Augustine’s classic Confessions is an absolute joy to read; and it is a joy to
read because you read the words of a man who enjoys God and wants to glorify
him. To put it another way, the Confessions give as a human example of
what it is to be filled with God the Spirit.
No the book is not the
Bible. But it is a testimony to a man
who wants to think biblically about everything because he loves God Almighty.
Below is an excerpt from
Book I. ch.4. Taking what the Scriptures
says about God and squeezing into a summary form Augustine answers the
question, “What is God? Read it. It will encourage you, bless you, or perhaps motivate
you to learn more about the true God…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
What, then, art Thou, O my
God--what, I ask, but the Lord God? For who is Lord but the Lord? or who is God
save our God? Most high, most excellent, most potent (powerful), most
omnipotent; most piteous and most just; most hidden and most near; most
beauteous and most strong, stable, yet contained of none; unchangeable, yet
changing all things; never new, never old; making all things new, yet bringing
old age upon the proud and they know it not; always working, yet ever at rest;
gathering, yet needing nothing; sustaining, pervading, and protecting;
creating, nourishing, and developing; seeking, and yet possessing all things.
Thou lovest, and burnest not; art jealous, yet free from care; repentest, and
hast no sorrow; art angry, yet serene; changest Thy ways, leaving unchanged Thy
plans; recoverest what Thou findest, having yet never lost; art never in want,
whilst Thou rejoicest in gain; never covetous, though requiring usury. That
Thou mayest owe, more than enough is given to Thee; yet who hath anything that
is not Thine? Thou payest debts while owing nothing; and when Thou forgivest
debts, losest nothing. Yet, O my God, my life, my holy joy, what is this that I
have said?” Confessions Book I. ch.4
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