Confessions of St. Augustine

The Confessions of St. Augustine, written by Christianity's single most influential leader since the Apostle Paul, is the foremost classic of Christian spirituality after the Bible. Written by Augustine of Hippo (354–430) around 400, the Confessions is a spiritual autobiography, the first and only such work of its kind in the first 1,500 years of Christian history. It is unsurpassed in Christian literature as a psychological and theological depiction of divine grace converting the perverted human heart to its original, blessed state. The most frequently quoted sentence from the Confessions is a prayer to God that expresses the primary premise of this work: “You arouse him [humanity] to take joy in praising you, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Book 1, chapter 1, verse 1). As is the case with other significant religious literary pieces, the Confessions serves as both a tool and trigger of spiritual and/or religious reflection and learning, and thereby has an impact on spiritual and/or religious development. The Confessions also offers a glimpse into and a model of a religious developmental journey.

The Confessions consists of 13 sections called “books.” The first nine cover Augustine's life during the years 354 to 388, from his birth through his conversion to Christianity to the death of his mother, Monica. Book 10 deals with memory, Book 11 considers the nature of time, and Books 12 and 13 comprise a commentary on the biblical book of Genesis. Some scholars say that the first nine and last four books do not share a common theme, but the purpose of the last four books is probably best understood as the great thinker undergirding his personal recollections with their philosophical and theological context. God is at work through memory and in time revealing the mystery of divine purposes initiated in creation.