Book contents
- Augustine’s ‘Confessions’
- Augustine’s ‘Confessions’
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Theological Predecessors to the Confessions of Augustine
- Chapter 2 Trinitarian Metaphysics in the Confessions
- Chapter 3 Augustine’s Therapy of Emotions
- Chapter 4 Augustine’s Confessions and Earlier Exegesis
- Chapter 5 Reading Augustine Reading Scripture in the Confessions
- Chapter 6 Augustine on the Tasks of Reading Scripture
- Chapter 7 The Sacramental Structure and Imagination of Augustine’s Confessions
- Chapter 8 How Great a Debtor
- Chapter 9 Augustine’s Second-Personal Account of the Virtues
- Chapter 10 The Nobility of Sight in the Confessions
- Chapter 11 First Words
- Chapter 12 Augustine on Time, Eternity, and Temporal Experience
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 6 - Augustine on the Tasks of Reading Scripture
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 December 2025
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Book contents
- Augustine’s ‘Confessions’
- Augustine’s ‘Confessions’
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Theological Predecessors to the Confessions of Augustine
- Chapter 2 Trinitarian Metaphysics in the Confessions
- Chapter 3 Augustine’s Therapy of Emotions
- Chapter 4 Augustine’s Confessions and Earlier Exegesis
- Chapter 5 Reading Augustine Reading Scripture in the Confessions
- Chapter 6 Augustine on the Tasks of Reading Scripture
- Chapter 7 The Sacramental Structure and Imagination of Augustine’s Confessions
- Chapter 8 How Great a Debtor
- Chapter 9 Augustine’s Second-Personal Account of the Virtues
- Chapter 10 The Nobility of Sight in the Confessions
- Chapter 11 First Words
- Chapter 12 Augustine on Time, Eternity, and Temporal Experience
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter lays out two key tasks in reading Scripture that Augustine identifies in the Confessions, and especially in his exegesis of Genesis: “the task of grasping meaning” and “the task of grasping truth.” The first task is that of discerning authorial intention; the second is that of “seeing for oneself that what the author is saying is in fact the case.” The task of grasping meaning is difficult in part because of the peculiar character of the Scriptures; they are both accessible to all, using ordinary language (which is open to misinterpretation), and yet full of profundities that only the wisest readers can come to appreciate. It is also difficult because we cannot really know what is in another person’s mind; any judgments about authorial intention are provisional at best, and only pride would claim to have identified the uniquely correct interpretation. The task of grasping truth is likewise difficult. When it comes to intelligible realities, Truth speaks inwardly, not through any text, even that of Scripture. When it comes to historical realities, including the central truths about the life of the Incarnate Word, we cannot have knowledge in the fullest sense.
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- Augustine's ‘Confessions'A Critical Guide, pp. 109 - 126Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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