Shannon Costello

When Alaric sacked Rome in 410, it was the first time in 800 years or so that an enemy had been so successful against Rome. An explanation that seemed fitting to some was that Rome fell because many citizens had abandoned their pagan gods and embraced Christianity.

Enter Aurelius Augustinus, better known as Saint Augustine. Born on November 13, 354, he was an adult convert to Christianity. He is best known for Confessions, his account of his personal spiritual journey, and The City of God, a work that aimed to refute the accusations against Christians.

I possess is an English translation of the latter work with an introduction by Thomas Merton, who warns would-be readers that this book is not for the casual reader. He is right. The book is dense, full of long sentences that I must read and re-read before their meaning comes clear. Not what I would call a readable modern translation. On the other hand, there is an awful lot of interesting stuff packed into such sentences.

Augustine has been mentioned at least once in each of my last two Spanish classes. This book is considered to be “[o]ne of the great [867 pages split into 22 books] cornerstones in the history of Christian philosophy…the origin of most Western thought.” It seems worth reading.

I am better at starting things than finishing them. I thought that posting some of my thoughts here would help me to better internalize what I am reading as well as motivate me to finish reading. And, hey, it took Augustine 13 years to finish writing the book…