Confessions

In this new translation the brilliant and impassioned descriptions of Augustine's colourful early life are conveyed to the English reader with accuracy and art. Augustine tells of his wrestlings to master his sexual drive, his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of high power at the imperial court of Milan, and his reunciation of secular ambition and marriage as he recovered the faith that his mother had taught him. It was in a Milan garden that Augustine finally achieved the act of will to Christian conversion, which he compared to a lazy man in bed finally deciding it is time to get up and face the day.

In his own day the dominant personality of the Western Church, Augustine of Hippo today stands as perhaps the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity, and his Confessions is one of the great works of Western literature. In this intensely personal narrative, Augustine relates his rare ascent from a humble Algerian farm to the edge of the corridors of power at the imperial court in Milan, his struggle against the domination of his sexual nature, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage, and the recovery of the faith his mother Monica had taught him during his childhood.
Now, Henry Chadwick, an eminent scholar of early Christianity, has given us the first new English translation in thirty years of this classic spiritual journey. Chadwick renders the details of Augustine's conversion in clear, modern English. We witness the future saint's fascination with astrology and with the Manichees, and then follow him through scepticism and disillusion with pagan myths until he finally reaches Christian faith. There are brilliant philosophical musings about Platonism and the nature of God, and touching portraits of Augustine's beloved mother, of St. Ambrose of Milan, and of other early Christians like Victorinus, who gave up a distinguished career as a rhetorician to adopt the orthodox faith. Augustine's concerns are often strikingly contemporary, yet his work contains many references and allusions that are easily understood only with background information about the ancient social and intellectual setting. To make The Confessions accessible to contemporary readers, Chadwick provides the most complete and informative notes of any recent translation, and includes an introduction to establish the context.
The religious and philosophical value of The Confessions is unquestionable--now modern readers will have easier access to St. Augustine's deeply personal meditations. Chadwick's lucid translation and helpful introduction clear the way for a new experience of this classic.

An expert on the early Church, Henry Chadwick is Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He is the author of such books as Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition and Augustine in the Past Masters series.

"An excellent translation."--John Bowlin, University of Tulsa
"A masterly performance by the dean of English-speaking Patristic scholars. Better English than the Penguin and unlike Sheed this has Books X-XIII. The notes hint at hidden depths."--Oliver Nicholson, University of Minnesota
"Chadwick's translation is superb."--Thomas Renna, Saginaw Valley State University
"A beautifully translated, edited, and printed paperback edition."--Francis W. Nichols, St. Louis University
"I am impressed with this translation. It has the poetry and emotive power of the R.S. Pine-Coffin translation for Penguin Books; and it seems much more lucid. The notes are very helpful for my purposes, showing how Augustine wove together Neo-Platonism and Christianity."--David E. Timmer, Central College
"An extremely readable and accessible translation, superior to those of Edward Pusey and F.J. Sheed that we've used in the past."--Helen Moritz, Santa Clara University
"A very competent piece of work....The fact remains that this new translation is the most readable version in modern English."--Manuscripta
"This handsomely bound and printed volume is finely translated and annotated, thus making the Confessions as exciting to read in English as they deserve to be. The informative introduction provides excellent information on Augustine's life and writings."--Gary M. Godfrey, University of Utah
"Fine translation."--P.M. Hess, University of Santa Clara

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