Autography and Universal History in Augustine's Confessions

The thirteen books of Augustine's Confessions are generally divided into three parts: book 1-9 are Augustine's autobiography about his sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity; book 10 is a meditation on memory and the cognitive powers of soul; book 11-13 are allegorical interpretations of Genesis. The unity of the three parts, however, is widely debated. This article, focusing on the structure of the first nine books and the allegories used throughout the work, outlines the inner consistence of the work. The first nine books serve as an illustration of redemption. Augustine, as is depicted in the memoir, is not only his historical self, but also a paradigm of everyone, who, having sinned in nature, will be saved by grace. The stories of all individuals constitute the universal history, which is paralleled by the allegorical interpretation of Genesis in book 11-13, and in both cases salvation means the return to the Origin. God is not an object external to the self in the world of creature, and it is the understanding of one's mind, the very topic of book 10, that paves one's way back to God.