The Confessions of St. Augustine has stood for centuries as one of the foremost spiritual, philosophical, and theological texts in Western literature. Considered by many to be the first memoir, it shows a level of self-awareness that was previously unknown in the ancient world, and thus is seen as a bridge between antiquity and modernity.
There’s no better time than Lent to revisit this classic text of honesty, remorse, and conversion.
In this four-week online course, Rev. Dr. Tony Jones and Dr. Edward Bradley will teach the Confessions, focusing primarily on the first nine books, which are Augustine’s memoir of his childhood and early adulthood, culminating with his dramatic conversion in Milan. Tony has previously published an annotated version of the Confessions, and Edward has taught the text dozens of times in his 43-year career as a professor of classics at Dartmouth College.
The 75-minute class will take place on Tuesdays at 1pm Eastern, but it can also be enjoyed asynchronously — the audio and video recordings will be provided to all registrants for viewing or listening any time. Register at the bottom of this page. This is a pay-what-you-wish course.
Your Instructors
Edward Bradley, Professor of Classics emeritus from Dartmouth College, completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Yale where he also taught for three years before joining the Dartmouth faculty in 1963. He retired in 2006. His principal scholarly interests and publications were in the Greek epic poets, Homer and Hesiod. His courses of instruction ranged broadly from the major Greek and Roman poets such as Homer, the Greek lyric poets, Lucretius, Virgil , and Ovid to early Christian writers like Ambrose, Paulinus of Nola, and Augustine of Hippo. Early Christian art and architecture are areas that he has studied closely and on which he has lectured extensively in situ in Italy to both Dartmouth undergraduates and to adults who have joined him on privately organized seminars.
Tony Jones holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College, an M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has written a dozen books, including Did God Kill Jesus? and You Converted Me, an annotated translation of the Confessions. He has taught undergrads and graduate students at several institutions, and has been on the doctoral faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary since 2011. Tony studied Latin, Roman history, art, and archaeology from Professor Bradley at Dartmouth, and together they have visited Rome and environs many times in the past three decades.
The Course
During Lent, on the Tuesdays below, the class will be livestreamed on Zoom. The video and audio recordings will also be available to all registrants later that same day.
Tuesday, March 15: Augustine's context, biography, Books I & II
Tuesday, March 22: Books III, IV, & V
Tuesday, March 29: Books VI, VII, & VIII
Tuesday, April 5: Book IX — plus thoughts on Books X - XIII and closing discussion
Students can use any translation of the Confessions that they wish. Tony will primarily be using the Chadwick translation, and Edward will be using the Sheed translation.
This is a pay-what-you-wish course. A course like this could cost hundreds of dollars. We are asking registrants to consider paying between $75 and $100 (or about $25 per class). But honestly, you can pay whatever you can afford.
Register using the form below, then pay what you wish using the PayPal button or Venmo link below. You can also mail a check if you would rather (email Tony for the mailing address).
The Zoom link for the livestream will be provided the day before the first class, and the archived recording links will be provided later the same day of each livestream. You will also be invited to join the private Facebook group for everyone in the course where we can discuss the readings. That link will be automatically emailed to you upon payment; please request to join the group and you will be added.
Sign Me Up!
After you register, please pay what you want with the button below.
Or by Venmo: @cruciblecreative