Skip to main content
Orthodox Knowledge
Sign inSign up
A
← The Confessions

Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Gen. I.) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally, he makes an end of this work, having implored eternal rest from God

The Confessions · Saint Augustine of Hippo

  1. Main text
  2. He Calls Upon God, and Proposes to Himself to Worship Him.
  3. All Creatures Subsist from the Plenitude of Divine Goodness.
  4. Genesis I. 3,—Of ‘Light,’—He Understands as It is Seen in the Spiritual Creature
  5. All Things Have Been Created by the Grace of God, and are Not of Him as Standing in Need of Created Things.
  6. He Recognises the Trinity in the First Two Verses of Genesis.
  7. Why the Holy Ghost Should Have Been Mentioned After the Mention of Heaven and Earth.
  8. That the Holy Spirit Brings Us to God.
  9. That Nothing Whatever, Short of God, Can Yield to the Rational Creature a Happy Rest.
  10. Why the Holy Spirit Was Only ‘Borne Over’ The Waters.
  11. That Nothing Arose Save by the Gift of God.
  12. That the Symbols of the Trinity in Man, to Be, to Know, and to Will, are Never Thoroughly Examined.
  13. Allegorical Explanation of Genesis, Chap. I., Concerning the Origin of the Church and Its Worship.
  14. That the Renewal of Man is Not Completed in This World.
  15. That Out of the Children of the Night and of the Darkness, Children of the Light and of the Day are Made.
  16. Allegorical Explanation of the Firmament and Upper Works, Ver. 6.
  17. That No One But the Unchangeable Light Knows Himself.
  18. Allegorical Explanation of the Sea and the Fruit-Bearing Earth—Verses 9 and 11.
  19. Of the Lights and Stars of Heaven—Of Day and Night, Ver. 14.
  20. All Men Should Become Lights in the Firmament of Heaven.
  21. Concerning Reptiles and Flying Creatures (Ver. 20),—The Sacrament of Baptism Being Regarded.
  22. Concerning the Living Soul, Birds, and Fishes (Ver. 24)—The Sacrament of the Eucharist Being Regarded.
  23. He Explains the Divine Image (Ver. 26) of the Renewal of the Mind.
  24. That to Have Power Over All Things (Ver. 26) is to Judge Spiritually of All.
  25. Why God Has Blessed Men, Fishes, Flying Creatures, and Not Herbs and the Other Animals (Ver. 28).
  26. He Explains the Fruits of the Earth (Ver. 29) of Works of Mercy.
  27. In the Confessing of Benefits, Computation is Made Not as to The ‘Gift,’ But as to the ‘Fruit,’—That Is, the Good and Right Will of the Giver.
  28. Many are Ignorant as to This, and Ask for Miracles, Which are Signified Under the Names Of ‘Fishes’ And ‘Whales.’
  29. He Proceeds to the Last Verse, ‘All Things are Very Good,’—That Is, the Work Being Altogether Good.
  30. Although It is Said Eight Times that ‘God Saw that It Was Good,’ Yet Time Has No Relation to God and His Word.
  31. He Refutes the Opinions of the Manichæans and the Gnostics Concerning the Origin of the World.
  32. We Do Not See ‘That It Was Good’ But Through the Spirit of God Which is in Us.
  33. Of the Particular Works of God, More Especially of Man.
  34. The World Was Created by God Out of Nothing.
  35. He Briefly Repeats the Allegorical Interpretation of Genesis (Ch. I.), and Confesses that We See It by the Divine Spirit.
  36. He Prays God for that Peace of Rest Which Hath No Evening.
  37. The Seventh Day, Without Evening and Setting, the Image of Eternal Life and Rest in God.
  38. Of Rest in God Who Ever Worketh, and Yet is Ever at Rest.
  39. Of the Difference Between the Knowledge of God and of Men, and of the Repose Which is to Be Sought from God Only.