At the heart of the surge of interest in religion among contemporary Continental philosophers stands Augustine's Confessions. This volume takes up the provocative readings of Augustine by Heidegger, Lyotard, Arendt, and Ricoeur. It shows both the continuing relevance of Augustine and the religious resonances within postmodernism.

At the heart of the current surge of interest in religion among contemporary Continental philosophers stands Augustine's Confessions. With Derrida's "Circumfession" constantly in the background, this volume takes up the provocative readings of Augustine by Heidegger, Lyotard, Arendt, and Ricoeur. Derrida himself presides over and comments on essays by major Continental philosophers and internationally recognized Augustine scholars. While studies on and about Augustine as a philosopher abound, none approach his work from such a uniquely postmodern point of view, showing both the continuing relevance of Augustine and the religious resonances within postmodernism.Posed at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and religious studies, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Augustine as well as those interested in the invigorating discussion between philosophy, religion, and postmodernism. The contributors include Geoffrey Bennington, Philippe Capelle, John D. Caputo, Elizabeth A. Clark, Hent de Vries, Jacques Derrida, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Richard Kearney, Catherine Malabou, James O'Donnell, Michael J. Scanlon, and Mark Vessey.

Introduction: The Postmodern Augustine John D. Caputo and Michael J. ScanlonPart I.
After the Event1. Composing "Circumfession," Jacques Derrida 2. Confessions and Circumfession: A Roundtable Discussion with Jacques Derrida, Moderated by Richard KearneyPart II.
Confessions and Circumfession3. Time-for the Truth, Geoffrey Bennington 4. Instances: Temporal Modes from Augustine to Derrida and Lyotard, Hent de Vries Response by Jacques Derrida 5. Shedding Tears Beyond Being: Derrida's Experience of Prayer, John D. Caputo 6. Heidegger: Reader of Augustine, Philippe Capelle Response by Jacques Derrida 7. The Form of an "I," Catherine Malabou Response by Jacques Derrida 8. Time, Evil and Narrative: Ricoeur on Augustine, Richard Kearney 9. Arendt's Augustine, Michael J. Scanlon 10. Reading like Angels: Derrida and Augustine on the Book (for a History of Literature), Mark Vessey Response by Jacques Derrida 11. Augustine's Unconfessions, James J. O'Donnell 12. On Not Retracting the Unconfessed, Elizabeth A. Clark 13. Why Augustine?
Why Now?, Jean Bethke Elshtain