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A review by muhly22
Confessions by Saint Augustine, Albert Cook Outler, Henry Chadwick
5.0
I have read The Confessions before, at least in part. I know that it was assigned as a part of a college Humanities course that was required, and I remember reading at least selections from it. Another translation (I don't know if it's the translation I read then) is on my list of read books, with a one-star rating. I'm going to leave that, and include this translation with its present rating.
I don't know if it was the translation by F.J. Sheed, or if it was the point in my life, or a combination, but as I was reading this book, it had a major impact on me. Unfortunately, I lack Augustine's comfort in publicly confessing my sins, but I will go so far as to confess that I've done some things I'm very much not proud of. Seeing that a man as holy and wonderful as Augustine also struggled with sin in a very intense way, and that he converted (around the same time in his life as I currently am) and felt God's forgiveness in a very personal way, is helpful in multiple ways: giving comfort that God will forgive me, too; giving comfort that I can overcome my sins; and giving comfort that my sins, past or present, do not prevent me from being holy - so long as I seek God's forgiveness and strive to overcome them.
I mentioned the translation earlier. I searched online for a recommendation, and this is the one that was most widely acknowledged as the best for us. The footnotes were often helpful for explanatory purposes, and the translation flowed in a way that many do not. According to the Introduction, Augustine would have written the book with the intent that it be read aloud. Sheed's translation made reading it aloud (something I often do in private - I like to hear the way words sound) a true pleasure. While I'm certainly not qualified to comment on the accuracy, the general nature of various articles I read about different translations didn't seem to raise that question.
Whether a person is Catholic or not, or even Christian, they should be able to recognize Augustine's great intellect. Parts of this book are monuments to that - his discussion of Time, for instance. Even if you disagree with Catholicism and the veneration of Saints, it should be clear from Augustine's life that he was a very holy man, and a true model of faith. I hope that his Confessions will bring comfort to everybody who reads it.
I don't know if it was the translation by F.J. Sheed, or if it was the point in my life, or a combination, but as I was reading this book, it had a major impact on me. Unfortunately, I lack Augustine's comfort in publicly confessing my sins, but I will go so far as to confess that I've done some things I'm very much not proud of. Seeing that a man as holy and wonderful as Augustine also struggled with sin in a very intense way, and that he converted (around the same time in his life as I currently am) and felt God's forgiveness in a very personal way, is helpful in multiple ways: giving comfort that God will forgive me, too; giving comfort that I can overcome my sins; and giving comfort that my sins, past or present, do not prevent me from being holy - so long as I seek God's forgiveness and strive to overcome them.
I mentioned the translation earlier. I searched online for a recommendation, and this is the one that was most widely acknowledged as the best for us. The footnotes were often helpful for explanatory purposes, and the translation flowed in a way that many do not. According to the Introduction, Augustine would have written the book with the intent that it be read aloud. Sheed's translation made reading it aloud (something I often do in private - I like to hear the way words sound) a true pleasure. While I'm certainly not qualified to comment on the accuracy, the general nature of various articles I read about different translations didn't seem to raise that question.
Whether a person is Catholic or not, or even Christian, they should be able to recognize Augustine's great intellect. Parts of this book are monuments to that - his discussion of Time, for instance. Even if you disagree with Catholicism and the veneration of Saints, it should be clear from Augustine's life that he was a very holy man, and a true model of faith. I hope that his Confessions will bring comfort to everybody who reads it.