Saint Augustine

Confessions

The Confessions of Saint Augustine is one of the most remarkable books ever written — a sustained, searching prayer addressed directly to God, in which Augustine recounts the story of his own wandering, sinning, seeking, and ultimate conversion. Written around AD 401, roughly a decade after his baptism, the Confessions is at once a spiritual autobiography, a philosophical inquiry, and an act of worship. Augustine's central thesis can be heard in the book's most famous line, uttered in the very first chapter: "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee." Every episode in the book — from infant envy to the stolen pears, from the seductions of Carthage to the garden in Milan — illustrates what happens when the human heart tries to rest in anything less than God. This study guide follows the nine books of this abridged edition, exploring Augustine's argument chapter by chapter.