Augustine's Confessions and the Origins of Contemporary Psychology
Augustine's Confessions and the Origins of Contemporary Psychology

Author: Julia Atwood

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13:

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Argues that Augustine's Confessions, through its conceptualization of the inner self, constitutes as the earliest contribution to modern psychology, specifically to introspection and to more contemporary cognitive psychology. The argument is composed of six parts. First, the author opposes the modern notion of Platonic "psychology" in order to convey the difference between this Platonic "soul talk" and the advanced theories of Augustine. Second, Atwood offers a definition of psychology as a modern discipline and elaborates on the two specific realms of psychology pertaining to her argument: introspection and cognitive psychology. Third, the author gives an account of the fortunes of Augustine within the context of the history of psychology in order to document when his work was mentioned in psychological texts, when his work faded out from these texts and why, and finally when he was reintroduced to psychology and why his presence is significant. Fourth, Atwood presents a focused discussion of Philip Cary, Augustine's Invention of the Inner Self: The legacy of a Christian Platonist, in order to emphasize the innovative nature of Augustine's theory of inner self. Fifth, the author gives an overview of the Confessions, identifies passages in books I-IX and XI-XIII relevant to Book X, and gives a detailed analysis of Book X with a specific focus on the inner self, memory, and God. Finally, Atwood argues for the Confessions as a valuable and necessary component in any student's understanding not of the pre-history, but the living history of contemporary psychology.

Augustine's Confessions
Augustine's Confessions

Author: Garry Wills

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-07-27

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 0691217645

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From Pulitzer Prize–winner Garry Wills, the story of Augustine’s Confessions In this brief and incisive book, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills tells the story of the Confessions--what motivated Augustine to dictate it, how it asks to be read, and the many ways it has been misread in the one-and-a-half millennia since it was composed. Following Wills's biography of Augustine and his translation of the Confessions, this is an unparalleled introduction to one of the most important books in the Christian and Western traditions. Understandably fascinated by the story of Augustine's life, modern readers have largely succumbed to the temptation to read the Confessions as autobiography. But, Wills argues, this is a mistake. The book is not autobiography but rather a long prayer, suffused with the language of Scripture and addressed to God, not man. Augustine tells the story of his life not for its own significance but in order to discern how, as a drama of sin and salvation leading to God, it fits into sacred history. "We have to read Augustine as we do Dante," Wills writes, "alert to rich layer upon layer of Scriptural and theological symbolism." Wills also addresses the long afterlife of the book, from controversy in its own time and relative neglect during the Middle Ages to a renewed prominence beginning in the fourteenth century and persisting to today, when the Confessions has become an object of interest not just for Christians but also historians, philosophers, psychiatrists, and literary critics. With unmatched clarity and skill, Wills strips away the centuries of misunderstanding that have accumulated around Augustine's spiritual classic.

The Confessions of St. Augustine
The Confessions of St. Augustine

Author: Augustine

Publisher: Revell

Published: 2008-04-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1585581380

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Confessions is one of the most moving diaries ever recorded of a man's journey to the fountain of God's grace. Writing as a sinner, not a saint, Augustine shares his innermost thoughts and conversion experiences, and wrestles with the spiritual questions that have stirred the hearts of the thoughtful since time began. Starting with his childhood in Numidia, through his youth and early adulthood in Carthage, Rome, and Milan, readers will see Augustine as a human being, a fellow traveler on the road to salvation. Though staggering around potholes and roadblocks, all will find strength in Augustine's message: when the road gets rough, look to God! Previously released in 1977, this book invites readers to join Augustine in his quest that led him to be one of the most influential Christian thinkers in the history of the church.

The Theology of Augustine's Confessions
The Theology of Augustine's Confessions

Author: Paul Rigby

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-02-26

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 1316241181

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This study of the Confessions engages with contemporary philosophers and psychologists antagonistic to religion and demonstrates the enduring value of Augustine's journey for those struggling with theistic incredulity and religious narcissism. Paul Rigby draws on current Augustinian scholarship and the works of Paul Ricœur to cross-examine Augustine's testimony. This analysis reveals the sophistication of Augustine's confessional text, which anticipates the analytical mindset of his critics. Augustine presents a coherent, defensible response to three age-old problems: free will and grace; goodness, innocent suffering, and radical evil; and freedom and predestination. The Theology of Augustine's Confessions moves beyond commentary and allows present-day readers to understand the Confessions as its original readers experienced it, bridging the divide introduced by Kant, Hegel, Freud, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and their descendants.

The Confessions
The Confessions

Author: Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.)

Publisher: Ignatius Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 549

ISBN-13: 1586176838

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The Confessions of Saint Augustine is considered one of the greatest Christian classics of all time. It is an extended poetic, passionate, intimate prayer that Augustine wrote as an autobiography sometime after his conversion, to confess his sins and proclaim God's goodness. Just as his first hearers were captivated by his powerful conversion story, so also have many millions been over the following sixteen centuries. His experience of God speaks to us across time with little need of transpositions. This acclaimed new translation by Sister Maria Boulding, O.S.B., masterfully captures his experience, and is written in an elegant and flowing style. Her beautiful contemporary translation of the ancient Confessions makes the classic work more accessible to modern readers. Her translation combines the linguistic accuracy demanded by 4th-century Latin with the poetic power aimed at by Augustine, not as discernable in previous translations.

Writings of Augustine (Annotated)
Writings of Augustine (Annotated)

Author: Keith Beasley-Topliffe

Publisher: Upper Room Books

Published: 2017-04-01

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 0835816702

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With: Historical commentary Biographical info Appendix with further readings For nearly 2,000 years, Christian mystics, martyrs, and sages have documented their search for the divine. Their writings have bestowed boundless wisdom upon subsequent generations. But they have also burdened many spiritual seekers. The sheer volume of available material creates a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Enter the Upper Room Spiritual Classics series, a collection of authoritative texts on Christian spirituality curated for the everyday reader. Designed to introduce 15 spiritual giants and the range of their works, these volumes are a first-rate resource for beginner and expert alike. Writings of Augustine compiles some of the most profound and moving writings of the 4th-century African Christian who had a vast influence on the Christian church and Western culture. Included are excerpts from Augustine's Confessions and other writings.

Augustine's Confessions and Contemporary Concerns
Augustine's Confessions and Contemporary Concerns

Author: Meconi Sj David Vincent

Publisher: Saint Paul Seminary Press

Published: 2022-03-25

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9781953936059

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Augustine's Confessions and Contemporary Concerns takes each of the thirteen books of Augustine's classic omnibiography to see how the major themes contained therein still speak to each of us today. The Bishop of Hippo never intended that the audience for his work be limited to himself and his contemporaries. He wrote on the perennial themes of childhood, humanity's search for meaning, the relationship between religion and science, and the nature of Christian conversion, as well as the philosophical implications of time, embodiment, of reading rightly, and many other longings that will always be found in the restless heart.Accordingly, scholars expert in Augustine came together to ask what each book of his Confessions offer for the modern mind. This commentary on the Confessions opens with John Martens on infancy and human growth (Book 1), David Vincent Meconi, SJ, on sin as self-sabotage (Book 2), Jeffrey Lehman on Augustine's understanding of presence and love (Book 3), Augustine's aesthetics as explained by Erika Kidd (Book 4), Christopher J. Thompson on the importance of identity and inclusivity (Book 5), and the Dominican Andrew Hofer on Augustinian anxiety (Book 6), before Gerald Boersma explains the limits of vision when trying to "see" God (Book 7). Paul Ruff appears next as he discusses the nature of conversion and the transformational journey to one's truest self (Book 8), while John Peter Kenney explains what Augustine means by Christian Transcendentalism (Book 9). Hilary Finley illuminates the importance and meaning of Augustine's stress on memory and individualism (Book 10), followed by Veronica Roberts Ogle on the nature of time (Book 11), and Margaret Blume Freddoso on contemplation and prayer (Book 12), concluding with Joseph Grone on Augustine's understanding of the Church Christ founded (Book 13). These essays will shed insight on Augustine's master work, proving useful to readers of all levels, to those interested in both patristic theology as well as in contemporary questions of meaning.

Augustine's Confessions
Augustine's Confessions

Author: William E. Mann

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0199577552

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Eight new essays examine key philosophical issues raised by Augustine in his 'Confessions' - a masterpiece of world literature. They explore a range of topics including what constitutes the happy or blessed life, the role of philosophical perplexity in the search for truth, and the problems that arise in the attempt to understand minds.

Augustine and Psychology
Augustine and Psychology

Author: Sandra Dixon

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2012-12-21

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 0739179195

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The essays here show the interface and relevance of psychology to theology (and vice versa), and they do so in a way that will be useful to upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level courses in religious studies. The collection is also useful for presenting classic essays as well as new essays appearing here for the first time.

Freud and Augustine in Dialogue
Freud and Augustine in Dialogue

Author: William B. Parsons

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2013-11-15

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 081393480X

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"It is arguably the case," writes William Parsons, "that no two figures have had more influence on the course of Western introspective thought than Freud and Augustine." Yet it is commonly assumed that Freud and Augustine would have nothing to say to each other with regard to spirituality or mysticism, given the former's alleged antipathy to religion and the latter's not usually being considered a mystic. Adopting an interdisciplinary, dialogical, and transformational framework for interpreting Augustine's spiritual journey in his Confessions, Parsons places a "mystical theology" at the heart of Augustine's narrative and argues that his mysticism has been misunderstood partly because of the limited nature of the psychological models applied to it. At the same time, he expands Freud's therapeutic legacy to incorporate the contemporary findings of physiology and neuroscience that have been influenced in part by modern spirituality. Parsons develops a new psychological hermeneutic to account for Augustine's mysticism that will capture the imagination of contemporary readers who are both psychologically informed and interested in spirituality. The author intends this interpretive model not only to engage modern introspective concerns about developmental conflict and the power of the unconscious but also to reach a more nuanced level of insight into the origins and the nature of the self.