THE CONFESSIONS，written between AD 397 and AD 398，outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity.It is widely seen as the First
Western autobiography ever written，and was an infiuential model for Christian writers throughout the following 1000 years of the Middle Ages.
In the work St.Augustine Wfites about how much he regrets having led a sinful and immoral life.He discusses his regrets for following the Manichaean religion and believing in astrology，He shows intense sorrow for his sexual sins，and writes on the importance of sexual morality.
古羅馬世界的圣師、哲人圣奧古斯r寫作r西方第一部自傳《懺悔錄》，其人其書既以自由意志、原罪、神恩等學(xué)說在羅馬教廷及東正教各民族影響至深至巨，同時因其結(jié)藻清英，流韻綺靡啟迪了后世無數(shù)的散文作家，與法國盧梭和俄國托爾斯泰的《懺悔錄》并稱“世界三大懺悔錄”，名列中西各國文學(xué)史的必讀書目。
圣奧古斯丁出生于北非的柏柏爾人家庭，早年習(xí)雄辯術(shù)，才華橫溢，生活放浪不拘。三十歲之后才皈依圣主，剴切地剖析、暴露、鞭撻早年的種種穢跡、惡德，一心向善。作者對母親莫妮卡及愛師安波羅修的追憶真切感人，一向?yàn)槿怂Q道；近世笛卡爾的“我思”亦由圣奧古斯丁發(fā)展而來，而11卷中的時間論清晰地勾勒出人與神的存在方式，這又是當(dāng)代哲學(xué)探討的一個中心問題。
AUGUSTINE of Hippo（354-430），also known as Augustine，St.Augustine，was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province.His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity.
Augustine was one of the most prolific Latin authors in terms of surviving works，and the list of his works consists of more than a hundred separate titles.Apart from those，Augustine is probably best known for his Confessions，which is a personal account of his earlier life，and for De civitate dei（Of the City of God，consisting of 22 books），which he wrote to restore the confidence of his fellow Christians，which was badly shaken by the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 4io.
BOOK I
BOOKII
BOOK III
BOOK IV
BOOK V
BOOK VI
BOOK VII
BOOK VIII
BOOKIX
BOOK X
BOOK XI
BOOK XII
BOOK XHI
Ignorant，in truth，that Thou art every where，Whom no place encompasseth!And Thou alone art near，even to those that remove far from Thee.Let them then be turned，and seek Thee;because not as they have forsaken their
Creator，hast Thou forsaken Thy creation.Let them be turned and seek Thee;and behold，Thou art there in their heart，in the heart of those that confess to Thee，and cast themselves upon
Thee，and weep in Thy bosom，after all their rugged ways.
Then dost Thou gently wipe away their tears，and they weep the more，and joy in weeping;even for that Thou，Lord，-not man of flesh and blood，but-Thou，Lord，who madest them re-makest and comfortest them.But where was I，when I was seeking Thee?
And Thou wert before me，but I had gone away from Thee;nor did I find myself，how much less Thee!
I would lay open before my God that nine-and-twentieth year of mine age.There had then come to Carthage a certain
Bishop of the Manicheans，F(xiàn)austus by name，a great snare of the Devil，and many were entangled by him through that lure of his smooth language：which though I did commend，yet could I separate from the truth of the things which I was earnest to learn：nor did I so much regard the service of oratory as the séance which this Faustus，so praised among them，set before me to feed upon.Fame had before bespoken him most knowing in all valuable learning，and exquisitely skilled in the liberal sciences.And since I had read and well remembered much of the philosophers，I compared some things of theirs with those long fables of the Maruchees，and found the former the more probable;even although they could only prevail so far as to make judgment of this lower world，the Lord of it they could by no means find out.
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