Saint Augustine of Hippo: Selections from Confessions and Other Essential Writings—Annotated & Explained
The restless heart and searching mind of this influential early church father can offer spiritual and intellectual companionship for your spiritual journey.
Augustine of Hippo (354–430), theologian, priest, and bishop, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. He is known as much for his long interior struggle that ended with conversion and baptism at age thirty-two as for his influential teachings on human will, original sin and the theology of just war. Cherished as a model for the pursuit of a life of spiritual grace and criticized for his theory of predestination, Augustine is recognized as a living expression of the passion to understand and communicate the deeper meanings of human experience.
With fresh translations drawn from Augustine's voluminous writings and probing facing-page commentary, Augustinian scholar Joseph T. Kelley, PhD, provides insight into the mind and heart of this foundational Christian figure. Kelley illustrates how Augustine’s keen intellect, rhetorical skill and passionate faith reshaped the theological language and dogmatic debates of early Christianity. He explores the stormy religious arguments and political upheavals of the fifth century, Augustine’s controversial teachings on predestination, sexuality and marriage, and the deep undercurrents of Augustine’s spiritual quest that still inspire Christians today.
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Book details
- Author
- Joseph Kelley
- Imprint
- SkyLight Paths, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Formats
- Paperback, Hardcover
- Subjects
- Religion › Christianity
Religion › Christian Theology - Topics
- Christian theology · church history · spiritual journey · predestination · original sin · early Christianity · annotated writings
- ISBN-13
- 9781594732829 (Paperback)9781683362777 (Hardcover)
About the author
JOSEPH T. KELLEY is Professor Emeritus of Religious and Theological Studies at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, where he also served as provost and as founding Director of the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations.
Kelley earned his PhD at Boston University and also studied at Andover-Newton Theological School, The Catholic University of America, and Villanova University. He is founder of the Center for Augustinian Study and Legacy and serves on the board of the Augustinian Heritage Institute in Villanova, Pennsylvania, overseeing a new English translation series of the complete works of Saint Augustine by New City Press.
When not writing, Kelley works as a clinical psychologist and classical musician. Both pursuits inform his scholarly articles in theology and Augustine Studies.