Saint Augustine's Sin

Read an Excerpt

Introduction
Augustine + sin = 5 sex. That is the equation most people begin with when they first think of Augustine's Testimony. They are so obsessed with the idea that Augustine was obsessed with sex that they find it hard to read what he actually wrote about sin.

Adam's Sin
Just when, in The Testimony, Augustine has reached the age of sixteen and begun his active sexual life, he disappoints those who want the lurid details by devoting half of the book to a theft he and his fellow delinquents committed in a mangy orchard.

Adam's Sin, Part 2
Adam yielded to Eve in breaking God's law, not because he believed she was telling the truth, but out of a compulsion to solidarity [with her], as male to female, lone existing man to lone existing woman, human being to fellow human being, husband to wife

According to Pulitzer Prize winner Garry Wills, most readers of Augustine interpret his meditation on sin in the Confessiones as an indication of his obsession with sex. But as Wills suggests in his discussion of book two of Augustine's influential work, sexual transgression is not Augustine's main focus as he reflects on the nature of human sinfulness. Instead, Augustine seeks to understand man's power to transgress-how it is that good creatures can choose evil deeds. He describes his own shame after participating in a minor theft as a teenager and interprets this act-and all other acts of sin-in light of the three founding sins of the Bible: the fallen angels' rebellion, the temptation of Adam, and Cain's fratricide.

With a brilliant introduction and notes throughout, this is a rewarding interpretation of a seminal work translated with new vividness and authority.

Garry Wills is one of the most respected writers on religion today. He is the author of Saint Augustine's Childhood, Saint Augustine's Memory, and Saint Augustine's Sin, the first three volumes in this series, as well as the Penguin Lives biography Saint Augustine. His other books include "Negro President": Jefferson and the Slave Power, Why I Am a Catholic, Papal Sin, and Lincoln at Gettysburg, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

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