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Rating:  - Atonement
Augustine was known for his writing. He was a tireless seeker. His favorite part of the OT was Psalms. Numidia was part of the Roman Empire. In the region there were theological wars and barbarians. It was Rome's granary. Rome had been Christian since 313. Augustine was born in 354. His family spoke Latin, his father being a minor functionary of the empire. His mother, Monnica, was a Chrisitian, possibly a Donatist. Augustine loved Virgil. He refused to learn Greek and hated the flogging that went on in the educational system. He was converted to philosophy by reading Cicero. He loved Cicero's urbane tone. He moved on to follow Manicheism, a Chrisitian heresy. It gave him new categories of explaining himself. At the time it seemed to deal with his internal contradictions.
At Carthage, 376-383, Augustine was a teacher and a Manichean star. A famous Manichean, Faustus, came to Carthage, but he could not answer Augustine's questions satisfactorily. Augustine set off for Rome, being terrified of the sea voyage. Society in Rome was superficial. The center of the empire was now located at Milan. Ambrose, Bishop at Milan, had broken three emperors. In Milan Augustine moved to a higher social level. On the day of Augustine's conversion he was reading Paul. He was introduced to the flourishing Neoplatonism in Milan. Augustine was becoming a Christian ascetic. He wanted to make a clean break with his past. It was a Mediterranean phenomenon to embrace strict renunciation in pursuit of reason.
Augustine had an intellectual need for the interplay of minds. At Hippo, preaching, Augustine was still interacting with others, still in dialogue, still teaching. He shaped his sermons to congregational concerns. He took pride in his virtuosity as a preacher. Augustine knew sympathy in teaching and the ministry was important.
Donatists and Catholics feuded. Augustine's attempt at mediation was rejected. Donatists, like New England Puritans, had a low tolerance for human sinfulness. Augustine used the Matthew text to show a church of saints and sinners not be sundered until the final judgment. Augustine did not believe in justifiable falsehood. In 397 Augustine had been a bishop for two years and a priest for six years when he began THE TESTIMONY. The notion of the will in many philosophical doctrines, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche included, started with Augustine's writings. The Visigoth, Alaric, captured Rome in 410. He was a Christian, an Arian, but the Roman world was shocked. The disorientation produced by the capture of Rome caused Augustine to produce THE CITY OF GOD. There is an existential realism to the Augustinian analysis. Fifteen years were spent writing THE CITY OF GOD. Augustine's reputation for sexual pessimism derives from his emphasis on will. In the end Augustine was comforted by a chosen band of brothers in his monastery. Later, in solitude, he atoned for his sins.
Rating:  - Uneven, but on balance worth the effort
I agree with many of the previous reviewers who suggest this might be a brief book, but is not an ideal introduction to Augustine. I have a UK copy which is not part of a brief lives series, so I started under a misapprehension (although I have some limited knowledge of Augustine's theology). I also agree with other reviewers who found Wills writing a little uninspiring in places. But on the whole I'm very pleased I stuck with the book, as it included some points I found fascinating.
In the introduction, Wills covers why the translation of "confessiones" as testimony is more accurate and corrects some of the conjecture surrounding Augustine's sexual excesses. The explanation of why Adam commits the original sin is interesting: he committed it to maintain his bond with Eve; the real sin is the quest for love by moving away from the source of love. I also liked the treatment of Augustine's "existential realism" where Augustine in his views on society gives primacy to the will not the intellect and to love, not theories of justice thereby allowing for the irrational side of human nature.
Some of the biographical details are also quite good: Augustine's Manichean days and his later tussle with the Donatists who were the terrorists of the day.
This book fell below my expectations as I was looking for an introduction which gave me a good grounding in Augustine's theology. The writing was very uneven which made it quite an effort to get through and although there were some interesting topics touched on, the book by no means gives a comprehensive overview. On balance, it was worth the effort for some illuminating insights.
Rating:  - A good stepping stone
This is a very good book for someone who has a basic understanding of Saint Augustine's philosophy and wants to gain a better understanding of his times and how this influenced his development before embarking on further study.
Rating:  - The philosophy of St. Augustine.
St. Augustine's life was that of a writer on the relationship between God and his people. Much of the material he has written forms the backbone of the Christian religions. He is an important person in Western civilization. This book by Garry Wills is supposed to tell Augustine's biography. Instead Wills spends countless pages on philosophical arguments and one does not get a good view of this man nor the times he lived in.
A previous reviewer commented that one should read the writings of St. Augustine himself, rather than try to fathom what he stood for in the Wills book. I agree with this assessment.
I don't really care for Wills' politics and after this book not alot for his writing. This was a difficult book for me to get through. Even though it is short, the writing style has a lot to be desired. Perhaps Wills intended this book for his students at Northwestern. A real disappointing read!
Rating: - A Fresh Look at a Controversial Figure of Christianity
This short biography of Saint Augustine is written in an unbiased, readable style by a respected author. Covering the main events of St. Augustine's life from his adolescent years to his death, the author presents Augustine in a well respected manner. His analysis of Augustine's writings from a chronological standpoint sheds light of many of the misconceptions or debates surrounding St. Augustine's life and teachings. The author allows Augustine to basically "grow up" while still allowing him the frivolous excursions of youth and early adult formative years when most people are figuring out who they really are. People can and do change, and this author recognizes and accepts this notion. For this reason, if nothing else this text is worthy of perusal. The book's brevity does leave the reader with a sense that something is missing and hence the lower rating. As many writings as Augustine produced and as complex as his teachings are, the concise nature of this book does a respectable job. For those on the go or if looking for a nice gift, this book will not disappoint with its brevity and attractive cover.
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