Saint Augustine

Analyzes Gary Wills’ biography of Saint Augustine and the idea that his confessions where in fact testimonies of his ideas on truth.

In Saint Augustine, Garry Wills provides a fascinating biography of this Saint. He shows that Augustine’s “confessions” do not necessarily have to be seen as “confessions” per se, but more as a kind of “testimony.” Indeed, Wills argues that the reality that is confessed does not have to be a moral truth. In other words, Augustine’s purpose was not so much to confess his misdeeds, but, according to Wills, to testify about what his heart held true.