Augustine's Confessions
A Study Guide
On October 31, 1517 a monk nailed a piece of paper to the door of the church in Wittenberg Germany. The document which he affixed there contained 95 theses for debate and discussion regarding some dubious practices and teachings going on in the church at that time, many of which were related to the sale of indulgences for the remission of the penalties for sin. That monk was concerned that the church was drifting away from biblical fidelity into man made practices and manipulations. He was concerned to see that the pure gospel of Christ should not be lost in the weeds of confusion and human ambition. He was calling people to reevaluate their positions on important issues in light of Scripture. That monk, Martin Luther by name, was an Augustinian monk.
St. Augustine is beyond question one of the most influential Christian thinkers who has ever lived. A stalwart defender of Christian orthodoxy, he wrote prolifically on many topics of importance including the Trinity, the nature of Christian teaching, and the distinction and interaction between the spheres of civil and religious authority, not to mention his numerous commentaries on holy Scripture. He also proved the old adage that “the pen is mightier than the sword” by slaying the heresies of Pelagius, that servant of the great serpent, who was tirelessly preaching his damnable false doctrine. Augustine upheld the truth the all mankind is born under the effects of sin and therefore in desperate need of grace, he refuted Pelagius’ claim that each person is born in an original state of righteousness (as Adam was first made). He took the people to God’s word, again and again, and showed them that man cannot be righteous by his own merit but must wholly rely on God who justifies sinners by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Augustine became renowned for many of the same reasons as Martin Luther, namely, he was passionate about being faithful to the Lord and he desired to see others be so. When put in these terms it is a pretty simple and humble design really, to want to be faithful and help others be faithful. Men like Augustine and Luther are marked in history because of the combination of their simple sincerity with their commanding wit and intellectual prowess. Though Luther lived some 1100 years after Augustine, it may truly be said that these two men were connected not only in name but also in spirit.
One of the first (if not the first) autobiographies in history, Augustine’s Confessions is a mix of the narrative of his life along with theological and philosophical inquiry. Augustine tells us he did not always live with the goal of pleasing the Lord as his first concern. He takes great pains to bring to light the sin that captivated his heart from the very beginning of his life, even from the time he was in his mother’s womb! Augustine admits to having loved the world, and the things of the world (such as the praise of men and power of position) more than he loved his Maker even though he owed the Lord for his very being and all the good things he’d ever known. The effects of sin, its hold upon him, and the expression of it in his life and choices, Augustine walks us through it all from infancy to boyhood, to his professional life until Christ captured him completely.
Topics in this book range from considerations of the nature of God and his attributes (omnipresence, timeless eternity, omniscience), to the nature of sin and its pernicious effects, to what constitutes a good education, to the examination of false religions and philosophies and so much more. He tells of his mother, Monica, who through tears and prayers pleaded trustingly with the Lord for the salvation of her son while he was wayward in the world. He tells of the incremental steps he made towards the truth faith, the faithfulness of a preacher named Ambrose, and how a children’s game was used by the Lord as an instrument of his salvation. All of this he tells with the intellectual fortitude and honesty worthy of a true giant of history. Even so he shares his story in the spirit of a loving father looking to guide spiritual children into better paths. Scripture drips from every page of the book and one imagines, easily, that it also oozes from every pore of the man himself whose love for God had consumed his every thought .
Still, one may find some things in this book that will surprise, challenge, and perhaps perplex. Though he spent many years as a teacher of the discipline of Rhetoric and a lover of Latin literature, you will find that Augustine is sometimes very harsh against these classical disciplines and former loves. Likewise, his view of marriage and sexuality is sometimes a point of contention among Christians today. It might be said that Augustine, as all of us can be guilty of doing, reacted against some of his own errors from the past and in so doing sometimes overcorrected into another ditch. Even as he criticizes the classical education he got, at least on some points, he does so as one who clearly benefited from it.
Nevertheless, even in places where we might disagree with him (or not, you decide) we will definitely find that we are challenged to think more deeply about the matter and to go to God’s word alongside Augustine. More than 1600 years after penning his Confessions Christians are still reflecting on the goodness of God with him, searching their own hearts, pasts, and convictions, and submitting all these things to the Lord for inspection so that we might be fully his. This was surely as much, and even more than, Augustine could have hoped for when he wrote this book. We should be thankful for men like him. Not perfect men, but good men sanctified by God’s grace. Men who remind us to turn our whole hearts to the Father or our Lord Jesus Christ who, by his Spirit, continues to make broken people whole.
Augustine’s thesis for his book is not just his own, it is the thesis of every person who has ever come to grips with their sin and need for a Savior. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Amen.
Below you will find links to each section of the study guide for Augustine’s Confessions as they become available. For this study we are using the translation produced by Henry Chadwick. If you would like to pick up a copy of the book to join in the study you may do so by clicking HERE. For a list of other Great Books study guides already available, in development, or planned for the future you can click HERE.
More Coming Soon…
Awesome review, thank you. One of my favorite quotes from the book is a great prayer for Bible study - “O Lord my God, tell me what you are to me. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. Say it so that I can hear it."
Great write up. I have read many times (to include Augustine) that Christianity is the most “rational” of the religions, especially among the monotheistic ones. I really think he is a strong source of truth and tradition which is why he stays potent and relevant all these years.