The Confessions of St. Augustine
Augustine, of Hippo, Saint
The Confessions of St. Augustine
ClassicsNonfictionBiography & MemoirReligion & Spirituality
4.01from 78,049 ratingson Goodreads
"The Confessions of St. Augustine" by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine is an autobiographical work written between AD 397 and 400. In thirteen books composed as prayers to God, Augustine recounts his turbulent journey from a sinful youth to Christian conversion. He reflects on his immoral past, his time following Manichaeism, and the influential figures who guided him toward faith. Considered the first Western autobiography, this intimate spiritual memoir explores themes of sin, redemption, and humanity's restless search for divine truth.
Contains spoilers for the entire book
- Themes
- Atmosphere
About the book
Written around 397 to 400, the Confessions of Augustine of Hippo is an account of his life addressed throughout to God. In thirteen books he recalls his childhood in North Africa, a boyhood theft of pears, his student years in Carthage, his attraction to the Manichaean sect and his career as a teacher of rhetoric in Rome and Milan, where he heard the sermons of Bishop Ambrose. The story reaches its turning point in a garden in Milan in 386, when Augustine hears a child’s voice telling him to take up and read. The later books turn from memory to reflection, on memory itself, on time and on the opening of Genesis. Often called the first autobiography in Western literature, it remains a searching portrait of restlessness, faith and self-examination.
Characters
Augustine — Author and subject
The Christian thinker looks back on his youth, intellectual searching, and religious conversion.
Monnica — Augustine's mother
A devout Christian whose concern and prayers accompany her son's changing beliefs.
Patricius — Augustine's father
Augustine's father, whose ambitions for his son's education form part of his early life.
Alypius — Friend
A close companion who shares Augustine's intellectual and spiritual journey.
Ambrose — Bishop of Milan
A Christian preacher whose interpretation of scripture helps reshape Augustine's understanding.
Adeodatus — Augustine's son
Augustine's gifted son, remembered with affection in the account of his family and conversion.
About the author
Augustine of Hippo (354–430) was a theologian and bishop, born in Thagaste in the Roman province of Numidia, in present-day Algeria, to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Monica. He studied in Carthage, spent years as a follower of the Manichaean religion, and taught rhetoric in Carthage, Rome and Milan. In Milan, influenced by the sermons of Bishop Ambrose, he converted to Christianity and was baptised in 387. He returned to Africa, was ordained a priest at Hippo Regius and became its bishop a few years later, a post he held for more than thirty years. Besides the Confessions, he wrote The City of God, prompted by the sack of Rome in 410, and many works against the theological opponents of his time. He died in 430 as the Vandals besieged Hippo, and his thought shaped Western Christianity for centuries.