The Confessions of Saint Augustine outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is considered the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers for the next 1000 years. While it is not a complete autobiography it does provide the most complete record of any single individual from the 4th and 5th centuries. Augustine writes about how much he regrets having led a sinful and immoral life. He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology. He writes about Nebridius's role in helping...

St. Augustine of Hippo lived a life of sin until his conversion to Christianity at the age of 32. Twelve years later he gave a personal account of his search for truth in The Confessions of Saint Augustine. Augustine, a Latin church father, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and later by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus, but after his conversion and baptism (387), he developed his own approach to philosophy and theology accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives. He...

Augustine knows by faith that God is a trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he is seeking as far as possible to understand what he believes. In the first seven books Augustine begins by searching the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments for clues to understanding, and then argues in the language of philosophy and logic to defend the orthodox statement of the doctrine against the Arians. In the last eight books Augustine seeks to understand the mystery of the divine Trinity by observing an analogous trinity in the image of God, which is the human mind; and in so doing he also...

Along with his Confessions, The City of God is undoubtedly St. Augustine's most influential work. In the context of what begins as a lengthy critique of classic Roman religion and a defence of Christianity, Augustine touches upon numerous topics, including the role of grace, the original state of humanity, the possibility of waging a just war, the ideal form of government, and the nature of heaven and hell. But his major concern is the difference between the City of God and the City of Man - one built on love of God, the other on love of self. One cannot but be moved and impressed by the...

The De Doctrina Christiana ("On Christian Teaching") is one of Augustine's most important works on the classical tradition. Undertaken at the same time as the Confessions, it sheds light on the development of Augustine's thought, especially in the areas of ethics, hermeneutics, and sign-theory. This completely new translation gives a close but updated representation of Augustine's thought and expression, while a succinct introduction and select bibliography present the insights of recent research.

This is the fourth of five volumes of John W. Rettig's translation of St. Augustine's Tractates on the Gospel of John. In the Tractates, Augustine progressively comments on the Gospel text, using a plain yet compelling rhetorical style. With the keen insight that makes him one of the glories of the Latin church, he amplifies the orthodox doctrinal and moral lessons to be read therein.Modern scholars generally concede that Tractates 55-111 fall within a distinct group thought to have been composed between A.D. 414 and 420. In them Augustine deftly employs the sacred text to defend the...

In his preaching, St. Augustine developed an oratorical style based on the classical rhetoric he had learned prior to his conversion which he adapted to the unique demands of Christian preaching. He still recognized the classical ends of rhetoric: to teach, to please, and to persuade. He gave, however, the place of most importance to content: what was said was more important than how it was said. He eschewed the more elaborate figures of speech, using a more direct manner to educate an audience that was, to a great extent, illiterate. The result, however, is not a debased Ciceronian style but...

In this volume, which concludes John W. Rettig's translation of St. Augustine's Tractates on the Gospel of John, Augustine applies his keen insight and powers of rhetoric to the sacred text, drawing the audience into an intimate contemplation of Jesus through the course of his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.Augustine clarifies the meaning of words and phrases (often appealing to the Greek text), resolves obscurities, and reconciles apparent contradictions. He explains the Scriptures on several levels of meaning and draws from them practical implications for the Christian life. Always...