Parabolic Events in Augustine's Autobiography

Abstract

“Augustine was middle-aged when he wrote the Confessions. While memoirs, usually written in old age, address the question, ‘What has become of me?,’ autobiography, usually written in mid-career, asks the question, ‘What is becoming of me?’… Why does Augustine reproach himself so severely? … While Adam sought to hide his shame from God, Augustine dares to reveal his shame through his Confessions because he perceives that, through such self-disclosure, God will appear to him.”