Summary
In a.d.410,
a pivotal moment in Western history, the Vandals, under the command
of their king, Alaric, captured the city of Rome. Rome was known
as the Eternal City because the Romans thought that it would literally
never fall, and the year 410 shook this belief to its foundations
and ultimately led to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The world
itself seemed to have been destroyed, and everyone sought answers
about what to do and what to believe in. Those who adhered to the
waning pagan faith were quick to blame the Christians, claiming
that the gods had abandoned Rome because many Romans had forsaken
them and taken the new faith. These Romans claimed that Christians
were not patriotic enough because they asked people to serve God
rather than the state, and they advocated forgiveness toward enemies.
More important, they said the Christian God had failed to protect
Rome, as he should have done, since Constantine had declared him
to be the one true God. The angry wrangling between the two communities
prompted Augustine to begin writing The City of God in 413.
The first ten books of The City of God,
which make up the first part of the work, refute the pagans’ charges
that Christians brought about the fall of Rome. The first five books
deal with the pagan belief that people must worship the old gods
to achieve material advantages in this world, including the continuation
of the Roman Empire and the supremacy of the city of Rome. In book
I, Augustine attacks the pagans, who claimed that Rome fell because
the Christian religion had weakened it, and he stresses that misfortune
happens to everyone. In book II, he demonstrates that the fall of
Rome is not a unique event in human history. The Romans suffered
calamities before, even when the old gods were being actively worshipped, and
those gods did nothing to prevent those calamities from happening.
He suggests Romans became weak because of these gods, since they
gave themselves up to moral and spiritual corruption. In book III,
Augustine continues discussing catastrophes that occurred in pagan
times to further prove that Christianity did not cause Rome to fall.
To drive home his point, he asks again why the old gods did not
defend Rome in the past.
In book IV, Augustine suggests an alternative view. Rome endured
for many centuries because it was the will of the true God, and
its survival had nothing to do with pagan gods such as Jove, who
behaved only in the lowest manner. In book V Augustine addresses
the pagan notion of fate, which many people saw as a viable force
that had held the Roman Empire together. Rather, says Augustine,
the Romans of ancient times were virtuous, and God rewarded that
virtue, even though they did not worship him. When he reaches book
VI, Augustine shifts focus and devotes the next five books to refuting
those who said people must worship the old gods to gain eternal
life. Augustine uses pagan authors to destroy this notion by saying
that the gods were never held in high regard and so all the old
ways, old myths, and old laws are useless in ensuring eternal happiness.
This piecemeal destruction of pagan theology continues through book
X.
Book XI begins the second part of The City of
God, where Augustine describes the doctrine of the two
cities, one earthly and one heavenly. In the next three books he
details how these two cities came about, based on his reading of
the Bible. The next four books explain the prehistory of the city
of heaven, from Genesis to the age of Solomon, whose story is allegorized
as Christ and the church. In book XVIII, Augustine undertakes a
similar process of portraying the prehistory of the city of the
world, from Abraham to the Old Testament prophets. Augustine focuses
on how the two cities will end in book XIX, and in the process he
outlines the nature of the supreme good. He emphasizes the idea
that the peace and happiness found in the heavenly city can also
be experienced here on earth. Book XX deals with the Last Judgment
and the evidence found for it in the Bible. Augustine continues
with this theme in book XXI and describes the eternal punishment
of the damned, arguing that it is not a myth. The final book, book
XXII, tells of the end of the city of God, after which the saved
will be given eternal happiness and will become immortal.
Analysis
Augustine created a theology of the self in The
Confessions, and in The City of God he
initiates a theology of history. He uncovers a wide-ranging explanation
of history that begins with creation itself, moves through the turmoil
and upheaval of man-made states (the City of the World), and continues
to the realization of the kingdom of God (the City of God). In effect, The
City of God is a completion of the project he began in The
Confessions, where he traced the progress of the self toward
completion in God. Likewise, human society finds completion in the
realm of God. Along with a theology of history, Augustine seeks
to put together a Christian philosophy of society. In other words,
he gives the various areas of philosophical inquiry, such as ethics
and politics, a unity in the universality of divine revelation.
History completes itself in divine law. The philosophers of the
past, such as Plato, had all said that a person does not owe full
and absolute loyalty to any earthly society, and Augustine rigorously
critiques this concept in the light of Christian doctrine. He states
that the Scriptures alone can instruct human beings about the highest
good and the highest evil and that without this guidance, human
endeavor has no purpose.
Augustine presents the four essential elements of his
philosophy in The City of God: the church, the
state, the City of Heaven, and the City of the World. The church
is divinely established and leads humankind to eternal goodness,
which is God. The state adheres to the virtues of politics and of
the mind, formulating a political community. Both of these societies
are visible and seek to do good. Mirroring these are two invisible
societies: the City of Heaven, for those predestined for salvation,
and the City of the World, for those given eternal damnation. This
grand design allows Augustine to elaborate his theory of justice,
which he says issues from the proper and just sharing of those things
necessary for life, just as God freely distributes air, water, and
light. Humankind must therefore pursue the City of Heaven to maintain
a proper sense of order, which in turn leads to true peace.
