The Confessions Begin
This is the title Augustine (354–430) gave to the book: Confessions. No one had ever written such a book before. The first half of it is going to be the story of his life up to his baptism which occurred, at age 33, when he finally became a Christian. It is not a story simply told: it is him writing to God about all this. He writes to God while letting us overhear what he has to say.
He starts with God, speaking to God about God, confessing that You are great, Lord, and highly to be praised. God is great and worthy to be praised (among other reasons) for making everything that exists. “Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you.” That we desire to praise God is the first thing to say about us.
Yet right here, in the most basic thing about us humans, there is a problem. Do we need to know God before we can praise him? If we don’t know God, then we might make a mistake and call upon, and praise, the wrong thing. But how are we going to know God? God isn’t a thing in the world that we can pick up and handle. In fact, it seems the only way a person can begin to know God is through praising him. Yet praising him requires that we already have faith in him!What a mess we are in! We need to know God in order to praise him (and not something else); but we can’t know him without first praising him. All this Augustine puts in his first few sentences. But then he releases the tension by saying that it just is the case that he longs to praise God and that God has given him faith. He summarizes the point with a very short sentence, a famous sentence, a sentence that encapsulates a fundamental truth about all of us human beings: Our hearts are restless till they rest in thee.
The rest of the Confessions shows forth the truth of that sentence. And, dear reader, our entire life shows it forth also. You and I, we have restless hearts, and the only place our hearts will find their true rest is in God himself.
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Out & About: This Sunday, October 5, I am to preach at St. James’ Church in Texarkana at the 8 and 10 a.m. services. I will also speak between the services on caregiving. If you live in the area, it would be great to meet you.
On Sunday, October 19, I am to preach at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Dallas, at 9 and 11:15 a.m., and at 10:20 or so, I will speak about Books I & II of Augustine’s Confessions (see below).
At 5 p.m. (also on Oct. 19) the Good Books & Good Talk seminar meets to discuss Anthony Trollope’s Dr. Wortle’s School. This is a late treasure from 1891, a short book with a secret (revealed very early in the book) about possible bigamy, the cruelty of society, and the importance of matrimony. It also has many small delights of wit and ironic observation. One thinks that Trollope is the sort of author that only a culture thick with the Prayer Book could produce. Give yourself the pleasure of relishing Trollope.
The Confessions of Saint Augustine. This book, after the Bible, is likely the most-read book in all of Christian history. Written about A.D. 390, it is a book that, until about a century ago, every educated person would have read it. It's not too late! I will be giving talks on the Confessions this fall, in Dallas, at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Sunday, October 19, at 10:20 (on Books I & II). You are welcome to come whether you have read the chapters or not.
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On the Web. The fifth “Pro Ecclesia” podcast is now online, with Lutheran professor David Luy as the guest. There is also a link to the lecture he gave at the last Pro Ecclesia conference. If you have an interest in theology and the church, this will be good food to chew on. https://www.pro-ecclesia.org/podcast/season1/episode5?mc_cid=b637eea72c&mc_eid=b1cd8293b9