Book Review: Confessions of Saint Augustine of Hippo
Confessions by Saint Augustine is a well-known work that has been translated into various languages. I was happy when I was able to finally read this work from a great Church Father.
About the author
Much could be said about Saint Augustine. He was born in the year 354 in North Africa. His mother is Saint Monica and his father was an unbeliever. Augustine was raised in the faith but he was not baptized as a child. He left the faith in his adolescent years, much to his mother’s dismay. In the search for truth, Augustine ended up in the Manicheans, which was a dualistic belief system. Through a series of events, Augustine ended up in Rome and became enamored with Saint Ambrose who took Augustine under his wing. With time, Saint Augustine converted into the Catholic faith in his early thirties, an answer to Saint Monica’s countless prayers. Augustine became a member of the clergy rising to the position of bishop. He died in the year 430.
About the book
Confessions is an autobiography originally written in Latin. Due to this, there are various translations. My copy, available here, was translated by Dr. Anthony Esolen and published by TAN Books in 2023. The translator sought to “retain and reveal the figurative by hewing as closely as possible to the literal.”1 He did this in both the individual words and the manner of Augustine’s expression. The book is 377 pages and separated into thirteen books, each with its own chapters. Some of the chapters are a paragraph with others stretching across multiple pages.
Summary of the book
While Confessions is an autobiography detailing Augustine’s life, he starts off with a philosophical view on God. Augustine starts his biography by considering his life as an infant and takes us on a journey through his conversion and beyond. Saint Augustine expresses the interworking of his thoughts about God by detailing those thoughts in these pages, helping the reader to see God in ways that are difficult to articulate.
My review
Being 377 pages, I assumed I would read Confessions within a month or so, but the depth of the writing showed me that it was necessary to take my time to internalize Augustine’s words. I cannot say exactly how long it took me to read, but it was probably a few months. It was amazing to read such insightful words from a Church Father while learning more about him. I haven’t read any other translations, but the translator seems to have done a good job accomplishing that which he set out to do. Dr. Esolen placed footnotes throughout the book to add context to many of Augustine’s words so the reader can understand the references and allusions that Augustine made.
Saint Augustine wove scripture quotes and references throughout Confessions which helped me to see the beautiful way that Scripture can work with theology and philosophy to discuss what the universe is and what a human being is. It has also helped to answer some of my own questions about God while seeing God in a beautiful new light that illuminates the mind. There were certain red flags that popped up for me, mainly at the beginning when Augustine wrote about infancy. It is important to remember that Saint Augustine did end up writing amendments for various works, meaning he understood he made certain mistakes and was indeed fallible. I could see an influence from the Manichean’s in Augustine’s writing because his focus was primarily on their heretical thoughts, much like myself who has a focus on secularism and atheism.
I highly recommend Confessions for people to read. This is a very spiritual work that takes time but is well worth it. Augustine’s writing forces us to take time and ponder his words to internalize the deep concepts that he is trying to articulate, and this can be a very welcome thing in our busy lives. This book is a very great resource for anyone seeking to grow closer to God. I also recommend it for anyone interested in converting so they may better understand God. Through Confessions, we can relate with Saint Augustine who said to God, “my heart is restless until it rests in You.”
References
n.d. “Confessions.” TAN Books. Accessed January 12, 2026. https://tanbooks.com/products/books/confessions/.
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