1. My Confessions, in thirteen books, praise the righteous and good God
as they speak either of my evil or good, and they are meant to excite men's
minds and affections toward him. At least as far as I am concerned, this is
what they did for me when they were being written and they still do this when
read. What some people think of them is their own affair [ipse
viderint];but I do know that they have given pleasure to many of my
brethren and still do so. The first through the tenth books were written about
myself; the other three about Holy Scripture, from what is written there, In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, (see note 2) even as far as the reference to the Sabbath rest. (see note 3)
2. In Book IV, when I confessed my soul's misery over the death of a friend and
said that our soul had somehow been made one out of two souls, "But it may have
been that I was afraid to die, lest he should then die wholly whom I had so
greatly loved" (Ch. VI, 11)--this now seems to be more a trivial declamation
than a serious confession, although this inept expression may be tempered
somewhat by the "may have been" [forte]which I added. And in
Book XIII what I said--"The firmament was made between the higher waters (and
superior) and the lower (and inferior) waters"--was said without sufficient
thought. In any case, the matter is very obscure.
This work begins thus: "Great art thou, O Lord."
II. De Dono Perseverantiae, XX, 53 (A.D. 428)
Which of my shorter works has been more widely known or given greater pleasure
than the [thirteen] books of my Confessions?And, although I
published them long before the Pelagian heresy had even begun to be, it is
plain that in them I said to my God, again and again, "Give what thou
commandest and command what thou wilt." When these words of mine were repeated
in Pelagius' presence at Rome by a certain brother of mine (an episcopal
colleague), he could not bear them and contradicted him so excitedly that they
nearly came to a quarrel. Now what, indeed, does God command, first and
foremost, except that we believe in him? This faith, therefore, he himself
gives; so that it is well said to him, "Give what thou commandest." Moreover,
in those same books, concerning my account of my conversion when God turned me
to that faith which I was laying waste with a very wretched and wild verbal
assault (see note 4) do you not remember how the narration shows that
I was given as a gift to the faithful and daily tears of my mother, who had
been promised that I should not perish? I certainly declared there that God by
his grace turns men's wills to the true faith when they are not only averse to
it, but actually adverse. As for the other ways in which I sought God's aid in
my growth in perseverance, you either know or can review them as you wish
(PL, 45, c. 1025).
III. Letter to Darius (A.D. 429)
Thus, my son, take the books of my Confessions and use them as a good
man should--not superficially, but as a Christian in Christian charity. Here
see me as I am and do not praise me for more than I am. Here believe nothing
else about me than my own testimony. Here observe what I have been in myself
and through myself. And if something in me pleases you, here praise Him with
me--him whom I desire to be praised on my account and not myself. "For it is he
that hath made us and not we ourselves." (see note 5) Indeed, we were
ourselves quite lost; but he who made us, remade us [sed qui fecit,
refecit]. As, then, you find me in these pages, pray for me that I shall
not fail but that I may go on to be perfected. Pray for me, my son, pray for
me! (Epist. CCXXXI, PL, 33, c. 1025).
