St Augustine not only shaped the development of Western theology, he also made a major contribution to political theory (City of God) and through his Confessions to the understanding of human psychology. Rowan Williams has an entirely fresh perspective on these matters and the chapter titles in this new book demonstrate this at a glance - 'Language Reality and Desire', 'Politics and the Soul', 'Paradoxes of Self Knowledge', 'Insubstantial Evil'.

'A question to myself':' time and self-awareness in the Confessions -- The soul in paraphrase: Augustine as interpreter of the Psalms -- Language, reality and desire: the nature of Christian formation -- 'Good for nothing'? Augustine on creation -- Insubstantial evil -- Politics and the soul: reading the City of God -- Augustine on Christ and the Trinity: an overview -- Wisdom in person: Augustine's Christology -- The paradoxes of self-knowledge in Augustine's trinitarian thought -- Sapientia: wisdom and the trinitarian relations -- Augustinian love -- God in search: a sermon.