Book Review: The Confessions by Saint Augustine

The Confessions by Saint Augustine translated by Rex Warner with an introduction by Vernon J. Bourke

In this classic autobiography, Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) tells both his life story and his spiritual journey, with a lot of theological and philosophical reflections along the way. He uses the word "confession" in a very Catholic sense--the book is addressed to God and is an explanation of the things he has done.

Augustine starts with a detailed description of his memories of childhood, growing up the son of a Christian mother (St. Monica) and a pagan father (Patricius Aurelius). He grew into a secular intellectual, hoping to teach the art of rhetoric. He fell in with the Manichean crowd. Mani taught that the world was dual, deriving from a good spiritual principle and a bad material principle. Those two principles are in conflict. As Augustine grew older and moved to Italy to further his career, he learned more about the paradoxes in Manicheanism and slowly discovered the beauty and the truth of the Catholic faith. He realized which of his friends helped his search for truth and which were holding him back in ignorance. After a long time of living the "high life," which included mistresses, an illegitimate child, and the accolades of his fellow intellectuals, Augustine came into the church thanks to the influence of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan and great orator for the Faith. Augustine's mother rejoiced at his conversion and the narrative of Augustine's life ends with his sorrow at her death.

Augustine describes his spiritual journey in detail, especially admitting his moral failings and how they hurt both him and his mother, though he was unaware of the pain until much later. He's surprisingly frank about doing bad things just to get away with them and being addicted to sexual pleasure. He quotes Scriptures often and has an ongoing monologue with God, not to justify his actions but to review them in light of his later understanding (the whole confession thing). The final two chapters are an extended reflection on the creation account in Genesis.

The writing is so honest and straightforward that a reader naturally sympathizes with Augustine and is fascinated with his life. Even though he lived 1600 years ago, the problems are familiar--not appreciating parents, the allure of an easy and public life, the need to tame one's own will for one's own good. He has genuine struggles and comes to a better place. His life is an inspiration and is well worth reading more about.

Highly recommended.