Australian eJournal of Theology 22.1 (April, 2015) Book Review / Hearing Augustine’s Confessions Hearing Augustine's Confessions Simon Vance, William R. Cook and Ronald B. Herzman The Confessions of Saint Augustine Unabridged Audio CD read by Simon Vance 10 CDs - approximately 12 hours and 45 minutes Hovel Audio @ www.hovelaudio.com an imprint of www.christianaudio.com St. Augustine's Confessions William R. Cook and Ronald B. Herzman 24 lectures each lasting 30 minutes DVD or CD—or Digital Streaming to a laptop, tablet or smartphone www.thegreatcourses.com.au is honesty is compelling. His illustrations are timeless. And his translators are inspired. They include Pusey (1838), Chadwick (1991), and Outler (2002), all of whom have honoured his beautiful and straightforward prose. He wrote with passion. About his early life, his sexual energy, his renunciation of secular ambition and marriage. And also about theology. And his questions resonate with many of our concerns. How should parents raise their children? How should schools educate their pupils? What is true friendship? And time? And why are many things that are forbidden so attractive? And what is the nature of evil? But, most of all, what is God like? As well as writing with passion, Augustine digs deeply into what he writes about. And he often refers or alludes to people and customs that aren't familiar to most of us. This is why we need people like William Cook and Ronald Herzman to guide us through his intellectual and social background. They are Distinguished Teaching Professors at the State University of New York (SUNY). And the 24 lectures—each of which lasts for 30 minutes—confirm their ability as teachers. They cover all 13 Books of the Confessions. But they also relate Augustine to this book, as well as to almost everything else he wrote. Most importantly, they locate him in the intellectual world of classical antiquity; a world in which he was thoroughly at home and which created many of the problems he had with the teaching of the Church. Finally, they outline the impact the Confessions have had through the ages, including our own. It is difficult to fault either Simon Vance's narration or the 24 lectures by William Cook and Ronald Herzman. Used together, they are an excellent way of deepening one's spiritual and theological understanding of Saint Augustine. Reviewer: James Moulder is a retired business school academic and a student at Catholic Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Email: [email protected] 56