ABSTRACT
About a century after Augustine’s Confessions was published, the sixth-century Roman philosopher Boethius* showed his appreciation for the work in his own literary masterpiece. Although Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae is different in form, content, and tone, Augustine’s Confessions was a major inspiration. Augustine continued to be influential during the early Enlightenment, a major Western cultural and intellectual movement from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries that produced revolutionary ideas about authority, reason, and individuality. Several schools of theological thought continue to challenge Confessions. For example, while Augustine emphasized the importance of the Church in theological understanding, Protestant theologians argue that the Holy Spirit is more important than the Church. Another example is Augustine’s account of faith and reason, which understands faith as seeking understanding. Analytic philosophers of religion tend sometimes to argue that Augustine’s account lacks common sense, since most people see faith and reason as directly opposed.
