Augustine: A Guide for the Perplexed

A student's guide to the life and work of Augustine, widely read in Philosophy and Christian Theology, but a notoriously challenging thinker.Western theology and philosophy without Augustine is almost inconceivable. He turned Pauline eschatology into a psychology of redemption and bequeathed to the Christianity of his day its profoundest sense of the adventure of soul. His offerings to philosophy included a staggeringly important but highly problematic conception of will, a new kind of introspection, and a sense of providential order that seemed paradoxically to demand a secular politics."Augustine: A Guide for the Perplexed" takes up the major concerns of Augustine's complex and evolving thought and accords them a form that allows readers to think with Augustine as well as about him. Aimed at students whose prior acquaintance with Augustine may be minimal or nonexistent, this book follows a guiding thread or two through the labyrinth of his polemical, exegetical, dogmatic and speculative writings. This is the ideal companion to the study of this most influential and challenging of thinkers." Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

James Wetzel is Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University, USA and holder of the Augustinian Endowed Chair in the Thought of Saint Augustine.