick is one of the standard editions of the book available. Chadwick, a noted scholar of early Christianity, provides a good introduction that gives synopses of the books as well as background and contextual information. This is a book that will be of interest to novice readers of Augustine as well as scholars, to students, clergy and laypersons, and anyone else who might have an historical, literary, philosophical, theological or other interest in Augustine - something for everyone, perhaps?

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Product Description
Originally published in 1840.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This study seeks to show that Augustine created a "Greek-Christian synthesis" based on Neo-Platonism, which removes him from the Orthodox mind and the Patristic tradition. The author argues that the theology of Augustine is not the apex of the Patristic tradition, but the beginning of a new one, and is incompatible with the theology of the Orthodox Church, with the difference between the two accounting in part for the separation of Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

First-time translations of two early works of Augustine
This book contains a pair of unfinished works by Augustine on the Book of Genesis. The table of contents is as follows:

Introduction (Roland J. Teske)

Entries from "The Retractions" on the two works

"Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees"

"On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book"

General Index

Index of Holy Scripture

Augustine regarded the interpretation of Genesis as important to Christian belief, but also found it difficult. These works were his two first attempts at writing interpretations of it, but he thought them only partly successful and did not see fit to complete them. Neither work is to be confused with Augustine's "The Literal Meaning of Genesis", which is a later and much longer work on the same subject that he successfully completed (that work is available in two volumes from Paulist Press).

Augustine's special interest in Genesis had two roots: apologetic and theological. His apologetic interest was a response to frequent attacks on Genesis by non-Christians and what he felt were inept defenses of it by uneducated Christians. His theological interest sprang from the critical importance of the Fall to Augustine's theology.

The first work, "Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees", was primarily apologetic. It was written not long after Augustine left the Manichees to return to the Church, and was intended as a rebuttal to the Manichee attacks on Genesis. In this context, Augustine discussed Creation, Eden, and the Fall, but the work ended there - Augustine felt that he had not yet learned enough to complete the task he had undertaken successfully. The section on Creation was largely literal - reading it as a record of events that had occurred, but the section on Eden and the Fall was largely allegorical, reading it for the spiritual truth within the literal account. The chief interest I found in the work was that the description of the Eden and the Fall shows the strong influence on Augustine of classical virtue ethics, but none of the theology of Original Sin that is of such importance in his later writings.

The second work "On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book", was aporetic in character: in it, Augustine deepens the reader's understanding of the text by raising questions about it rather than by giving answers. This work was written not long after the previous one, and again Augustine found himself ultimately unequal to the task he had set. This work is even shorter than the previous one, and gets less far into Genesis, ending after the Creation days. I found the work pleasant to read; the aporetic style provides a sense of intimacy - that the author is sharing not only his answers with the reader, but also his questions, even if he doesn't have an answer to give.

The supporting material in the book is quite good - the only fault I would find is that the introduction generally refers to works by the abbreviations of their Latin names, which made me break from reading the text to his table of abbreviations (about 30 in all) far too often, a fault compounded by the fact that English translations for the titles in that table were not provided. Still, this is a pretty minor quibble.

As a final note, thanks are due to Teske and CUA Press for providing the first translation of these works into English. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1933, Conversion is a seminal study of the psychology and circumstances of conversion from about 500 B.C.E. to about 400 A.D. A.D. Nock not only discusses early Christianity and its converts, but also examines non-Christian religions and philosophy, the means by which they attracted adherents, and the factors influencing and limiting their success. Christianity succeeded, he argues, in part because it acquired and adapted those parts of other philosophies and religions that had a popular appeal.

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Although not usually considered to be on the same level as The Confessions or The City of God, to name just two of Augustine's greatest works, the short treatise entitled Instructing Beginners in Faith has in fact had a powerful influence on the Christian Church. It began as a reflection on the most suitable way of communicating the heart of Christian faith to those applying for membership of the Church. In the course of the past sixteen hundred years, however, it has been frequently and creatively adapted to serve the needs of education in faith in many different contexts, including the education of clergy and religious education more generally. The two model catecheses that Augustine sketches, one quite long and the other considerably shorter, not only continue to have relevance today but also provide an important insight into his understanding of the use of scripture and tradition. And Augustine's awareness of the problems that educators face demonstrates his profound grasp of the human condition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fifth Century Ideas Ring True Today
St. Augustine wrote this model instruction for teachers guiding seekers in the first step toward joining the Church. That step consisted of an introduction to the central points of the faith that gives us our identify as Christians. It followed the seeker's stated desire to become a Christian "because of the rest that is hoped for after this life." The introduction consisted of an exposition of historical events from creation to the "present day" (the early 400s), the commandment of love, and the coming of Christ.

In addition, Augustine offers suggestions for the teachers on how to avoid discouragement in a number of different situations, which will ring true with today's catechists. He acknowledges, for example, that repeating simplified explanations may become boring to the instructor. If we find it difficult to repeat familiar phrases suited to the ears of small children, he writes, "we should draw close to these small children with a brother's love...and as a result of our empathy with them, the oft-repeated phrases will sound new to us also."

Today's catechists will also rally to Augustine's instruction on dealing with scandals within the Church. The beginners are to be cautioned about not imitating those in the Church "whom you see to be living evil lives...of greed and pride, or those who engage in any other form of life that the law condemns and punishes."

This work, written more than 1600 years ago, has practical and historical value, and would be of special interest to those involved in instructing beginners in faith today. ... Read more

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Garry Wills’s complete translation of Saint Augustine’s spiritual masterpiece—available now for the first time

Garry Wills is an exceptionally gifted translator and one of our best writers on religion today. His bestselling translations of individual chapters of Saint Augustine’s Confessions have received widespread and glowing reviews. Now for the first time, Wills’s translation of the entire work is being published as a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. Removed by time and place but not by spiritual relevance, Augustine’s Confessions continues to influence contemporary religion, language, and thought. Reading with fresh, keen eyes, Wills brings his superb gifts of analysis and insight to this ambitious translation of the entire book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Engaging Translation
Garry Wills' translation of Saint Augustine's "Confessions" brings this work to life. Wills has rendered Augustine's Latin into beautifully flowing contemporary English.It is commendable that he was able to do this while preserving the personal character of this saint's life story and demonstrating the complexity and depth of Augustine's thought.

While reading this book, I often felt amazed that this work, despite being written so long ago, appears to be so contemporary.Augustine's life and ideas really transcend time and are insightful reflections on the basic human condition. If you would like to read a good translation of the "Confessions" written in contemporary English, I highly recommend this edition to you.
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Confessions is one of the most moving diaries ever recorded of a man's journey to the fountain of God's grace. Writing as a sinner, not a saint, Augustine shares his innermost thoughts and conversion experiences, and wrestles with the spiritual questions that have stirred the hearts of the thoughtful since time began. Starting with his childhood in Numidia, through his youth and early adulthood in Carthage, Rome, and Milan, readers will see Augustine as a human being, a fellow traveler on the road to salvation. Though staggering around potholes and roadblocks, all will find strength in Augustine's message: when the road gets rough, look to God! Previously released in 1977, this book invites readers to join Augustine in his quest that led him to be one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the history of the church. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Version is watered down
This is not a complete version of the book, and contains only selections. Otherwise, book came very promptly and in great condition.

A great book for sinners: don't worry, one size fits all!
(As a preface, I state that this review was done originally for Frank Sheed's translation of the Confessions, which I consider the best. It is that translation used here for all quotations. However, I wanted to supply a positive review also for this audio version, which I own, which does have limitations as stated by other reviewers, since Sheed's translation has not yet been found in audio. I believe any introduction to Augustine is a step in the right direction.)

Sacred Scripture gives us persons like the prophet Isaiah, who cry out, "Woe is me, I am doomed!" He knows he is a sinner, especially realizing that he is in the presence of God. Saint Paul tells us "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost." Peter, in the gospel, falls on his knees in front of Jesus exclaiming, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." What the three have in common is not simply that they acknowledged their sinfulness. In doing so they began the process of becoming great people, eventually saints. Acknowledging our sins & sinfulness is therefore not a morbid exercise in futility. It is the beginning of true self-understanding. It is an invitation to greatness!

St. Augustine was also one of these. Early on in the "Confessions," he recalls when he was an adolescent that he stole pears, not to eat (he had better himself), but only for the sake of stealing, saying the only pleasure in doing it was that it was forbidden: "the malice of the act was base and I loved it--that is to say ... I loved the evil in me--not the thing for which I did evil, simply the evil" (Book 2, 4). Also, because there was another person involved, the sin was more attractive: "O friendship unfriendly, unanalyzable attraction for the mind, greediness to do damage for the mere sport and jest of it, desire for another's loss with no gain to oneself or vengeance to be satisfied."

"I went away from Thee my God, in my youth I strayed too far from Thy sustaining power, and I became to myself a barren land." He says: "Who can understand sins?" This is after discussing the CAPITAL SINS and their futility, for example:
AVARICE wants to possess much, where God possesses all.
ANGER cries for vengeance, but only God's vengeance is just.
ENVY tries to excel, but who can excel before God?

Father De Bergamo, in the introduction of Humility of Heart, calls these the innate springs of evil within us, from which all other sins arise. All that we are, we have received from God, except for our sinfulness, deeply imbedded in our nature. Then he names the characteristics of his soul, i.e. the SEVEN CAPITAL SINS: PRIDE, COVETOUSNESS/AVARICE, LUST, ANGER, GLUTTONY, ENVY/JEALOUSY, AND SLOTH.

Part of the greatness of St. Augustine was his ability to analyze this and show how it works. Any of these can get out of hand (addictions & compulsions). For him it was predominantly lust (but compellingly all, except perhaps gluttony); for the alcoholic it is usually some combination of pride, anger, & gluttony; for each person, it can be different.

But, EVIL IN HIM?--Yes! St. Augustine knew very much about Original Sin--what we inherited from our first parents. Yes, Baptism took care of it for us: the sin, but not, however, the effects. No, Baptism did not do much about these. It doesn't take very much thinking for us to see how much these affect each of us, and the world around us. Even our modern society realizes that these can get so out of hand that they can exercise a real control over our lives. We have support groups that attest to this. We have "THIS ANONYMOUS" and "THAT ANONYMOUS." And we all know that these groups really work. Why? Because the people admit that they are helpless over that which has its hold on them (they become humbled) and they know that they must turn to God who alone can cure them.

Any person struggling with compulsive or addictive behavior can find comfort in the writings of St. Augustine. He knew what sin was. He knew how it worked. He described it! He knew that any of the capital sins could dominate us and be the source of evil in us. It starts, he says, by just giving into them--that's where the evil begins: WE WILL TO DO EVIL! If repeated enough, we develop habits. Habits, if continued, can turn to compulsions. Compulsions, not resisted, become necessities. He says later (Book 8): "The enemy held my will, and out of it he made a chain and bound me. Because my will was perverse it changed to lust, and lust yielded to habit, and habit not resisted became necessity." And, "With the object of the experiment as myself I was able to see how the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. (see Romans 6, 7, and 8). He was held captive by the "law of sin."

No surprise! We can all see this in us to some degree. We can pervert our will so that any of our passions can have a hold on us. St. Augustine describes these as "chains which bound him," and though he wanted to love God, his will struggled greatly because his sins "held him bound," like a "captive!"

He understood, first hand, what St. Paul meant in Romans 7:13, ff., about being a "prisoner to the law of sin in his body's members." That is, St. Augustine describes, "the law of sin is the fierce force of habit, by which the mind is drawn and held even against its will, and yet deservedly because it had fallen willfully into the habit" (Book 8,5). So, he knew he was licked, that was his first step! His second step he got from his "sponsor," St. Paul, who himself could say "what a wretched man I am" in Romans 7:24 and also the answer for St. Augustine: "Who then should deliver me from the body of this death, but Thy grace only, through Jesus Christ Our Lord!"

St. Augustine was willing to pray for help: Lord that I may know me; and I may know Thee."We see in this what Father Scupoli, in The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise on Peace of Soul (Tan Classics), that the SPIRITUAL LIFE consists in: "knowing the infinite greatness and goodness of God, together with a true sense of our own weakness and tendency to evil ... and in renouncing our will to follow His." The battle always includes: DISTRUST IN SELF, CONFIDENCE IN GOD accompanied by PRAYER. This is no different than "believing that we are powerless," that help must come from "a power greater than ourselves," and then asking for help.

Like it or not, we are all involved in this battle. Only if we have HUMILITY will we be able to see our own helplessness and turn to God who can and will help us. Saint Augustine's "Confessions"will enable us to recognize this in ourselves and respond, as did Saint Teresa of Avila, as she describes in Teresa of Avila: The Book of Her Life (a new translation):
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"O my God, I am amazed at the hardness of my heart amidst so many succours from Thee.I am filled with dread when I see how little I could do with myself, and how I was clogged, so that I could not resolve to give myself entirely to God.When I began to read the "Confessions," I thought I saw myself there described, and began to recommend myself greatly to this glorious Saint.When I came to his conversion and read how he heard that voice in the garden, it seemed to be nothing less than that our Lord had uttered it for me: I felt so in my heart.I remained for some time lost in tears, in great inward affliction and distress. O my God, what a soul has to suffer because it has lost the liberty it had of being mistress over itself!And what torments it has to endure; I wonder now how I could live in torments so great: God be praised Who gave me life, so that I might escape from so fatal a death!I believe that my soul obtained great strength from His Divine Majesty, and that He must have heard my cry, and had compassion upon so many tears."

Confessions of St Augustine
This is great Lenten Reading, and just good reading in general. What I have read and understood I wished I had read this book earlier in my life.

Edited and Biased
It's incomplete and the text has been slanted to support a modern day Christian thesis. There is no table of contents, and the text is difficult to navigate.

Confessions of St. Augustine
Got it in time and in perfect condition. The seller contacted me back right away as well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Both Historical and yet Relevant Today
Even though this book is out of print, if you research, read, and/or study Augustine and his thought, then you do not want to be without this text. John Leinenweber is a first rate translator.

The text includes letters from Augustine to students, the nuns of Hippo, Proba (a widow), Bishop Benenatus, Boniface (count of Africa), the Donatists Schimatics, etc. The letters include rebukes, theology, philosophical issues, concerns about movements or trends in the Christian Church, consultations, etc.

This text, if for no other reason, allows the reader to really pry into the mind of one of the greatest thinkers in the history of theology and philosophy. It allows us to see his concerns, his responses to others in crisis, in dealing with doctrinal issues and the like. The most intriguing thing, I think, about this text is the fact that these letters, even when read today still ring through with strong relevancy! I highly recommend this work! ... Read more