What You'll Learn:
There are few books in Western literature that have been as influential or frequently referenced as Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions. This work meanders between biography, prayer, and theological and philosophical reflection.
Key Insights:
- In some ways, we remain infants all our lives.
- Augustine rebelled in every way he knew before considering God.
- Rational arguments and dissatisfaction with his selfishness pushed Augustine toward faith, but it took surrender for him to gain victory over vices.
- Augustine was hungrily hunting for God well before he realized that was what his heart was chasing.
- Evil doesn’t have its own existence—it parasitically feeds on what does exist, making good things less than what they were created to be.
- Hiding your sins doesn’t hide you from God—it hides God from you.