Return to the Heart: The Biblical Spirituality of St. Augustine's Confessions($24.95Value)

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“He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you.”—St. Augustine St. Augustine's Confessions is the first autobiography in Western literature and a perennial classic of rhetoric, philosophy, and theology. It is also one man's journey away from and back to God, finding himself along the way. And though Augustine's sin and his desires for love, happiness, and peace are his own, in them we can recognize aspects of our own experience. Return to the Heart: The Biblical Spirituality of St. Augustine's Confessions invites readers to follow in the footsteps of an enduring spiritual master. Bringing St. Augustine's wisdom to a new generation, Shane Owens reveals that it is only in the heart-to-heart encounter with God that we become whole and understand ourselves. Return to the Heart gives convincing testimony from St. Augustine to the reality that an ever-present God is at work in our lives to bring us to conversion—and to eternal life. "While much work has been done to reclaim a proper understanding of the intellect, there has been a dearth of engagement with the heart. Dr. Shane Owens shows us that Augustine is truly a master of the heart, mining the wisdom of his writing and helping us understand our own hearts, so that we might encounter ourselves and our Lord more deeply." Matthew Breuninger Founder of Wellspring Counseling & Coaching "I love St. Augustine, but I've often found his writings intimidating. In Return to the Heart , Dr. Shane Owens makes Augustine's profound insights accessible while honoring his extraordinary genius. As I read this book, Augustine came alive to me—not just as a theologian or philosopher but as a person deeply in love with Jesus. By exploring Augustine's writings, Dr. Owens leads the reader into a sacred space—Augustine's intimate prayer with God. In doing so, the reader discovers not only the mind of Augustine but, perhaps more importantly, his heart. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to grow in faith and deepen their understanding of this remarkable saint." Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR President of The Franciscan University of Steubenville "Shane Owens is among the most brilliant Augustinian scholars of his generation, and with great depth and elegance he has written a veritable treasure trove of a book on the biblical spirituality that pours forth from Augustine's Confessions . Take Return to the Heart into your hands, open its pages, and give thanks to God for the light which he will shine into your soul from it! Highly recommended!" C. C. Pecknold Associate Professor of Theology at the Catholic University of America "Dr. Owens hands down the richness of St. Augustine for the average person by going to the core of who this saint is. Return to the Heart is a beautiful, meditative, and thematic book that not only walks one through St. Augustine's thought and conversion, but ultimately is an invitation for one to have their own conversion to the Lord." Katie Weiss Founder of Behold Visio Divina Shane Owens is assistant professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He earned his PhD at Catholic University, specializing in the theology of St. Augustine and the reception of the Bible. He taught at the Catholic University of America, the Dominican House of Studies, and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University before coming to the Franciscan University of Steubenville. His writing appears in academic journals including Pro Ecclesia , the International Journal of Evangelization and Catechetics , and New Blackfriars . Owens frequently speaks on the biblical theology and spirituality of the Church's Fathers and Doctors. He and his lovely bride, Esther, raise their two children in Steubenville, Ohio.