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A review by davidcalhoun
Confessions by Saint Augustine
3.0
Not what I expected I think? My confession: I couldn't wait for this book to be over.
It's a classic, but Augustine seems to ramble aimlessly and keep reiterating stuff he talked about previously (such as the creation event). If there was any outline and progression, I didn't really grok it. It may entire be my fault.
Yet despite it being painful to get through, there are some nuggets scattered around it. Some interesting philosophical discussion about:
-the nature of time (e.g. A theory and B theory)
-weakness of the will (why do we do things even when we know it will harm us? we do we resist doing things that we know will be good for us?)
-elanguescence (things fading from being)
-finding it ok, and actually even intended, that Bibical texts can be interpreted in a variety of ways. This is a pretty controversial opinion but an interesting one. Which is stronger, a text with one clear meaning that could be received more of less by a bunch of readers, or a text with multiple meanings which could be of help in various ways to all sorts of people?
Augustine goes overboard with Bibical references throughout the book, but I think that's just his way of confessing, and also showing what he understands. Lots of references might be distracting to readers - there's a ton of footnotes in my edition with all the Biblical references. Nevertheless handy for anything that folks might want to do further reading on.
It's a classic, but Augustine seems to ramble aimlessly and keep reiterating stuff he talked about previously (such as the creation event). If there was any outline and progression, I didn't really grok it. It may entire be my fault.
Yet despite it being painful to get through, there are some nuggets scattered around it. Some interesting philosophical discussion about:
-the nature of time (e.g. A theory and B theory)
-weakness of the will (why do we do things even when we know it will harm us? we do we resist doing things that we know will be good for us?)
-elanguescence (things fading from being)
-finding it ok, and actually even intended, that Bibical texts can be interpreted in a variety of ways. This is a pretty controversial opinion but an interesting one. Which is stronger, a text with one clear meaning that could be received more of less by a bunch of readers, or a text with multiple meanings which could be of help in various ways to all sorts of people?
Augustine goes overboard with Bibical references throughout the book, but I think that's just his way of confessing, and also showing what he understands. Lots of references might be distracting to readers - there's a ton of footnotes in my edition with all the Biblical references. Nevertheless handy for anything that folks might want to do further reading on.