Augustine’s Confessions is probably the most commented upon text of early Christianity. Yet, there is a general consensus that this justly famous work is neither well composed nor structurally unified. “You Made Us for Yourself” aims to challenge this common notion by approaching the Confessions in light of what Augustine himself would have considered most fundamental: creation, understood in a broad sense. Creation, for Augustine, is an epiphany, a light that reveals who God is and who human beings are. It is not merely one doctrine or theme among others, but is the foundational context which illumines all doctrines and all themes. Moreover, creation, for Augustine, is dynamically ordered toward the church, toward the deified destiny the body of Christ both is and brings about. Thus, the Confessions itself can be understood as Augustine’s prayer of praise in thanksgiving for the unmerited gift of creation (and re-creation). It is his self-gift back to God—a kind of eucharistic offering intended to take up and bring about the same in his readers. Augustine’s rich understanding of creation, then, can account for the often despaired of meaning, structure, and unity of the Confessions.

★ Publishers Weekly starred review One of the Top 100 Books and One of the 5 Best Books in Religion for 2019, Publishers Weekly Christianity Today 2020 Book Award Winner (Spiritual Formation) Outreach 2020 Resource of the Year (Spiritual Growth) Foreword INDIES 2019 Honorable Mention for Religion This is not a book about Saint Augustine. In a way, it's a book Augustine has written about each of us. Popular speaker and award-winning author James K. A. Smith has spent time on the road with Augustine, and he invites us to take this journey too, for this ancient African thinker knows far more about us than we might expect. Following Smith's successful You Are What You Love, this book shows how Augustine can be a pilgrim guide to a spirituality that meets the complicated world we live in. Augustine, says Smith, is the patron saint of restless hearts--a guide who has been there, asked our questions, and knows our frustrations and failed pursuits. Augustine spent a lifetime searching for his heart's true home and he can help us find our way. "What makes Augustine a guide worth considering," says Smith, "is that he knows where home is, where rest can be found, what peace feels like, even if it is sometimes ephemeral and elusive along the way." Addressing believers and skeptics alike, this book shows how Augustine's timeless wisdom speaks to the worries and struggles of contemporary life, covering topics such as ambition, sex, friendship, freedom, parenthood, and death. As Smith vividly and colorfully brings Augustine to life for 21st-century readers, he also offers a fresh articulation of Christianity that speaks to our deepest hungers, fears, and hopes.

Popular author and philosopher Peter Kreeft delves into one of the most beloved Christian classics of all time--Augustine's Confessions. He collects key passages and offers incisive commentary, making Confessions accessible to any reader who is both intellectually curious and spiritually hungry. The Confessions is a dramatic personal narrative of a soul choosing between eternal life and death, an exploration of the timeless questions great minds have been asking for millennia, and a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God. I Burned for Your Peace is not a scholarly work but an unpacking of the riches found in Augustine's text. It is existential, personal, and devotional, as well as warm, witty, and thought-provoking. With Kreeft to guide them, readers of the Confessions can overhear and understand the intimate conversation between a towering intellect and the God whose peace he at last humbly accepts.

The first collection of Saint Augustine's varied writings on human and divine love—chosen to reflect his lifelong preoccupation with ordo amoris, the principle of rightly directed love. "My weight is my love," Saint Augustine writes in The Confessions. He sees our ability to love as disordered by sin, so that we often choose badly what and how to love. Only by recognizing that we are commanded to love God first can any other object of our love be properly ordered, Late Have I Loved Thee draws on the riches found in Augustine's sermons, letters, treatises, and Scripture commentaries, as well as passages from The Confessions and City of God. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) was the most prolific writer of Christian antiquity and the most influential theologian in Church history. In his first encyclical, God Is Love, current Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges his indebtedness to him. When we read Augustine today, we encounter the same direct, eloquent passions his original listeners experienced, infused with his deep sense of human weakness and burning desire for union with God.

Though the Nicene Creed is regularly recited in weekly church services, few understand its historical origins and connections to Scripture and key Christian doctrines. This volume bridges the gap, providing an accessible introduction that explains how the Creed is anchored in the Bible and how it came to be written and confessed in the early history of the church. The authors show how the Creed reflects the purpose of God in salvation, especially in relation to Christians' divine adoption as sons and daughters, leading to glorification. Each chapter includes sidebars highlighting how the Creed has been received in the church's liturgy. Professors, students, clergy, and religious educators will benefit from this illuminating and edifying guide to the Nicene Creed.

An alphabetically-arranged compendium offering the wisdom of more than one hundred saints.

Have you ever said the wrong thing at the wrong time? Shaun has. Now his ex-wife, Lashelle, is missing and his best friend, Headache, is in a coma. Everything over the past seventy-two hours has traversed from a sanity state to full-blown chaos, and Shaun is at the root of it all. In his straightforward way, he composes a letter to Lashelle, explaining the sacrifices he had made during their marriage, including forsaking his illegitimate son. He closes his letter with hopes that Lashelle will one day get the opportunity to read it. Three days have passed and Lashelle is still missing. Shaun is frantic. She calls Yolanda, Kevyn's wife in an attempt to let someone know of her whereabouts while maintaining her secret from Shaun. After revealing the details of her argument with Shaun, she learns that Yolanda is having an affair with Kevyn's best friend, Headache; a man correctly nicknamed. Headache and Yolanda indulge in a "secret rendezvous" but are interrupted by a phone call from Tameika, Headache's wife. Guilt-ridden, Yolanda gestures for Headache to stop, but he continues, erupting with an orgasmic residue as the condom broke. Yolanda visits Shaun at the hospital, where he works, wanting to speak in private about what has happened, but not before a furious Lashelle reappears and catches them in a compromising situation. Caught up in the moment, Shaun forgets about Lashelle's disappearance, as he searches for an explanation for being behind a closed door with his friend's wife. Yolanda reveals that she was raped by Headache and that she wants to press charges. Headache has been gone for the majority of the day and has missed yet another opportunity to spend quality time with his wife Tameika and their son, Keshawn. Just as he returns home, he is summoned for a meeting with Shaun to discuss Yolanda's plan. Tameika, attempting to stress the importance of spending time with his family, becomes infuriated when Headache indicates that he is about to leave again. She asks for a divorce. Headache doesn't come home; Tameika assumes he is off on one of his usual excursions. However, she receives a visit from the Sheriff's department. Headache is in critical condition, a victim of a vehicular rollover. Emotionally torn, Tameika struggles with having to be supportive to a husband that she no longer loves. She calls upon his closest friends and family for support that she can no longer provide. While at the hospital, Tameika learns from Headache that he has had an affair with her best friend, Yolanda. A fight ensues and friends choose sides, severing the close network that once existed. The story ends with a twist as Shaun receives a letter from his illegitimate son. Bitter, his son dismisses the thought of a happy reunion between he and his father, exclaiming that Shaun need not be angered by his decision to not deal with him. He blames Shaun for making him the way that he is and vows not to be like his father, therefore repeating the vicious cycle that Shaun tried so hard to break.

The Psalms have long served a vital role in the individual and corporate lives of Christians. The church fathers employed the Psalms widely—as hymns, Scripture readings, counsel on morals, forms for prayer, and in the great doctrinal controversies. In this ACCS volume readers will find rich comment and theological reflection from more than sixty-five ancient authors.

A deeply researched mental abusebook from an award-winning journalist that uncovers the ways in which abusers exert control in the darkest—and most intimate—ways imaginable. A gripping and eye-opening exposé that courageously confronts the dangers society often turns a blind eye to. This groundbreaking book sheds light on the insidious nature of domestic abuse, challenging our preconceived notions and urging us to acknowledge the horrifying reality many victims face. In this compelling narrative, investigative journalist Jess Hill meticulously unravels the complexities of domestic abuse, examining the subtle nuances that perpetuate the cycle of violence. Drawing on extensive research, powerful real-life stories, and compelling statistics, Hill reveals the harrowing truths we collectively choose to ignore, explain away, or simply refuse to see. See What You Made Me Do is an indispensable resource that empowers readers to identify and dismantle the myths surrounding domestic abuse, challenging us all to take a stand against this pervasive social issue. By understanding the psychology of abuse and the mechanisms that enable its perpetuation, we can collectively work towards creating a safer and more compassionate society. Whether you're an advocate, survivor, or concerned citizen, this thought-provoking book serves as a catalyst for change, urging us to confront the uncomfortable truths about domestic abuse and inspire actionable steps towards a future free from violence.