The City of God by Saint Augustine

First published:De civitate Dei, 413-427 c.e. (English translation, 1610)

Type of work: Religious philosophy

The Work:

Saint Augustine is one of the most important theologians of the Christian church. He was born a Roman citizen in North Africa. Although he was trained as a classical scholar and was a teacher of rhetoric in Rome and Milan, he became a priest under the influence of Saint Ambrose in Milan and then served as bishop of Hippo in North Africa. His extensive writings include commentaries on books of the Bible, sermons, letters, and his famous autobiographical Confessiones (397-401; Confessions, 1620), which recounts his spiritual journey from his youth to his full acceptance of Christian beliefs during his years in Milan. Among these works, The City of God stands out as the most complete exposition of Saint Augustine’s Christian theology.

Saint Augustine wrote The City of God during the later years of his life. The catalyst for writing The City of God was a key event in the history of the Roman Empire: the sack of Rome in 410 by the Visigoths, a barbarian Germanic tribe. This event shook the dwindling confidence of the civilized Roman Empire. The remaining pagan Romans blamed the Christian religion for this catastrophe, and Christians became insecure about their faith. In The City of God, Saint Augustine addresses these charges and fears.

The City of God is more than a defense of Christianity in response to a particular historical circumstance. Saint Augustine planned to write a work that set forth his worldview in its entirety, and The City of God fulfilled that goal. It is a lengthy work whose composition took about fifteen years. It contains twenty-two books, which can be divided into two thematic parts. The first ten books, books 1 through 10, are apologetic. Their primary purpose is to counter the accusations of pagans about Christianity, especially in view of the recent attack on Rome. In the second part, books 11 through 22, Augustine presents his view of Christian history and the history of salvation as epitomized in his account of the two cities, the heavenly and the earthly. Both parts contain sections that expressly refute pagan beliefs, and both parts develop Saint Augustine’s ideas about the two cities.

Book 1 serves as a preamble because it confronts the immediate issues that the sack of Rome raised and it introduces the concept of the two cities. Augustine believed that disasters indiscriminately befall the good and the bad; the important thing is the attitude that any individual assumes toward those circumstances. The true goal is the heavenly City of God, and its citizens, the righteous, are merely pilgrims as they sojourn through life in the earthly city.

Books 2 and 3 demonstrate that the pagan gods never protected the Romans. By surveying the numerous wars, internal conflicts, and natural disasters that Rome endured, Augustine reinforces the message that the Romans’ pagan religion never prevented these calamities. Augustine then discusses the character of the Roman Empire and its rulers in books 4 and 5. He points out that God ordains the rise and fall of kingdoms and their rule by just or unjust rulers. Under God’s omniscience, Roman power arose because of the virtues of Roman citizens and their leaders under Roman law, reaching its zenith under Christian emperors such as Constantine and Theodosius in the fourth century. In book 5, Augustine’s description of the character of the just Christian ruler became a model of conduct, perhaps not always upheld perfectly, for Christian kings.

Books 6 and 7 turn from the politically oriented remarks about the Roman Empire to aspects of Roman religion. These passages provide an extensive catalog of the Roman gods. Augustine exposes the contradictions in the polytheistic Roman religion and demonstrates their lack of spiritual fulfillment, which, he argues, only the true Christian God can offer through the promise of eternal life. The first part concludes in books 8 through 10 by examining the claims of classical philosophy, particularly Platonism and its heir Neoplatonism. While Augustine acknowledges that philosophers articulated concepts about a transcendent one or god, the primary flaws in pagan philosophy are its acceptance of pagan beliefs, particularly in demon powers, and its inability to recognize Christ as the mediator between God and humanity.

The second major section, books 11 to 22, explains the origin, history, and ultimate end of the two cities. These twelve books can be subdivided into three groups of four books each. The first four, books 11 to 14, discuss the rise of the two cities from the Creation through the fall of Adam and Eve. The earthly city (sometimes called Babylon) came about from two events: the fall of angels and the fall of humanity. In both cases, willful behavior is the agency of bad deeds, not the essential nature of angels or humans, which is good. Books 12 and 13 refute a cyclical view of history in favor of a linear concept beginning with the Fall and proceeding toward the ultimate end of time in the Last Judgment. Book 14 summarizes the consequences of this situation in the formation of the two cities: the earthly city “seeks glory from men”; for the heavenly city (City of God or Jerusalem), God is “the greatest glory.”

Augustine continues the history of the two cities in the next four books, 15 to 18. His account primarily covers biblical history from Adam’s children Cain and Abel, who represent the two cities, through the advent of Christ. Particularly in book 18, biblical history is related to world history, including Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The biblical narrative emphasizes prophecies about the coming of Christ, while the overview of world history takes additional opportunities to refute pagan beliefs.

With the coming of Christ, Augustine reaches his own age, and the last four books, 19 to 22, look toward the final destiny of the heavenly city. Book 19 is important because it contains most of Augustine’s views about politics and society. Although true peace can be achieved only in the eternal City of God, he argues, society on earth can strive for peace and order through a well-administered state. The final three books deal with last things: the Last Judgment in book 20, the punishments of Hell in book 21, and the perfect harmony of God in Heaven for eternity in book 22. Thus, the two cities are a history of God’s redemptive plan of salvation from the original Fall through the biblical history of God’s people and other secular kingdoms until the final fruition of the City of God at the end of time. On Earth, in historical time, the course of the two cities is intertwined. While the citizens of the earthly city act out of self-interest, the citizens of the heavenly city think of themselves as transient pilgrims in this world, whose actions are guided only by the love of God. Their final reward will come not on Earth, but in the City of God, “the kingdom which has not end,” where they will “rest and see, see and love, love and praise.”

The City of God articulates most definitively the change from the humanistic viewpoint of classical philosophy to the God-centered outlook of the Christian Middle Ages. Throughout this work, Augustine challenges and refutes the belief systems of classical Roman culture, including the Roman religion, philosophy, and the political foundation of the Roman Empire. In its place, he puts forward the City of God, the eternal, heavenly city as the ultimate goal of righteous Christians. While it is a duty of citizens of the heavenly city to work for the greatest peace and order during their lifetime spent in the earthly city, their ultimate concern is not with matters in this world but in the next world of the City of God.

In addition to this fundamental shift in perspective, from the Middle Ages to the present, The City of God was utilized often as a source of political ideas and to support particular political positions. Writing a treatise on political theory was not Augustine’s purpose. In examining the character of the Roman Empire and its governance, however, particularly in the first part, and in confronting the reality of the earthly city in the second part, Augustine voices opinions on the way society should function. He believed in a separation between earthly political institutions, whose concern is social needs, and God’s kingdom in heaven, whose concern is spiritual welfare and salvation. Even the Church as an institution of human agency is not to be equated with the heavenly city, and a Christian empire led by a Christian ruler is not God’s agent on Earth. The most that can be expected of human government is the maintenance of an ordered and relatively harmonious society that will facilitate the journey of the citizens of the heavenly city in their pilgrimage through earthly life. Many of Augustine’s comments on political matters, such as the discussion of the characteristics of the model Christian ruler in book 5, are designed as a guide to bring about this ideal of a peaceful existence in a troubled and tension-filled world.

One of Augustine’s most original and influential contributions in The City of God was to articulate a new view of history. The idea of history in classical antiquity was primarily cyclical, and historical writing tended to be an accumulation of facts and observations. Augustine, in contrast, emphasized a linear and progressive view of history, which he develops in the second part of The City of God. The course of history begins with the Creation, but the defining event is the fall of humanity from God’s grace. From that point, God’s plan of redemption governs the course of history which proceeds to the final goal of the Last Judgment at the end of time. While The City of God was significant in redirecting the focus of the human viewpoint from the Earth-centered world of classical antiquity to the God-centered universe of the Middle Ages, the most enduring influence of The City of God in Western culture was the establishment of the progressive and developmental concept of history. This concept remains pervasive in interpreting the meaning of historical events.

Bibliography

Battenhouse, Roy W., ed. A Companion to the Study of St. Augustine. New York: Oxford University Press, 1955. A collection of essays about Saint Augustine’s life and works. Contains an essay by Edward R. Hardy, Jr., on The City of God and other essays that interpret the work within the context of Saint Augustine’s thought.

Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo. New ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. One of the best biographical accounts of Saint Augustine, this book uses a chronological approach to reveal how his writings evolved during his lifetime. Heavily annotated.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Religion and Society in the Age of Augustine. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. Places Saint Augustine in historical context.

Clark, Mary T. Augustine. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1994. A biographical sketch of the life of Saint Augustine, including his long search for truth that led to his conversion to Christianity. Evaluates many of his ideas. Gives an excellent summary of the nature and impact of The City of God.

Deane, Henry. The Political and Social Philosophy of Saint Augustine. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963. A treatment of the theological basis of Saint Augustine’s belief about the “fallen man” or the idea of Original Sin and the resulting sinful nature of humanity. Also covers morality and justice, the state and order, the Church, heresy, and Saint Augustine’s philosophy of history.

Dodaro, Robert. Christ and the Just Society in the Thought of Augustine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. An analysis of Saint Augustine’s ideas about politics and ethics, focusing on The City of God and other works in which he describes the relationship between Christ and the believers who accept Christ as the only source of the soul’s virtue.

Elshtain, Jean Bethke. Augustine and the Limits of Political Power. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995. Demonstrates the relevancy of Saint Augustine’s political theories to modern politics. Elshtain tries to adapt The City of God to twentieth century conditions; although some of the arguments are sound, Elshtain’s conclusions are not entirely realistic.

Harrison, Carol. Augustine: Christian Truth and Fractured Humanity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Examines the social and cultural conditions that shaped Saint Augustine’s life.

Markus, R. A. Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St. Augustine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1970. A study of The City of God that concentrates on Saint Augustine’s concepts of history and the political place of society in history.

O’Daly, Gerard. Augustine’s “City of God”: A Reader’s Guide. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Provides a detailed commentary on each part of the work; information on early fifth century politics, society, history, and literature; and The City of God’s place within Saint Augustine’s oeuvre.

Van Oort, Johannes. Jerusalem and Babylon: A Study into Augustine’s “City of God” and the Sources of His Doctrine of the Two Cities. New York: Brill, 1991. A complete study of The City of God, its compositional structure, the meaning of the two cities, and its character as an apologetic and theological work. The sources of Saint Augustine’s ideas receive full examination.

Versfeld, Marthinus. A Guide to “The City of God.” London: Sheed & Ward, 1958. A study of the second part of Saint Augustine’s The City of God, interpreted from the perspective of moral philosophy.