This volume comprises ten studies on the Confessions, offering a panorama of Van Oort’s research, particularly from the last fifteen years. The individual chapters were previously published as journal articles or book chapters at an earlier stage of development. As might be expected given the author’s main areas of research, the focus is on Augustine’s Manichaean background. The discovery of Manichaean texts makes it possible to re-read Augustine in the light of this religious movement. For at least ten years, the church Father was an auditor (‘hearer’) of this Christian sect, which was widespread across large parts of the world known at the time. This variant of Gnosticism exerted a profound influence on the young man from North Africa, as the Confessions testify. In contrast to most other researchers who exclusively illuminate the Catholic-Christian or pagan-philosophical background, Van Oort succeeds in working out numerous insights into content and characterisation by establishing connections to the Manichaean world of ideas. Van Oort argues that the influence of Manichaeism on Augustine’s intellectual development may have been even more lasting than that of Neoplatonism, although the author from Thagaste rarely acknowledges this. The Confessions reveal Augustine’s deep familiarity with the teachings of Mani. This influence is evident in his adoption of views and expressions of the Manichaeans, but more frequently in his opposition to their doctrine.

This review summarises the knowledge gained from the ten studies. They are arranged according to the textual chronology of the writer’s masterwork. In doing so, the patristics scholar provides new insights into the narrative of the Confessions that have not been achieved before. Chapter i examines Augustine’s earlier Gnostic-Christian spirituality and his newly adopted Catholic-Christian spirituality. Van Oort links metaphors from the realm of dining with the sacred meal of the Manichaeans, which the auditores served to the advanced electi (‘chosen ones’) (for example, the Confessions as an offering or sacrifice to God; figs as divine fruit). Initially, the protagonist seeks God, who is understood as a light substance, using his physical senses. This is contrasted with a spiritual concept, which he eventually arrives at. The confrontation is partly explicit and partly implicit in subtle allusions. It becomes clear that the two ideas interact with each other in a discourse. While the Manichaean view of God’s perceptibility through the five senses is negated, its spiritualised application to the inner self is integrated into the Catholic worldview. Chapter ii examines whether Augustine could have been familiar with Mani’s Picture book, which was used to persuade outsiders to convert to Manichaeism (Confessions 3.10–11; Contra Faustum 20.9). Van Oort concludes that he was familiar with it and speculates as to what contents might have been represented in it. Of particular note is Augustine’s differentiation between phantasma, phantasia and figmentum, which provides important insights into his attitude towards literary fictionality (pp. 23–9).

In chapter iii Van Oort asks about the bishop whom Monica seeks to contact and who was previously a follower of the same sect as Augustine himself (Confessions 3.21). Recently discovered sources show that the metaphor of tears (‘filius istarum lacrimarum’) has a Manichaean background. Monica’s tears are contrasted with those of the Manichaean ‘mother of life’, who also weeps for her son but is the antitype of Augustine’s mother. Chapter iv contains an analysis of Manichaean semantics in connection with their ritual eucharistic meal. This leads Van Oort to propose a new translation of the participle construction ‘ille iam substomachans taedio’: ‘he then belched out in tediousness’. Van Oort’s observations on the structure of the Confessions are most important, especially the references he points out between the ends of books 3 and 8. Chapter v deals with Augustine’s lost early work, De pulchro et apto, which is only known through the account in the Confessions 4.20–7. Van Oort reconstructs the presumed content on the basis of Augustine’s potential Manichaean sources regarding the concept of God and the divine world as beauty. Chapter vi examines developments in the image of God (Confessions 1–7) and highlights the well-known patterns (from the anthropomorphic-spatial via the material-spatial to the spiritual-trinitarian), for which Neoplatonism in particular provided Augustine with guidance. Here, too, Van Oort detects the influence of Manichaean ideas (on the material image of God).

Regarding Augustine’s conversion narrative (Confessions 8.13–30), Van Oort argues that Manichaeism offers better parallels than Neoplatonism (chapter vii). He differentiates between the explicit and the implicit presence of Gnostic ideas. In his direct address to the Manichaeans, Augustine believes it is possible for them to convert to Catholic Christianity. Van Oort contextualises Augustine’s account of his conversion within the confessions made by believers during Manichaean rituals, such as the Bêma festival. Thus, for instance, Ponticianus’ role no longer appears merely as that of a narrator of exemplary conversion stories, but as that of a Christian figure who encourages confession through a sermon delivered from a position of authority. Manichaean sources also confirm the connection between confession, sin and sexual desire as found in Augustine. As an auditor, he was not yet required to lead an abstinent life, but at the level of an electus, to which he may have aspired, he was. He was therefore undoubtedly one of those for whom continence was a matter of great urgency. Other well-documented ideas in Manichaeism include the trembling and speechlessness of the sinner in connection with confession, the turning to the inner self, the concept of inner division through two opposing wills (good and evil) and the idea of a correspondence between divine call and human response. Against this background, the singing child can be interpreted as Jesus Christ. Monica, a symbol of continence, can also be equated with the Son of God. Furthermore, Van Oort suspects a Manichaean origin for the motif of tolle, lege.

In chapter viii, the topics of God, memory and beauty are discussed (Confessions 10.1–38). Van Oort demonstrates that, in Manichaeism, the five senses can be used to acquire knowledge of God. However, in his digression on memoria, Augustine internalises them. According to Van Oort, the idea of memory as the place where God is found can be traced back to Mani’s Coptic Kephalaion 56. In chapter ix, Van Oort links the image of Christ as the right hand of God (Confessions 1–13) to Manichaean Christology. For more on the pagan-philosophical background, see Michael Erler, ‘Die helfende Hand Gottes: Augustins Gnadenlehre im Kontext des kaiserzeitlichen Platonismus‘, in C. Mayer (ed.), Augustinus – Ethik und Politik, Würzburg 2009, 87–108. Chapter x sheds light on the themes of sin and desire, which are central to the Christian author’s view of humanity and are directly related to each other throughout his life and at the time of writing (Confessions 1–13). The question arises at the conclusion as to how the interpretation of Genesis in books 12 and 13 relates to that in De Genesi aduersus Manicheos.

Van Oort provides numerous explanations for Augustinian thinking that can only be understood in the context of Manichaeism. Striking examples include the significance of the fig tree in the conversion story, and the image of tears and their salvific power. Van Oort is well aware that the history of exegesis has produced many different interpretations of individual biblical metaphors. Consequently, he carefully examines whether certain readings are specifically Manichaean and cannot be derived in any other way.

However, some criticism must be allowed. This compilation of essays that were originally published separately lacks a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of the studies seen as a whole. This is particularly true with regard to the literary genre classification of the Confessions which is usually inseparably linked to questions of the work’s intention and the target audience. Van Oort is quite right to acknowledge the complexity of the work, offering different interpretations for different sections of the text (cf. pp. 3–4, 105). On the one hand, he identifies a protreptic-parenetic intention, in which the focus is on evoking identification and persuading (Manichaean) readers to convert to Catholic Christianity. On the other hand, he recognises anti-Manichaean polemics and corrections of the author’s former positions. While both interpretations are perfectly understandable, how can one envisage protreptic intentions towards Manichaeans alongside polemics against the same group of believers? These emerging contradictions must be clarified and reconciled. Explaining Augustine’s allusions within the framework of his confessions (both of faith and of sins) is entirely convincing. Furthermore, the idea that various Manichaean and Catholic perspectives can be coordinated under the assumption of a dialogical-discursive presentation of the author’s theological views is highly stimulating. This can be interpreted in the sense of an exemplary, spiritual autobiography.

In conclusion, Van Oort demonstrates the complexity of the Confessions in crystal-clear fashion. His line of thought is consistent and confined to the sections of Augustine’s work that can only be fully understood if the Manichaean context is taken into account. By shedding light on Augustine’s changing intellectual background, Van Oort provides an invaluable service to scholars of early Christianity.