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| The Confessions | 
 enlarge | Author: St. Augustine
Creators: Patricia Hampl, Maria Boulding
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $0.36
You Save: $13.59 (97%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (16 reviews)
Sales Rank: 421430
Languages: Latin (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0375700218
Dewey Decimal Number: 270.2092
EAN: 9780375700217
ASIN: 0375700218
Publication Date: December 29, 1998
Release Date: December 29, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land.
The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--
may we follow their directions home."--Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Writing in the last years of the fourth century a.d., Saint Augustine of Hippo created what is at once the first true autobiography in Western literature and among the most sophisticated yet accessible theological arguments in the history of Christianity. With extraordinary candor and psychological acumen, Augustine recounts his passage from a life of sensuality, Manichaean superstition, and empty careerism to a genuine spiritual awakening, and he articulates views on marriage, morality, and faith that have shaped our discourse ever since. The Confessions allows us to appreciate both the startling modernity of Augustine's insights and the imperishable poetry of his voice. With a new Preface by MacArthur Fellow Patricia Hampl,
author of Virgin Time and A Romantic Education.
In the annals of spirituality, certain books stand out both for their historical importance and for their continued relevance. The Vintage Spiritual Classics series offers the greatest of these works in authoritative new editions, with specially commissioned essays by noted contemporary commentators. Filled with eloquence and fresh insight, encouragement and solace, Vintage Spiritual Classics are incomparable resources for all readers who seek a more substantive understanding of mankind's relation to the divine.
Amazon.com Review
Augustine's Confessions is arguably the first, and unequivocally the most influential, religious autobiography in the Christian tradition. Augustine (who was a hard-core hedonist before his sudden conversion) writes about faith with the reckless abandon of a lover; his descriptions of friendship are so beautiful they'll bring tears to your eyes; and his tributes to his mother, Monica, cast eternally fresh light on the unofficial authority of women in the early Church. --Michael Joseph Gross
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Breathtaking translation May 19, 2008
This is a fresh and wonderful translation of this Christian classic. Sr Boulding is herself a fine poet capable of touching turns of phrase such as, [Book I,5]
"Who will grant me to find peace in you? Who will grant me this grace, that you would come into my heart and inebriate it, enabling me to forget the evils that beset me and embrace me my only good?"
Albert Outler (no mean wroughter of words himself) translates this passage in this way,
"Who shall bring me to rest in thee? Who will send thee into my heart so to overwhelm it that my sins shall be blotted out and I may embrace thee, my only good?"
The loss of the "thees" are of course helpful to the modern reader, but the use of "that you would come into my heart and inebriate it," is just, well, stunning.
One final comparison with Outler in the well-known passage in book ten:
Outler: "Belatedly I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new, belatedly I loved thee. For see, thou wast within and I was without, and I sought thee out there. Unlovely, I rushed heedlessly among the lovely things thou hast made. Thou wast with me, but I was not with thee."
Boulding: "Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new. Late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made, I rushed headlong. I, mishappen."
Both use Augustine's marvelous play on the words "formosa" and "deformis" But Sr. Boulding's choice of shapely and misshapen retains Augustine's intentions and poetic voice, it seems to me.
This is a lovely work.
the best translation I've found February 7, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This Christian classic has touched me deeply. I read it the first time right after college, but recently picked it up again (thirty years later). I didn't remember a thing from the first reading.... I've been a Christian for many years, but find that this book is so fresh, with insights that are truly amazing. For this new read, I bought two different translations so that I could read both and compare when the meaning seemed obscure. I highly recommend the translation by Maria Boulding. It does a great job of staying true to his meaning, while expressing things in a way that speaks to the modern mind.
must read February 20, 2006
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book has opened up a whole new avenue on interest for me.I have read this book several times and it has a potent affect on me. There is a dvd series (by The Teaching Co) 24 lectures on this series that I also recommend. After reading this book a whole world of other books opens before you,but you come to the understanding that you will not live long enough to read them all....unless
A powerful read February 12, 2006
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is a profound book in so many ways; here are just a few. Augustine writes with a combination of confidence and humility that is not seen today. His confidence stems from faith in the God he clearly knows so well and his humility from a deep understanding of the sinfulness that dwells at the very core of his being. Worship is the purpose and attitude of the book; one can't help but be moved to do so after reading it. This book has also stimulated me to much thought in the areas of entertainment, evangelism, conversion, and scripture. Although this book is a great classic that has influenced Christianity and beyond for many centuries and people feel like they "should" read it, I recommend reading it for the pure delight of listening to a man who lays himself bankrupt before the Almighty and sincerely asks, "Give what you command, and command what you will."
 overrated September 24, 2005
7 out of 39 found this review helpful
This is easily the most overrated religious book ever. I believe it is Chapter 6 where Augustine talks about how he used to steal pears just to steal them even though he wasn't hungry is the best thought in the book about how natural evil is to us and how bad we really are.
There I just told you the best part of the book. Chapters 10 and 11 are absolutely horrific. Can anyone really say they understood those chapters?
Augustine has a major problem with sex in general and is a really bad advice giver on that subject.
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