The City of God
The work is a monumental text that defends Christianity against the accusation that it caused the decline of Rome. It contrasts the "City of God" with the "Earthly City," illustrating the moral and spiritual decay of Rome and its reliance on false gods. The text argues that true peace and justice are found only in the City of God, which is eternal and founded on divine principles. It critiques Roman society, its history of wars, and the moral failures of its leaders, asserting that the calamities Rome faced were due to its own corruption and not the Christian faith. The work emphasizes the superiority of Christian teachings and the ultimate triumph of the City of God over earthly powers.
By Augustine of Hippo · First published 426 · Genre: Theology, Philosophy, Political Philosophy · 60 chapters
Contents
- Here Begins the Second Part [440] of this Work, which Treats of the Origin, History, and Destinies of the Two Cities, the Earthly and the Heavenly. in the First Place, Augustine Shows in this Book how the Two Cities were Formed Originally, by the Separation of the Good and Bad Angels; and Takes Occasion to Treat of the Creation of the World, as it is Described in Holy Scripture in the Beginning of the Book of Genesis
- BOOK XII
- Explaining his Design in Undertaking this Work
- That the Platonists themselves have Determined that God Alone can Confer Happiness Either on Angels or Men, but that it Yet Remains a Question Whether those Spirits whom they Direct Us to Worship, that we May Obtain Happiness, Wish Sacrifice to be Offered to themselves, or to the One God only
- Of this Part of the Work, Wherein we Begin to Explain the Origin and End of the Two Cities
- That the Nature of the Angels, both Good and Bad, is One and the same
- Of the Fall of the First Man, through which Mortality has been Contracted
- That the Disobedience of the First Man Would have Plunged all Men into the Endless Misery of the Second Death, had not the Grace of God Rescued Many
- Of the Two Lines of the Human Race which from First to Last Divide it
- Whether, after the Deluge, from Noah to Abraham, any Families can be Found who Lived According to God
- Of the Prophetic Age
- Of those Things down to the Times of the Saviour which have been Discussed in the Seventeen Books
- That Varro has Made out that Two Hundred and Eighty-Eight Different Sects of Philosophy Might be Formed by the Various Opinions Regarding the Supreme Good
- Of the Limits which Must be Put to the Necessity of Replying to an Adversary
- That Although God is Always Judging, it is Nevertheless Reasonable to Confine our Attention in this Book to his Last Judgment
- Of the Order of the Discussion, which Requires that we First Speak of the Eternal Punishment of the Lost in Company with the Devil, and then of the Eternal Happiness of the Saints
- Of the Creation of Angels and Men
- Of the Ills which Alone the Wicked Fear, and which the World Continually Suffered, Even when the Gods were Worshipped
- Of the Things which have been Discussed in the First Book
- Preface: Since, then, it is Established that the Complete Attainment of all we Desire is that which Constitutes Felicity, which is no Goddess, but a Gift of God, and that Therefore Men can Worship no God Save him who is Able to Make them Happy -- and were Felicity herself a Goddess, she Would with Reason be the only Object of Worship -- Since, I Say, this is Established, Let Us now Go on to Consider why God, who is Able to Give with all other Things those Good Gifts which can be Possessed by Men who are not Good, and Consequently not Happy, has Seen Fit to Grant such Extended and Long-Continued Dominion to the Roman Empire; for that this was not Effected by that Multitude of False Gods which they Worshipped, we have both Already Adduced, and Shall, as Occasion Offers, Yet Adduce Considerable Proof
- Preface: in the Five Former Books, I Think I have Sufficiently Disputed against those who Believe that the Many False Gods, which the Christian Truth Shows to be Useless Images, or Unclean Spirits and Pernicious Demons, or Certainly Creatures, not the Creator, are to be Worshipped for the Advantage of this Mortal Life, and of Terrestrial Affairs, with that Rite and Service which the Greeks Call Λατρεία, and which is Due to the One True God. and who does not Know that, in the Face of Excessive Stupidity and Obstinacy, Neither these Five nor any other Number of Books Whatsoever Could be Enough, when it is Esteemed the Glory of Vanity to Yield to no Amount of Strength on the Side of Truth -- Certainly to his Destruction over whom so Heinous a Vice Tyrannizes? for, Notwithstanding all the Assiduity of the Physician who Attempts to Effect a Cure, the Disease Remains Unconquered, not through any Fault of his, but because of the Incurableness of the Sick Man. but those who Thoroughly Weigh the Things which they Read, having Understood and Considered them, Without any, or with no Great and Excessive Degree of that Obstinacy which Belongs to a Long-Cherished Error, will more Readily Judge that, in the Five Books Already Finished, we have Done more than the Necessity of the Question Demanded, than that we have Given it Less Discussion than it Required. and they Cannot have Doubted but that all the Hatred which the Ignorant Attempt to Bring Upon the Christian Religion on Account of the Disasters of this Life, and the Destruction and Change which Befall Terrestrial Things, Whilst the Learned do not Merely Dissimulate, but Encourage that Hatred, Contrary to their own Consciences, being Possessed by a Mad Impiety; -- they Cannot have Doubted, I Say, but that this Hatred is Devoid of Right Reflection and Reason, and Full of most Light Temerity, and most Pernicious Animosity
- Preface: it will be the Duty of those who are Endowed with Quicker and Better Understandings, in Whose Case the Former Books are Sufficient, and more than Sufficient, to Effect their Intended Object, to Bear with me with Patience and Equanimity Whilst I Attempt with more than Ordinary Diligence to Tear up and Eradicate Depraved and Ancient Opinions Hostile to the Truth of Piety, which the Long-Continued Error of the Human Race has Fixed very Deeply in Unenlightened Minds; Cooperating Also in this, According to my Little Measure, with the Grace of him who, being the True God, is Able to Accomplish it, and on Whose Help I Depend in my Work; and, for the Sake of Others, such should not Deem Superfluous what they Feel to be no Longer Necessary for themselves. a very Great Matter is at Stake when the True and Truly Holy Divinity is Commended to Men as that which they Ought to Seek after and to Worship; not, However, on Account of the Transitory Vapour of Mortal Life, but on Account of Life Eternal, which Alone is Blessed, Although the Help Necessary for this Frail Life we are now Living is Also Afforded Us by it
- That the Question of Natural Theology is to be Discussed with those Philosophers who Sought a more Excellent Wisdom
- The Point at which the Discussion has Arrived, and what Remains to be Handled
- That it is Quite Contrary to the Usage of War, that the Victors should Spare the Vanquished for the Sake of their Gods
- The Opinion of Plotinus the Platonist Regarding Enlightenment from above
- Of the Knowledge of God, to which no Man can Attain Save through the Mediator between God and Men, the Man Christ Jesus
- That there is no Entity [521] Contrary to the Divine, because Nonentity Seems to be that which is Wholly Opposite to him who Supremely and Always is
- Of that Death which can Affect an Immortal Soul, and of that to which the Body is Subject
- Of Carnal Life, which is to be Understood not only of Living in Bodily Indulgence, but Also of Living in the Vices of the Inner Man
- Of the Children of the Flesh and the Children of the Promise
- What was Prophetically Prefigured in the Sons of Noah
- At what Time the Promise of God was Fulfilled Concerning the Land of Canaan, which Even Carnal Israel Got in Possession
- Of the Kings and Times of the Earthly City which were Synchronous with the Times of the Saints, Reckoning from the Rise of Abraham
- How Varro, by Removing all the Differences which do not Form Sects, but are Merely Secondary Questions, Reaches Three Definitions of the Chief Good, of which we Must Choose One
- Recapitulation of the Contents of the First Book
- That in the Mingled Web of Human Affairs God's Judgment is Present, Though it Cannot be Discerned
- Whether it is Possible for Bodies to Last Forever in Burning Fire
- Of the Eternal and Unchangeable will of God
- Whether the Gods, whom the Greeks and Romans Worshipped in Common, were Justified in Permitting the Destruction of Ilium
- Of those Things which are Contained in Books II and III
- On the Difference in the Health of Twins
- What we are to Believe that Varro Thought Concerning the Gods of the Nations, Whose Various Kinds and Sacred Rites he has Shown to be such that he Would have Acted more Reverently Towards them had he been Altogether Silent Concerning them
- Who are the Select Gods, and Whether they are Held to be Exempt from the Offices of the Commoner Gods
- Concerning the Two Schools of Philosophers, that is, the Italic and Ionic, and their Founders
- Whether Among the Demons, Inferior to the Gods, there are any Good Spirits under Whose Guardianship the Human Soul Might Reach True Blessedness
- That the Romans did not Show their Usual Sagacity when they Trusted that they Would be Benefited by the Gods who had been Unable to Defend Troy
- That the Platonists, Though Knowing Something of the Creator of the Universe, have Misunderstood the True Worship of God, by Giving Divine Honour to Angels, Good or Bad
- Of the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures Composed by the Divine Spirit
- That the Enemies of God are so, not by Nature but by will, which, as it Injures them, Injures a Good Nature; for if Vice does not Injure, it is not Vice
- Whether Death, which by the Sin of our First Parents has Passed Upon all Men, is the Punishment of Sin, Even to the Good
- That Sin is Caused not by the Flesh, but by the Soul, and that the Corruption Contracted from Sin is not Sin, but Sin's Punishment
- That Sarah's Barrenness was Made Productive by God's Grace
- Of the Generations of the Three Sons of Noah
- Of the Threefold Meaning of the Prophecies, which are to be Referred now to the Earthly, now to the Heavenly Jerusalem, and now again to both
- What Kings Reigned in Assyria and Sicyon when, According to the Promise, Isaac was Born to Abraham in his Hundredth Year, and when the Twins Esau and Jacob were Born of Rebecca to Isaac in his Sixtieth Year
- Which of the Three Leading Opinions Regarding the Chief Good should be Preferred, According to Varro, who Follows Antiochus and the Old Academy
- That we Need only to Read History in Order to See what Calamities the Romans Suffered before the Religion of Christ Began to Compete with the Worship of the Gods
- What Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Says Regarding the Things which Happen Alike to Good and Wicked Men
- Whether Bodily Suffering Necessarily Terminates in the Destruction of the Flesh