Confessions Themes

For Augustine, there are way, way more than seven major sins. A good chunk of the Confessions is not only about sinning, but also about asking why we sin. Why does Augustine get a high from stealin...

There's no shortage of suffering in the Confessions, though it's mostly of the internal, soul-searching variety. But that doesn't stop Augustine from talking about his suffering as though he were b...

Who woulda thunk that talking about God would be hard? Hey, if it was so straightforward to convince people of complex theological concepts, then we wouldn't need an Augustine in the first place. W...

How do you define truth? As something that is true? As something that is not false? Truth has so many meanings in the Confessions that it's not even funny. It might even drive you a little bit insa...

Knowledge is to Augustine what cookies are to the Cookie Monster, except that knowledge doesn't give you love handles. Knowledge is the one thing Augustine cares about, even more than ambition, or...

…by which we mean moral weakness, as in, susceptibility to temptation. Augustine gets really self-deprecating in his Confessions when it comes to his own inability to "just say no." But as we kno...

Confessions is one sexy book. And by sexy, we mean guilt-ridden. See, our man Augustine likes him some love-makin'. And by some, we mean a lot. And since these are his confessions, after all, he do...

This pride isn't the kind that's in the name of love, unfortunately. Now, one seven deadly sin we can understand—but two? Well, if you're not going to confess your sins, then what are you going t...