T&T Clark On Solitude, Conscience, Love and Our Inner and Outer Lives (Reading Augustine)

Review "Augustine on the subtleties of interior solitude has been very nearly over looked by the modern study of the bishop of Hippo. In this deeply perceptive and rich book, Ron Haflidson has opened a door through which many will want to enter and marvel." --MARTIN LAIRD, Villanova University, USA Product Description Haflidson places Augustine in conversation with contemporary authors who warn of the dangers of abandoning solitude for constant (often technological) connection. Thus far such thinkers have largely neglected an essential question that Haflidson takes up: What difference does it make to the practice of solitude if one believes that even in the absence of any human company, God is always intimately present? Enter Augustine. For Augustine, solitude is a moral necessity: he recommends that we regularly retreat from the crowd into the depths of our conscience, where we can dwell alone in the company of God, and enter into dialogue before and with God about who we are and how we love. Throughout this book, Haflidson pairs close readings of Augustine with those of noted cartographers of our inner lives, literary greats including Jane Austen, George Eliot, Marilynne Robinson and George Saunders. This is a book that explores what undiscovered possibilities may lie in solitude. About the Author Ronald Haflidson is a tutor at St. John's College, USA.