Confessions 7.9: What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?

Abstract

In Book VII of his Confessions Augustine argues (with Origen and against Tertullian) that there is a congruence between Christianity and classical culture that provides ground for a synthesis, though not without tension and struggle. The Confessions is such an important document because it is a record of the process as well as the results of the struggle between Athens and Jerusalem. Augustine here models an illuminating approach to the multicultural tensions of today.