Book Review: Saint Augustine's Confessions
primarily in Chapters 12 and 13. I was surprised that the Holy Spirit was not mentioned more in Augustine's telling of his journey to the Church with statements such as, "Your spirit led me." It seems that Augustine, like most persons, learned of the Trinity the way a child learns. First, you meet the Father, then your brothers (Jesus) and finally with adolescence become a more abstract thinker and can understand the concept of the Spirit.
In Chapter 13 Augustine make uses of academic terms displaying his continuing love of study and teaching. God's spirit is called "Wisdom" and he says that the angels "read." Augustine knows the folly of human wisdom, though, and says, "It it a rare soul who knows what he is talking about when he is speaking of it."
Besides reading about his ordination to the priesthood, I would have liked to have learned more about his life as a bishop. But Augustine's Confessions were between him and God about his shortcomings and his intellectual and spiritual dealings with those shortcomings. The Confessions was not meant to be a day-by-day diary for the curious. Indeed, if it was meant for anyone who was curious, it was for the people of his time who questioned his right to be a church leader because of his past. Augustine communicated to God and documents that humans can be contrite, can be renewed in mind and spirit and can be right with God in the present.
Latest Articles