The Routledge Guidebook to Augustine's Confessions

Catherine Conybeare

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317536369
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

Augustine's Confessions is one of the most significant works of Western culture. Cast as a long, impassioned conversation with God, it is intertwined with passages of life-narrative and with key theological and philosophical insights. It is enduringly popular, and justly so.

The Routledge Guidebook to Augustine's Confessions is an engaging introduction to this spiritually creative and intellectually original work. This guidebook is organized by themes:

• the importance of language
• creation and the sensible world
• memory, time and the self
• the afterlife of the Confessions

Written for readers approaching the Confessions for the first time, this guidebook addresses the literary, philosophical, historical and theological complexities of the work in a clear and accessible way. Excerpts in both Latin and English from this seminal work are included throughout the book to provide a close examination of both the autobiographical and theoretical content within the Confessions.

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The Routledge Guides to the Great Books

The Routledge Guidebook to Augustine’s Confessions

Catherine Conybeare

First published 2016

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2016 Catherine Conybeare

The right of Catherine Conybeare to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Conybeare, Catherine, author.

Title: The Routledge guidebook to Augustine’s Confessions / Catherine Conybeare.

Description: 1 [edition]. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Series: The Routledge guides to the great books | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015045353| ISBN 9781138847972 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138847989 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315726250 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. Confessiones.

Classification: LCC BR65.A62 C59 2016 | DDC 270.2092–dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045353

ISBN: 978-1-138-84797-2 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-84798-9 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-72625-0 (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781315726250

Contents

• Series editor’s preface
• Acknowledgements
• Map of key places in the Confessions
• Timeline
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
  • 1 The title Confessions
  • 2 The circumstances of composition of the Confessions
  • 3 The meaning of conversio
  • 4 The content of the Confessions
  • 5 The structure of the Confessions
  • Excerpt 1: part of the opening prayer of the Confessions (1.2.2)
• 2 Language
  • 1 The Confessions as a conversation with God
  • 2 The importance of questioning
  • 3 Coming into language
  • 4 Rhetoric and the Latin classics
  • 5 Withdrawal from rhetoric
  • 6 The language of the bible
  • 7 The biblical language of the Confessions
  • Excerpt 2: the firmament as bible (13.15.16;18)
• 3 Creation and the sensible world
  • 1 Language and sound
  • 2 Sense perception and the perversion of the senses
  • 3 Manicheism and materiality
  • 4 Platonism and immateriality
  • 5 The problem of Christ
  • 6 Creation as an intimation of God
  • Excerpt 3: the ascent at Ostia (9.10.25)
• 4 Memory, time and the self
  • 1 Love and death
  • 2 Friendship
  • 3 The self in time
  • 4 Memory and forgetfulness
  • 5 The problem of time
  • 6 Time and the Trinity
  • 7 The self before God
  • Excerpt 4: the end of the ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Frontmatter 1
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series editor’s preface
• Acknowledgements
• Map of key places in the Confessions
• Timeline
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Language
• 3 Creation and the sensible world
• 4 Memory, time and the self
• 5 Afterword
• Bibliography
• Index Locorum
• Index