The Confessions of St. Augustine

369 Pages·2001·2.851 MB·English

by  Rex Warner (trans.)

Youh avef orgivaennd c overeudp my passti nsb,l ess­
ingm e iny oua ndc hangimnyg soulb y faitahn db y
yours acrameynett;w hent hec onfessioofnt sh espea st
sinasr er eada ndh eardt,h eyr ousuep theh earatn d
preveinttf rom siniknitntogh e sloefed eps paainrd s ay­
ing",/ c annot." Intshteeyen acdo uraigtte o b ew akeful
int hel oveo f yourm ercy and the sowfey eotunre ss
grac.e. ..
{TheC onfessioofnS sa int AuguXst,3i)n e,
·
SainAtu gustinCeo'nsf essihoanvsef orfi fteecne nturies
inspiraendde ncouragdeedv oterde aderIsn.h ise pic
journey-aotn cee xceptiaonndapl r ofounhdulmya n­
evermya nfi ndsa m irror for pearnfdte hcect oinosno la­
tioonf g reahto pe.
In thimso dernt ranslaotfi tohne i mmortcalla ssic,
scholpaore, ta,n dn ovelRiesxtW arnerr endefrasi th­
fullAyu gustinvei'ssi oann dw ithc onsummatsek ill
transposienst om odernr,e adabElneg lisahl lt he
beautpyo,w era,n d drtihvaeht a vem adet heC onfes­
sionas c lassoifWc e stercnu lture.

THE
CONFESSIONS
OF
SAINTA UGUSTINE
BY
TRANSLATERDE XW ARNER
WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION
AND AFTERWORD BY
MA RTIN E.M ARTY
(X
A SIGNETC LASSIC
SIGNECTL ASSIC
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tot hpeu bliasnhdne eri tthheaeru thnoortr h peu blihsahrsee rc eived
anpya ymefnottrh "isst ribpopoekd. "
Contents
BeofrTeh eC onfsesions VII
BooIK 1
Boo1K1 25
BoomK 38
BooIKV 56
BoovK 78
BoovKi 99
BoovKu 124
BoovKm 150
BOOIKX 175
BOOXK 202
BooXKI 251
BooxK1 1 281
BooxKm 313
AftTehreC onefssions 349
SelecBtbieldi ography 353
v

BeforTeh eC onfessions
"My parenwtesr en otw ell-ofsfm,a ltlo-wnN ortAhf ri­
ca.ns. ". .
or
"I was Roman-bornm, TagastNeo,r thA frica, in
354. ... "
Thosaert eh ien foefnsrievgeu wlaayrts o baeugitno ­
biograApuhgiuesst.i ne bCeongefisnssii ornhrsie sg u­
larallym,oo sfetfn sively:
"Greaatr tt hou0, L orda,n dg reattloby e p rais.e.d.,
And manw anttso p raiysoeu. ..."
Notu nttihlne i nltihn e doesp ehres opunrsaoel­ a
nouann,td h einit s f,oa ru tobiographies, uncharacteristi­
calilny ptlhuer Yaelti. ts eizes the oifam lalg ination
but mtohsest u spicoirco yunsi rceaald ewristt,hh e
bookm'ossm te moralbilnee :
". ..y ouh avem adeu sf ory oursealnfd,o urh earts
arer estluenstsit lh ecya nfi ndp eacien y ou."
Notu nteille ven lines affitresprte rtshoins does the
singulagrre,sa uttb hjoeef ac utt obiogmraakpaehn i es,
appearance:
"Lemtes eeykou. ..".
VII
Vlll BEFORET ilCEO NFESSIONS
Such ap afigcreas nst e eomfe fnsiovrce a,n b es o
when commemnoddeedrr enta od ers, itpb reec­ause
sumethsa tth ewyi ildle infwtyi tthha eu thTohram.te ans
thatth etyo,ho a,v ree sthleeasarsnt adsr see ekRienagd.
ona ndyo uw ifilnld t haAtu gusstpiennemd usc thi me
ont hpel awchee rtehr ee stlessp edaicasenc,sdo e veekr­
erbse gtionfi ndT.h ipsl aicspe e rsontiotfi hepedo ,i nt
thaotnc eo uclrde dbiobrlryao m wo debrono tki talned
cailAtl BiograpohfG yo dp,r istmherdo tuhglehi offe
ah umaBny.w harti gshhtaa lc lo mmenadsesru tmhea t
readehroswe,v reers talnedss esa rchhaivnaegst , h eir
goaAlu gustGiondoe,r'a sn tyr anscbeenidonerpng et r ­
soonr f orce?
Answbeyrn :o rBiugththt wa.ti n loldt e tmearn wyh o
havbee esnw ebpytt hpeo wesro,m ettihmfeers e nozfy ,
thepsaeg efsr,o m utrhgeiumnp goo nt hewrhsoc arfeo r
auotbiography.
AutobiogOrnaecp ahgnye ?it n tion tednesbea atse s
tow hethTheerC onefssiiosan ns autobiaotag lrla.p hy
A modeirnnt erpGraertWreiyr l,pl rse,f teocr asil tTlh e
Tetsimownhyi,gc ohe bse yotnhdie d eoaft hceo nfession
of osrit nhp er ofeosfsf iaoiOntt hh.ew rasnu tst ot hink
oft hbeo oaksa l onpgr aygeirv,te hnoe p enliinngwe es
havqeu otedp,r atyhemero fmueln toufam l tlh pea ges,
andt hfei nwaolr d, ewnhdiascsp h r aydeorA,sm en.
Whaatl tlh ree virseecrosg insti hzaietf , tahnia su tios­
biograibptrh oytk,he me o ld sfuocbrho oks.
Breatkhm eo lidmt ighStt.ih lils,t oorfai uatnosb iog­
rapghiyvi eatp ripmlea ce,a ste hvemeyon v oen t os ee
howl atWeers tern writthpeeir esoc fetg shlb eur eodk en
moltdo getahnedcr a muep w itbho oksso methliinkge
CofnesisonMso.s otf t hotshea cto ntemporreaardi es
comfer olme sdsiesrt atnhcadenos et sh oinsfe r oAmu ­
gustJienaen.- JaRcoquusessae nadJu o haWnonl fgang
vonG oetohfef beirb glriaophsitcoaaplls o tnhgwe a y.
Butm orlei ktehlseyu bjweicbltelsw ritoergr esn erals,
presiodrec netlse barnisdtc iaensmd aakle rs.
Augusitsdi infef teH.ro ewn craena diedresyn w tiitfh
a NortAhf ricfarno1 m5 0y0e aargso A? Catholic,