You Made Us for Yourself

<p>Augustines <b>Confessions </b>is probably the most commented-upon text of early Christianity. Yet there is a general consensus that this justly famous work is neither well composed nor structurally unified. <b>You Made Us for Yourself</b> aims to challenge this common notion by approaching the <b>Confessions </b>in light of what Augustine himself would have considered most fundamental: creation understood in a broad sense. Creation for Augustine is an epiphany a light that reveals who God is and who human beings are. It is not merely one doctrine or theme among others but is the foundational context that illumines all doctrines and all themes. Moreover creation for Augustine is dynamically ordered toward the church toward the deified destiny the body of Christ both is and brings about. Thus the <b>Confessions </b>itself can be understood as Augustines prayer of praise in thanksgiving for the unmerited gift of creation (and <b>re</b>-creation). It is his self-gift back to Goda kind of eucharistic offering intended to take up and bring about the same in his readers. Augustines rich understanding of creation then can account for the often despaired-of meaning structure and unity of the <b>Confessions</b>.</p>