Augustine

Gillian Rosemary Evans

Henry Scowcroft Bettenson

One of the great cornerstones in the history of Christian philosophy, The City of God provides an insightful interpretation of the development of modern Western society and the origin of most Western thought. Contrasting earthly and heavenly cities--representing the omnipresent struggle between good and evil--Augustine explores human history in its relation to all eternity. In Thomas Merton's words, "The City of God is the autobiography of the Church written by the most Catholic of her great saints." This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition is a complete and unabridged version of the Marcus Dods translation.

City of God

Thomas Williams

"Translated with an uncanny sense for the overall point of Augustine's doctrine. In short, a very good translation. The Introduction is admirably clear." --Paul Vincent Spade, Indiana University

On Free Choice of the Will

Saint Augustine

Sarah Ruden's fresh, dynamic translation of Confessions brings us closer to Augustine's intent than any previous version. It puts a brilliant spotlight on the life of one individual to show how all lives have meaning that is universal and eternal. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine tells the story of his sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. He describes his ascent from a humble farm in North Africa to a prestigious post in the Roman Imperial capital of Milan, his struggle against his own overpowering sexuality, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother had taught him during his earliest years. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, and the confessional mode he invented can be seen everywhere in writing today. Grounded in her command of Latin as it was written and spoken in the ancient world, Sarah Ruden's translation is a bold departure from its predecessors - and the most historically accurate translation ever. Stylistically beautiful, with no concessions made to suit later theology and ritual, Ruden's rendition will give readers a startling and illuminating new perspective on one of the central texts of Christianity. -- from dust jacket.

Confessions

"The reader who has never met Augus-tine before ought to go first of all to the Confessions," reflected the Trappist monk and scholar Thomas Merton. "Augustine lived the theology that he wrote. . . . He experienced the reality of Christ living in his own soul." Saint Augustine, the celebrated theologian who served as Bishop of Hippo from a.d. 396 until his death in a.d. 430, is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the Western world. Written in the form of a long prayer addressed directly to God, Augustine's Confessions, the remarkable chronicle of his conversion to Christianity, endures as the greatest spiritual autobiography of all time. "Augustine possessed a strong, capacious, argumentative mind," wrote Edward Gibbon. "He boldly sounded the dark abyss of grace, predestination, free-will, and original sin." And the eminent historian Jaroslav Pelikan remarked: "There has, quite literally, been no century of the sixteen centuries since the conversion of Augustine in which he has not been a major intellectual, spiri- tual, and cultural force."

The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Agustín (Santo, Obispo de Hipona.)

St Augustine, Sai

The first new rendition for a generation of one of the classic texts of Western civilisation.

Augustine: The City of God Against the Pagans

New translations of two treatises by the fourth-century Christian thinker dealing with the possibility and nature of knowledge. Intended specifically for philosophical readers and suitable as a text for a course in medieval philosophy, Augustine, or church history. No subject index. Paper edition (unseen), $12.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Against the Academicians and The Teacher

Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.)

Offers a comprehensive view of St Augustine's political ideas.

Political Writings

One of the great works of Western literature, from perhaps the most important thinker of Christian antiquity, in a revolutionary new translation by one of today’s leading classicists Sarah Ruden’s fresh, dynamic translation of Confessions brings us closer to Augustine’s intent than any previous version. It puts a glaring spotlight on the life of one individual to show how all lives have meaning that is universal and eternal. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine tells the story of his sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. He describes his ascent from a humble farm in North Africa to a prestigious post in the Roman Imperial capital of Milan, his struggle against his own overpowering sexuality, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother had taught him during his earliest years. Augustine’s concerns are often strikingly contemporary, and the confessional mode he invented can be seen everywhere in writing today. Grounded in her command of Latin as it was written and spoken in the ancient world, Sarah Ruden’s translation is a bold departure from its predecessors—and the most historically accurate translation ever. Stylistically beautiful, with no concessions made to suit later theology and ritual, Ruden’s rendition will give readers a startling and illuminating new perspective on one of the central texts of Christianity. Praise for Confessions “[Ruden] has clearly thought deeply about what Augustine was trying to say.”—The Wall Street Journal “A translation of [Augustine’s] masterwork that does justice both to him and to his God . . . Repeated small acts of attention to the humble, human roots of Augustine’s imagery of his relations to God enable Ruden to convey a living sense of the Being before Whom we find him transfixed in prayer: ‘Silent, long-suffering and with so much mercy in your heart.’”—The New York Review of Books “Delightfully readable . . . In this lively translation filled with vivid, personal prose, Ruden introduces readers to a saint whom many will realize they only thought they knew. . . . Approaching her subject with deep religious and historical knowledge, [Ruden] chooses to translate Augustine as a performative, engaging storyteller rather than a systematic theologian.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Ruden’s translation makes Augustine’s ancient text accessible to a new generation of readers with a real taste of the original Latin.”—Library Journal “[Ruden’s] record as a translator of ancient texts . . . clearly establishes her considerable talent.”—Christianity Today

The oldest monastic Rule in the West A giant of the faith, St. Augustine is well known as "the restless searcher for truth." His life and the Rule he formulated have had enduring influence on the Christian ideal of the religious life. This is a new, modern English translation of the Rule from the original critical Latin text. An extensive Commentary elucidates its meaning and its relevance to those who follow or study it today. Augustine's concise spiritual directions, based heavily on the Scriptures, cover such subjects as prayer, love and community, mutual responsibility, service, authority and obedience. He outlines the basics for exercising genuine love, the goal of all things -- indeed life itself. This brief but classic guide is as inspiring and applicable to the twentieth century as it was to Augustine's early followers. It clearly reflects his own vision and spiritual depth. As Van Bavel observes in his Introduction: "We could characterize the Rule of Augustine as a call to the evangelical equality of all people. It voices the Christian demand to bring all men and women into full community." The Rule of St. Augustine is, indeed, a Rule for all Christians -- religious and laity alike.

The Rule of Saint Augustine

Aurelius Augustinus

Saint Augustine (of Hippo)

Collection containing thirty-five letters and sermons of St Augustine on politics, addressing essential themes in Augustine's thought.

Augustine: Political Writings

Like the first Hackett edition of the Augustine's Confessions, the second edition features F. J. Sheed's remarkable translation of this classic spiritual autobiography with an Introduction by noted historian of late antiquity Peter Brown. New to this edition are a wealth of notes on literary, philosophical, biblical, historical, and liturgical topics by Michael P. Foley, an Editor's Preface, a map, a timeline, paragraph numbers in the text, a glossary, and a thorough index. The text itself has been completely reset, with textual and explanatory notes placed at the foot of the page for easy reference.

St Augustine

Aurelius Augustinus, aka SAINT AUGUSTINE (354-430) was bishop of Hippo, today called Bona, in Algeria. Before his conversion to Christianity, however, he lead a wild and licentious youth in Carthage and later studied philosophy for years in Milan. His Confessions, in which he begs forgiveness from God for his sins and sets himself entirely to devotion to God, is not only a foundational work of Western theology, it is also one of the earliest autobiographies, offering keen insight into the workings of the medieval mind. ALSO AVAILABLE FROM COSIMO CLASSICS: Saint Augustine's "The City of God" Translator and British clergyman EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY (1800-1882) was one of the most influential figures in the Anglican church in the 19th century, formulated theology and doctrine that radically altered the practice of Christianity in England.

The Confessions of St. Augustine

In The City of God (De Civitate Dei), St Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the recent sack of Rome (AD410), to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. This edition of Books I & II provides Latin text with facing-page translation, introduction and commentary.

Augustine: The City of God Books I and II

"Spirituality involves taking our personal experience seriously as raw material for redemption and holiness, examining the material of our daily lives with as much rigor as we do Scripture and doctrine. Confessions is the landmark work in this exercise." Eugene Peterson Saint Augustine wasn't always a saint. He led a turbulent and licentious youth, and belonged to the fourth century equivalent of a street gang. At the age of 29, he met a young man, Ambrose, whose intelligence, kindness and strong faith fascinated and puzzled Augustine. Then at the age of thirty-two, under Ambrose's tutelage, Augustine converted to Christianity and went on to be one of the most influential Christians throughout history. Written in 400 AD, less than a decade after his ordination to the priesthood, a mere four years after becoming bishop of Hippo, he wrote Confessions in his forties. He was a man looking back and looking forward, an apt simile perhaps for the role Augustine played in the history of the Church, that of a bridge between two distinct eras. Confessions traces a pilgrimage of unbounded grace, passionately wrestling with the spiritual questions that have engaged thoughtful minds since time began. It is Augustine's utter candor about his own sin and his struggle to reconcile his mind and soul to God's holy character that made Confessions the classic that it has been for fifteen centuries and compelling to readers still today. Companion volume to HP's trade paper edition of Augustine's City of God Classic text, edited by Albert Cook Outler Larger, easy-to-read edition Competitively priced "It is difficult to find a theologian - from any age - who has not been influenced by the teachings of St. Augustine." Richard Foster, Devotional Classics.

This edition of St Augustine's The City of God (De Civitate Dei) is the only one in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. Books VI and VII focus on the figure of Terentius Varro, a man revered by Augustine’s pagan contemporaries. By exploiting Varro’s learned researches on Roman religion, Augustine condemns Roman religious practices and beliefs in order to refute pagan claims that the Roman deities had guaranteed a blessed life in the hereafter for their devotees. These books are therefore not only an invaluable source for the study of early Christianity but also for any student of Classical Rome, who is provided here with a detailed account of one of the most learned figures of Roman antiquity, whose own works have not survived in the same state. Latin text with facing-page English translation, introduction and commentary.

Augustine: The City of God Books VI and VII

Confessions is one of the most moving diaries ever recorded of a man's journey to the fountain of God's grace. Writing as a sinner, not a saint, Augustine shares his innermost thoughts and conversion experiences, and wrestles with the spiritual questions that have stirred the hearts of the thoughtful since time began. Starting with his childhood in Numidia, through his youth and early adulthood in Carthage, Rome, and Milan, readers will see Augustine as a human being, a fellow traveler on the road to salvation. Though staggering around potholes and roadblocks, all will find strength in Augustine's message: when the road gets rough, look to God! Previously released in 1977, this book invites readers to join Augustine in his quest that led him to be one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the history of the church.

Modern English Version

Reveals the spiritual and ascetical life of Saint Augustine

Confessions is the autobiography of Augustine, and presents a moving and profound record of a human soul and its struggles. This is the most widely read of all his works. It not only tells the story of Augustine's struggle with faith, but also his love for the Master. It speaks to the heart of humanity about weakness, frailty, depravity, and the need for a holy God. Confessions is an exercise in self-knowledge and true humility in the atmosphere of grace and reconciliation.

This long-awaited translation of Confessions, which Stephen Greenblatt describes as central to the legacy of Adam and Eve, enlivens the beguiling world of late antiquity. No modern, well-versed literature lover can call her education complete without having read Augustine’s Confessions. One of the most original works of world literature, it is the first autobiography ever written, influencing writers from Montaigne to Rousseau, Virginia Woolf to Gertrude Stein—and most recently informing Stephen Greenblatt’s provocative thesis about one of our foundational mythologies in The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. It is here that we learn how one of the greatest saints in Christendom overcame a wild and reckless past, complete with a rambunctious posse of friends, an overly doting mother, and an affair that produced a “bastard” child. Yet English translators have long emphasized the ecclesiastical virtues of Augustine’s masterpiece, often at the expense of its passion and literary vigor. Restoring the lyricism of Augustine’s original language, Peter Constantine offers a masterful and elegant rendering of Confessions in what will be a classic for decades to come.

Confessions: A New Translation

Books V-IX of the Confessions trace five crucial years in the life of Augustine, from his debut as a teacher of rhetoric in North Africa to his baptism as a Christian and the renunciation of a worldly career in Milan. This commentary will be invaluable for those wishing to read his story in the original Latin. Through careful glosses and notes, Augustine's Latin is made accessible to students of patristics and of classics. His extensive quotations from Scripture are translated and explained in light of the variant Bible texts and the interpretative assumptions through which he came to understand them. The unfolding of his career is set against the background of political, cultural, and religious change in the fourth century, and the art with which he created a form of narrative without precedent in earlier Latin literature is illustrated in close detail.

Augustine

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