The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's 'Confessions' Cambridge Companions to Religion Series

This Cambridge Companion serves as an authoritative guide to Augustine's Confessions - a literary classic and one of the most important theological/philosophical works of Late Antiquity. Bringing together new essays by leading scholars, the volume first examines the composition of the text, including its structure, genre, and intended audience. Subsequent essays explore a range of themes and concepts, such as God, creation, sin, grace, happiness, and interiority, among others. The final section of the Companion deals with its historical relevance. It provides sample essays on the reception history of the Confessions. These essays demonstrate how each generation reads the Confessions in light of current questions and circumstances, and how the text continues to remain relevant and raise new questions.

Introduction: what is The Cambridge Companion to Augustine's 'Confessions'? Tarmo Toom; Part I. Circumstances of Composition: 1. Title, time, and circumstances of composition Carolyn Hammond; 2. Genre and structure of the Confessions Annemaré Kotzé; 3. Anticipated readers Jason BeDuhn; Part II. Main Themes and Topics: 4. Aversion and conversion Marie-Anne Vannier; 5. Creation and recreation Matthew Drever; 6. Sin and concupiscence Johannes van Oort; 7. Grace Volker Henning Drecoll; 8. God Paul van Geest; 9. Happiness and friendship Anne-Isabelle Bouton-Touboulic; 10. Love, will, and the intellectual ascents Sarah Byers; 11. Memory, time, and eternity Lenka Karfiková; 12. Philosophy Giovanni Catapano; 13. Pride and humility Notker Baumann; 13. Soul, self, and interiority Phillip Cary; Part III. Reception and Reading Strategies: 14. Manuscript transmission, critical editions, and English translations Gert Partoens; 15. Reception in the Middle Ages Eric Leland Saak; 16. Reception in the period of reformations Katrin Ettenhuber; 17. Reception during the enlightenment Patrick Riley; 18. Reading (in) the Confessions Mark Vessey.

Tarmo Toom is Associate Professor of Historical Theology at the John Leland Center for Theological Studies and Professorial Lecturer at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Among other publications, he has edited Patristic Theories of Biblical Interpretation and Augustine in Context (Cambridge, 2016), as well as sections of The Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity.