In Book Eleven, Augustine contemplates the possibilities that lay in wait upon his death, possibilities that surely would have come to fruition if he had not converted to Christianity, being damnation and eternal punishment at the hands of Satan and his hosts in Hell. In Part 16, Augustine poses the question, "But do I ever pass away? O. my soul, commit whatsoever you have to him, for at long last, you are now becoming tired of deceit. Commit to Truth... And you will lose nothing. What is decayed will flourish again; your diseases will be healed; your perishable parts shall be reshaped and renovated and made whole again... " (Hutchins, 153). Certainly, Augustine came to understand that death was nothing to be feared if a person puts his entire trust and faith in God. Augustine is also relating what Jesus Christ told his disciples in the New Testament, namely, that the body may return to dust, but the soul lives on in God and shall never be vanquished.

In essence, St. Augustine's Confessions is a great theological and religious masterpiece in which the converted Augustine "presents his positions and personal views on the Incarnation...

In historical terms, St. Augustine's Confessions serves as one of the most important and influential works praising God, and since Augustine relates his conversion through his own spiritual journey from hedonist to teacher to bishop to priest, Confessions remains as "a masterpiece in the world's devotional literature" (Petersen, 526).
Bibliography

Hutchins, Robert Maynard, Ed. The Confessions of St. Augustine. 4th ed. Vol. 18. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1952.

Petersen, John W., Ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: The Philosophical Press, 1964.