ABSTRACT
In Confessions, Augustine has two main aims. First, he wanted to establish his authority as the new bishop of Hippo. Second, in addition to proving his authority, Confessions is a creative, theological work in which Augustine confesses his sins and praises God. Augustine’s account of the soul’s ascent to God in Confessions was a response to his Neoplatonic reading and to Scripture. Augustine’s use of Scripture, his description of the soul’s knowledge of God, and his concept of grace represent a shift away from the Christian Platonism of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who greatly influenced Augustine. One major difference between the two was that Augustine believed that God’s grace affected all aspects of human life. One achievement of Confessions is that, in bringing together so many different strands of Augustine’s own life, it illustrates many of the tensions of late fourth-century Latin theology.
