Augustine's Confession of Being Known

In 397 AD, a bishop in North Africa sat down to write something no one had ever attempted — a full autobiography addressed not to readers, but to God. Augustine of Hippo opened his Confessions with words that echo Psalm 139: "You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." What makes Confessions remarkable is Augustine's slow realization that during every reckless year — the stolen pears in Thagaste, the mistress in Carthage, the hollow ambitions in Milan — the Almighty had never once looked away.…