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'''''Confessions''''' is the autobiography of [[Saint Augustine]].  He was one of the [[Church fathers]], very important in the history of the early Church, born in North Africa to a [[pagan]] father and Christian mother. ''Confessions'' was written in [[Latin]] shortly between 397 and 398 AD, while he was in his forties, and is a remarkable piece of [[Christianity|Christian]] literature for several reasons.

'''''Confessions''''' is the autobiography of [[Saint Augustine]].  He was one of the [[Church fathers]], very important in the history of the early Church, born in North Africa to a [[pagan]] father and Christian mother. ''Confessions'' was written in [[Latin]] shortly between 397 and 398 AD, while he was in his forties, and is a remarkable piece of [[Christianity|Christian]] literature for several reasons.

* It is the first ever [[autobiography]] in [[Western literature]], so Augustine created a whole new model of literature. It was originally produced as 13 books, each subdivided into chapters. The lengths of the books is rather uneven - Book Two has 10 chapters while the more philosophical Book Ten is contains 43 chapters! Chapters are quite short, a couple of pages, and with modern printing techniques the ''Confessions'' is actually published in one volume, with most translations between 200 and 400 pages. When it was written, the individual books had to be copied out by hand!

* It is the first ever [[autobiography]] in [[Western literature]], so Augustine created a whole new model of literature. It was originally produced as 13 books, each subdivided into chapters. The lengths of the books are rather uneven - Book Two has 10 chapters while the more philosophical Book Ten is contains 43 chapters! Chapters are quite short, a couple of pages, and with modern printing techniques the ''Confessions'' is actually published in one volume, with most translations between 200 and 400 pages. When it was written, the individual books had to be copied out by hand!

* Augustine describes his [[conversion]] to Christianity at the age of 33, after experimenting with a wild youth, [[Manichaeism]] and [[Neoplatonism]]. His rejection of the Neoplatonic Greek philosophy as a complete explanation for the universe - he saw that their complicated and wordy arguments didn't necessarily make them true - and the logical inconsistencies of Manichaeism help explain why Christianity became the dominant belief in post-Classical Europe and (until the rise of [[Islam]]) North Africa and the Middle East. Modern readers may find it easier to empathise with his wild youth than his temporary commitment to these two largely forgotten traditions that were vying with Christianity at the time; [[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian|for other people leaving atheism and trying to turn to the Lord]], they can take heart from the personal fulfilment he received from his conversion.

* Augustine describes his [[conversion]] to Christianity at the age of 33, after experimenting with a wild youth, [[Manichaeism]] and [[Neoplatonism]]. His rejection of the Neoplatonic Greek philosophy as a complete explanation for the universe - he saw that their complicated and wordy arguments didn't necessarily make them true - and the logical inconsistencies of Manichaeism help explain why Christianity became the dominant belief in post-Classical Europe and (until the rise of [[Islam]]) North Africa and the Middle East. Modern readers may find it easier to empathise with his wild youth than his temporary commitment to these two largely forgotten traditions that were vying with Christianity at the time; [[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian|for other people leaving atheism and trying to turn to the Lord]], they can take heart from the personal fulfilment he received from his conversion.

* He describes the first-hand influence of another great [[saint]] on him, [[Saint Ambrose]], and how Ambrose's arguments persuaded him that Christianity is the true and logically correct religion.

* He describes the first-hand influence of another great [[saint]] on him, [[Saint Ambrose]], and how Ambrose's arguments persuaded him that Christianity is the true and logically correct religion.

* ''If I could have believed, I might have been cured, and, with the sight of my soul cleared up, it might in some way have been directed toward thy truth, which always abides and fails in nothing. But, just as it happens that a man who has tried a bad physician fears to trust himself with a good one, so it was with the health of my soul, which could not be healed except by believing.'' - on the need for belief and how his prior belief in false religions made him wary of accepting Christianity, Book Six, Chapter IV

* ''If I could have believed, I might have been cured, and, with the sight of my soul cleared up, it might in some way have been directed toward thy truth, which always abides and fails in nothing. But, just as it happens that a man who has tried a bad physician fears to trust himself with a good one, so it was with the health of my soul, which could not be healed except by believing.'' - on the need for belief and how his prior belief in false religions made him wary of accepting Christianity, Book Six, Chapter IV

* ''I then turned my thoughts to those that are born twins, who generally come out of the womb so near the one to the other that the short interval between them - whatever importance they may ascribe to it in the nature of things - cannot be noted by human observation or expressed in those tables which the astrologer uses to examine when he undertakes to pronounce the truth. But such pronouncements cannot be true. For looking into the same horoscopes, he must have foretold the same future for Esau and Jacob, whereas the same future did not turn out for them. He must therefore speak falsely. If he is to speak truly, then he must read contrary predictions into the same horoscopes. But this would mean that it was not by art, but by chance, that he would speak truly.'' - on astrologers, Book Seven, Chapter VI

* ''I then turned my thoughts to those that are born twins, who generally come out of the womb so near the one to the other that the short interval between them - whatever importance they may ascribe to it in the nature of things - cannot be noted by human observation or expressed in those tables which the astrologer uses to examine when he undertakes to pronounce the truth. But such pronouncements cannot be true. For looking into the same horoscopes, he must have foretold the same future for Esau and Jacob, whereas the same future did not turn out for them. He must therefore speak falsely. If he is to speak truly, then he must read contrary predictions into the same horoscopes. But this would mean that it was not by art, but by chance, that he would speak truly.'' - on [[astrologer]]s, Book Seven, Chapter VI

* ''O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to thee thy mercies toward me. Let my bones be bathed in thy love, and let them say: "Lord, who is like unto thee? Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder, I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving."[232] And how thou didst break them I will declare, and all who worship thee shall say, when they hear these things: "Blessed be the Lord in heaven and earth, great and wonderful is his name."'' - on his acceptance of Christ, Book Eight, Chapter I

* ''O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to thee thy mercies toward me. Let my bones be bathed in thy love, and let them say: "Lord, who is like unto thee? Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder, I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving."[232] And how thou didst break them I will declare, and all who worship thee shall say, when they hear these things: "Blessed be the Lord in heaven and earth, great and wonderful is his name."'' - on his acceptance of Christ, Book Eight, Chapter I