This book is a tool for teaching and studying the great Christian classic, Augustine's "Confessions." It is a unique venture in which thirteen different scholars look at each of the thirteen books in the "Confessions" and interpret their chapters in light of that book and in light of the rest of Augustine's work. The result is that the richness and ambiguity of Augustine's work shines through as well as the richness and ambiguity of different readings of the "Confessions."

The influence of Christianity on literature has been great throughout history, as has been the influence of the great Christian, Augustine. Augustine and Literature considers the influence of Augustine on the theory and practice of an academic discipline of which he himself was not a practitioner-literature, especially poetry and fiction. The essays in this volume explore the many influences of Augustine on literature, most obviously in terms of themes and symbols, but also more pervasively perhaps in proving that literature strives for meaning through and beyond the fictional or metaphorical surface. The authors discussed in these essays, from Dante and Milton to O'Connor and Faulkner, all demonstrate a common concern that literature must be attentive to the highest things and the deepest journeys of the soul. Together these essays offer a compelling argument that literature and Augustine do belong together in the common task of guiding the soul toward the truth it desires.

The influence of Christianity on literature has been great throughout history, as has been the influence of the great Christian, Augustine. Augustine and Literature considers the influence of Augustine on the theory and practice of an academic discipline of which he himself was not a practitioner-literature, especially poetry and fiction. The essays in this volume explore the many influences of Augustine on literature, most obviously in terms of themes and symbols, but also more pervasively perhaps in proving that literature strives for meaning through and beyond the fictional or metaphorical surface. The authors discussed in these essays, from Dante and Milton to O'Connor and Faulkner, all demonstrate a common concern that literature must be attentive to the highest things and the deepest journeys of the soul. Together these essays offer a compelling argument that literature and Augustine do belong together in the common task of guiding the soul toward the truth it desires.

The study of Augustine's political teachings has suffered from a history of misreadings, both ancient and modern. It is only in recent years that the traditional lines of "Augustinian pessimism" have been opened to question. Scholars have begun to explore the broader lines of Augustine's political thought in his letters and sermons, and thus have been able to place his classic text, The City of God, in its proper context. The essays in this volume take stock of these recent developments and revisit old assumptions about the significance of Augustine of Hippo for political thought. They do so from many different perspectives, examining the anthropological and theological underpinnings of Augustine's thought, his critique of politics, his development of his own political thought, and some of the later manifestations or uses of his thought in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and today. This new vision is at once more bracing, more hopeful, and more diverse than earlier readings could have allowed.

The study of Augustine's political teachings has suffered from a history of misreadings, both ancient and modern. It is only in recent years that the traditional lines of 'Augustinian pessimism' have been opened to question. Scholars have begun to explore the broader lines of Augustine's political thought in his letters and sermons, and thus have been able to place his classic text, The City of God, in its proper context. The essays in this volume take stock of these recent developments and revisit old assumptions about the significance of Augustine of Hippo for political thought. They do so from many different perspectives, examining the anthropological and theological underpinnings of Augustine's thought, his critique of politics, his development of his own political thought, and some of the later manifestations or uses of his thought in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and today. This new vision is at once more bracing, more hopeful, and more diverse than earlier readings could have allowed.