Augustine of Hippo

Literature & Philosophy354 – 430

Confessions, City of God

The bridge between antiquity and Christendom. The Confessions invented autobiography as a spiritual form; the City of God reframed history as a pilgrimage between two cities. His synthesis of Neoplatonism and Christian theology shaped Western thought for a millennium.

Key works

  • Confessions~400— The first great autobiography
  • City of God~426— History as sacred drama
  • On the Trinity~416— The psychological analogy

Connections

External