Augustine’s Confessions

Ms. Solly Rose J. Jandongan

Augustinian Studies and Formation 1
 Opening Prayer
Introduction by the Leader

All: “let me seek you, Lord even while I am calling upon

you, and call upon even as I believe in you; for to us
you indeed been preached. My faith calls upon you,
Lord, this faith which is your gift to me, which you
have breathed into me through the humanity of your
son and the ministry of your preacher.” (Conf 1.1.1)
 Opening Prayer
Prayer to the Holy Spirit:

All: Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

St. Augustine, pray for us.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to:

1. identify the three kinds of confessions of Augustine such as sins, praise, and faith, and praise the different attributes of God.

2. display sense of repentance, forgiveness, humility, love for God and love for one another including love for enemies.

3. formulate their prayer of contrition, confession of praise, and confession of faith to God.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

When was the book written?

Probably in the year 397 – 400 AD

Why this book was written?

1. To defend himself against his critiques and

to prove the authenticity of his
conversion.

2. To reply Paulinos of Nola’s request of

writing a history of African Monasticism.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

Eloquent deeply felt, and

beautifully written; this work had
been praised throughout the
centuries by men of many different
faiths and walks of life as the
greatest spiritual autobiography of
all time.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

Autobiographical in character.

It may be asserted also that no writer of his own

life’s story had such a wealth of thought and
feeling to draw upon as had Saint Augustine.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

…this book is not only a most

penetrating psychological study and a
unique document for understanding
the spiritual and ascetical life, but it is
also a storehouse of thoughts for the
philosopher and the theologian, and
others as well.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

It is assuredly a great book – great in

its authorship, great in its diverse but
unified subject matter, great in the
form into which that subject matter
has been cast, great at the end for
which it was written, and great in the
good effects that it has unfailingly
produced.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

To become familiar with Saint

Augustine’s The Confessions is to make
one’s own confession, to some extent at
least, an inexhaustible source of
intellectual stimulation, of aesthetic
delight, of moral help, and spiritual
enlightenment.
St. Augustine’s Confessions

Two great intellectual influences

1. Manicheism
2. Greek Philosophy(the works of
Plotinus and other Neo-Platonists)
The influence of Manicheism was for evil; that of
Neo-Platonism was for good. Intellectually, and
also morally, his conversion involved a complete
break with Manichean influences and advances in
and beyond Neo-Platonism.
What is Confessiones?
Biblical Sense
CONFITERI
– praise of a soul which
recognizes and
admires the divine
activity in contrast of
one's own
wretchedness.
 "The thirteen books of my Confessions,
which praise the just and good God in all
my evil and good ways,
and stir up towards him the mind and
feelings of men.
As far as I am concerned, they had this
effect on me
when I wrote them, and they still do when I
read them.
What others think is their own business:
I know at least that many of the brethren
have enjoyed them and still do."

(Augustine: Retractions II. 6, 1)

What is Confessiones?

• The confession of sins

1.

• The confession as witness to his

present state (Confession of Faith)
2.

• The confession of God’s glory

(Confession of Praise)
3.
Divisions of the Book

Books I – IX deal with Augustine’s

past life

Book X deals with his present state

Books XI – XIIIdeal with his

commentary on the first
chapter of Genesis
Divisions of the Book
Books I – IX
deal with Augustine’s past life

 tells the story of his life from infancy

to the death of his mother on their
return journey to Africa
 period covering the first 33 years of
his life.
 is essentially a spiritual biography; it is
primarily an account of his interior
life rather than of his outward
deeds.
Divisions of the Book

Book X
deals with his present state

 describe his state of mind at

the time he was writing the
book
 examination of conscience but
with emphasis upon present
difficulties rather than upon past
failures.
Divisions of the Book
Books XI – XIII
deal with his commentary on the
first chapter of Genesis

 an elaborate exegesis of the opening verse in the book

of Genesis

 THE SUBJECT MATTER may be classified into:

a. Augustine’s character and motive, and the

events in his own experience

b. character and deeds of others who are

closely related to him and affect his conversion

c. philosophical, psychological and theological

problems including those of scriptural exegesis.
In The Confessions ---
 Everything he sees about him and everything that
he finds within him provide evidence for God’s
existence and nature.

 Everything that he has done, even his sinful deeds,

and everything that he has been done, proclaimed
to him the existence and power of God, “maker
and ruler of all things, but of sins only the ruler”.

 By God’s grace, he finds God, and by God’s grace,

he is united to God.

 Hence, Augustine rightly confesses not only his evil

deeds, exceedingly great in thought, word, and
deed, but also his belief and trust in God, his
gratitude to God, and his praise of God.
The Confessions ---
Augustine’s conversion is in one
sense a two-fold conversion:

• Conversion of the intellect

1.

• Conversion of the will

2.
The Confessions ---
Augustine’s conversion … In another sense,
it is a three-fold conversion (aspects):

• Philosophical
1.

• Moral
2.

• Religious
3.
THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES FOUND IN THE CONFESSIONS

In Book 1, chapter 2, Augustine tells us

that “God is Omnipresent” who fills
heaven and earth.

In Book 1, Chapter 3, he further tells

us “God’s Immensity”: “You fill all
things, and You fill them all with Your
entire self.”
 THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES FOUND IN THE CONFESSIONS

In the same Book, chapter 4, our Father

Augustine had highlighted the different Divine
Attributes: Lord, God, Most High, Most Good,
Most Mighty, Most Almighty; Most Beautiful and
Most Strong; Stable and Incomprehensible;
Unchangeable, yet Changing all things; Never
New, and Never Old, yet Renewing All Things;
leading proud men into senility, although they
know it not; ever Active, and ever at Rest;
Things; Creating, Nourishing, and Perfecting
them; Searching them out. Love but not inflamed
in passion; jealous, yet free from care; Repent,
but do not sorrow; grows angry, but remain
tranquil…” Gathering in, yet needing nothing;
Supporting, Fulfilling, and Protecting.
 THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES FOUND IN THE CONFESSIONS

In Book 7, chapter 10, he calls God the

“Infinite Light”, “Eternal Truth”, “True
Love”, and the “Beloved Eternity” who
became his helper and enables him to
know eternity.

And still in Book 7, chapter 11, Augustine

characterizes Him as the “Infinite God”.
 The Confessions ---
 was translated into English
by a Catholic priest and
convert to the Catholic
Church, Sir Tobie Matthew
(1577-1655) son of the
Protestant Archbishop of York

 first publish in London in

1620
– “You made us for
yourself and our
heart is restless
until it rests in
God.”
(Conf. 1.1)
THANK YOU!
Small Group Sharing

Confession of Sins

Confession of Faith

 Confession of God’s
Glory/Confession of Praise