Book Feature: The Confessions of St. Augustine

"It could be said that all roads of Christian Latin literature lead to [Augustine]," 

+Pope Benedict XVI

Here's a book I've been clamoring to have since I first read of it in our Introduction to Philosophy subject course - The Confessions of Saint Augustine! Under the topic of medieval philosophy, I was actually reading back then another translation of one of his most important output The City of God, which is a general apologetic writing that answers to the pagans of his time. A leisurely-spent hour at Powerbooks - Gateway led me to find this treasure :) Very insightful indeed, reading this modern translation felt like snooping at someone else's diary - and not just any ordinary diary, but that of a holy man's struggle and journey to sanctity. Below is a brief which can be found at the backflap of the book:

Signet Classics

The Confessions of Saint Augustine: 

The Classic Autobiography of the Man who Journeyed from Sin to Sainthood

A vivid contemporary translation by Rex Warner

"Every vain hope," recounts Saint Augustine of his introduction to philosophy, "became empty to me, and I longed for the immortality of wisdom." With the emergence of his Confessions more than fifteen hundred years ago, immortality would soon be his. "All of antiquity's philosophy converges in his work," noted Pope Paul VI. 

Hailed by Pope Benedict XVI as "the greatest Father of the Latin Church... a man of passion and faith, of high intelligence and untiring pastoral zeal," Augustine tells the story of his remarkable life. From his days of devil-may-care debauchery to saintliness, from traveling the ancient world to taking the vows of an ascetic life, his gripping biography intertwines with his insights of endless wisdom.

Rex Warner, who was born in England and studied at Oxford, established an international reputation with his translations, which include Three Great Plays of Euripides, The Greek Philosophers and Thucydides's The Persian Wars.

For more of St. Augustine's life and works, click here and here.