The Confessions, by Saint Augustine, are the first great autobiography of the West. But anyone expecting just a biography is mistaken: Augustine writes about himself to write about us.
What is the work
Written around the year 397, the Confessions have thirteen books. The first nine narrate the life of Augustine from the birth to the death of his mother, Monica: his childhood, the theft of the pears, the years in Manichaeism, his career as a rhetorician, the influence of Ambrose in Milan and his conversion. The last four abandon the narrative and meditate on memory, time and the creation of the world in Genesis.
The title has a double meaning: confession is both the admission of sins and the confession of praise. The entire book is a prayer addressed to God, written in the second person.
Why does he still talk to you
The strength of Confessions is identification. Who has never felt divided between what they know and what they do? Who has never become addicted to something that no longer made sense? Augustine names these experiences, and the work becomes a mirror for the reader.
From this mirror emerge concepts that can be taken into life: evil as love in the wrong order, the sin of theft of pears, the famous question what is time, memory like an immense palace, and garden conversion.
The big turnaround
Augustine's conversion is the heart of the book, and its most philosophical lesson: he did not convert despite thinking, but because he thought to the limit. It is the best example of credo ut intelligam, believing to understand.
The world that formed Augustine, the first centuries of the Church, is studied in its entirety in our Church History course.
In-depth study
Church History Course, with Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Bitencourt
In-depth reading of the work of Daniel Rops, where Augustine's conversion and the world that formed him appear in full.
Discover the courseFrequently asked questions
What are Saint Augustine's Confessions about?
They are a spiritual autobiography in thirteen books, written around the year 397. Augustine narrates his own life, from birth to conversion, and transforms it into a meditation on God, evil, time and memory.
Why are Confessions so important?
It is the first great autobiography of the West and one of the founding works of Western interiority. Augustine inaugurates the habit of looking within oneself as a path to knowledge.
How many books are in the Confessions?
Thirteen. The first nine are narrative (Mônica's life until her death); the last four are philosophical, about memory, time and the interpretation of Genesis.
Continue: Augustine's conversion (tolle, lege) · The robbery of the pears · What is time, according to Augustine
Source class (YouTube): Confissões, de Santo Agostinho (NousCast)