The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's 'Confessions'

Presents the best scholarship on Augustine's Confessions which will facilitate a better understanding of this masterpiece.

Tarmo Toom (Edited by)

9781108449816, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 March 2020

354 pages, 4 b/w illus.
22.7 x 15.3 x 1.9 cm, 0.51 kg

This Cambridge Companion serves as an authoritative guide to Augustine's Confessions - a literary classic and one of the most important theological/philosophical works of Late Antiquity. Bringing together new essays by leading scholars, the volume first examines the composition of the text, including its structure, genre, and intended audience. Subsequent essays explore a range of themes and concepts, such as God, creation, sin, grace, happiness, and interiority, among others. The final section of the Companion deals with its historical relevance. It provides sample essays on the reception history of the Confessions. These essays demonstrate how each generation reads the Confessions in light of current questions and circumstances, and how the text continues to remain relevant and raise new questions.

Introduction: what is The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's 'Confessions'? Tarmo Toom
Part I. Circumstances of Composition: 1. Title, time, and circumstances of composition Carolyn Hammond
2. Genre and structure of the Confessions Annemaré Kotzé
3. Anticipated readers Jason BeDuhn
Part II. Main Themes and Topics: 4. Aversion and conversion Marie-Anne Vannier
5. Creation and recreation Matthew Drever
6. Sin and concupiscence Johannes van Oort
7. Grace Volker Henning Drecoll
8. God Paul van Geest
9. Happiness and friendship Anne-Isabelle Bouton-Touboulic
10. Love, will, and the intellectual ascents Sarah Byers
11. Memory, time, and eternity Lenka Karfiková
12. Philosophy Giovanni Catapano
13. Pride and humility Notker Baumann
13. Soul, self, and interiority Phillip Cary
Part III. Reception and Reading Strategies: 14. Manuscript transmission, critical editions, and English translations Gert Partoens
15. Reception in the Middle Ages Eric Leland Saak
16. Reception in the period of reformations Katrin Ettenhuber
17. Reception during the enlightenment Patrick Riley
18. Reading (in) the Confessions Mark Vessey.

Subject Areas: Christian theology [HRCM], Church history [HRCC2], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Autobiography: religious & spiritual [BGXA]