Confessions

In naming this work Confessions, Augustine extolled the act that is unquestionably the central force behind his text. The confessions that comprise Confessions come in a variety of forms, all serving Augustine’s overall purpose in confessing: to “give [God] glory” and “let the human soul rise” to God (76).

Most apparent is the common sense of the word as declaration of sin, and, at least on the surface, this sort of confession seems to be the most central as well. From the first moment of his narrative, when relating an infancy he cannot remember, he nevertheless confesses that he “cried greedily for those breasts” (19), asserting that babies only appear free from sin because they are too weak to do much harm. In sharing the rest of his life, which he does remember, Augustine sees sin everywhere, often dwelling extensively and unforgivingly on it, such as with the pear episode, in which he characterizes himself as “in love with my own ruin, […] for I was depraved in soul” (37), or with the onset of his lustful habits, which he describes as “a time […] when I was afire to take my fill of hell” (33).