St. Augustine’s Confessions, vol. 1
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Augustine of Hippo is one of the most important thinkers for Western theology and philosophy. His understanding of the self, of sin, of redemption, and of sanctification set the tone for all subsequent theology. Even those who disagree with him must still interact with the effects of his thought. St. Augustine’s Confessions introduced the idea of the inner self to the world. It was the first work that struggled to understand the inner life—the life of the mind. Its place at the beginning of the development of the autobiography is undeniable. This collection’s other work, Select Letters, contains 62 of Augustine’s letters, showing the various troubles of Augustine’s time and how the great bishop dealt with them. Volume one of Augustine’s Confessions contains “Book I” through “Book VIII.”
Top Highlights
“What concerns it me, if any understand not this? let him rejoice notwithstanding and say: What is this? Let him so also rejoice, and rather love to find in not finding it out, than by finding it, not to find thee with it.” (Page 19)
“What is therefore my God? What, I ask, but the Lord God? For who is Lord but the Lord? Or who is God besides our God? O thou supreme,* most excellent, most mighty, most omnipotent, most merciful and most just; most secret and most present; most beautiful and most strong; constant and incomprehensible; immutable, yet changing all things; never new, and never old; renewing all things,* and insensibly bringing proud men into decay; ever active, and ever quiet; gathering together, yet never wanting; upholding, filling, and protecting; creating, nourishing and perfecting all things; still seeking, although thou standest in need of nothing.” (Page 9)
“For we were no less afraid of the rod, nor did we less earnestly pray to thee for the scaping of it, than others did of their tortures.” (Page 29)
“For in thy sight can no man be clean from his sin; no, not an infant of a day old upon the earth” (Pages 19–21)
“For thou hast appointed it, and so it proves, every man’s inordinate affection shall be his own affliction.” (Page 37)