On the City of God Against the Pagans (Latin: De civitate Dei contra paganos), often called The City of God, is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. Augustine wrote the book to refute allegations that Christianity initiated the decline of Rome and is considered one of his seminal works, standing alongside the Confessions, the Enchiridion, On Christian Doctrine, and On the Trinity. As a work of one of the most influential Church Fathers, The City of God is a cornerstone of Western thought, expounding on many questions of theology, such as the suffering of the righteous, the existence of evil, the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin.
Contents
Background
The sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 left Romans in a deep state of shock, and many Romans saw it as punishment for abandoning traditional Roman religion in favor of Christianity. In response to these accusations, and in order to console Christians, Augustine wrote The City of God as an argument for the truth of Christianity over competing religions and philosophies. He argues that Christianity was not responsible for the sack of Rome but instead responsible for Rome's success. Even if the earthly rule of the Empire was imperiled, it was the City of God that would ultimately triumph. Augustine's focus was Heaven, a theme of many Christian works of Late Antiquity. Despite Christianity's designation as the official religion of the Empire, Augustine declared its message to be spiritual rather than political. Christianity, he argued, should be concerned with the mystical, heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, rather than with earthly politics.
The book presents human history as a conflict between what Augustine calls the Earthly City (often colloquially referred to as the City of Man, and mentioned once on chapter 1 of book 15) and the City of God, a conflict that is destined to end in victory for the latter. The City of God is marked by people who forgo earthly pleasure to dedicate themselves to the eternal truths of God, now revealed fully in the Christian faith. The Earthly City, on the other hand, consists of people who have immersed themselves in the cares and pleasures of the present, passing world.
Augustine's thesis depicts the history of the world as universal warfare between God and the Devil. This metaphysical war is not limited by time but only by geography on Earth. In this war, God moves (by divine intervention, Providence) those governments, political/ideological movements and military forces aligned (or aligned the most) with the Church (the City of God) in order to oppose by all means—including military—those sociopolitical regimes and movements of the Devil (the City of the World).
Structure
Part I (Books I–X): a polemical critique of Roman religion and philosophy, corresponding to the Earthly City
Book I–V: A critique of pagan religion
Book I: a criticism of the pagans who attribute the sack of Rome to Christianity despite being saved by taking refuge in Christian churches. The book also explains why good and bad things happen to righteous and wicked people alike, and it consoles the women violated in the recent calamity.
Book II: an argument that because of the worship of the pagan gods, Rome suffered the greatest calamity of all, that is, moral corruption.
Book III: an argument that the pagan gods failed to save Rome numerous times in the past from worldly disasters, such as the sack of Rome by the Gauls.
Book IV: argues that the power and long duration of the Roman empire was due not to the pagan gods but to the Christian God.
Book V: an argument against the doctrine of fate and an explanation of the Christian doctrine of free will and its consistency with God's omniscience. The book proves that Rome's dominion was due to the virtue of the Romans and explains the true happiness of the Christian emperors.
Book VI–X: A critique of pagan philosophy
Book VI: an argument against the assertion that the pagan gods are to be worshipped for eternal life (rather than temporal benefits). Augustine claimed that even the esteemed pagan theologist Varro held the gods in contempt.
Book VII: an argument that eternal life is not granted by Janus, Jupiter, Saturn, and other select gods.
Book VIII: an argument against the Platonists and their natural theology, which Augustine views as the closest approximation of Christian truth, and a refutation of Apuleius' insistence of the worship of demons as mediators between God and man. The book also contains an argument against Hermeticism.
Legacy
Pope John XXIII used Augustine's distinction between two cities as a summary of his assessment of the position of the Catholic Church in the late 1950s as he assumed papal office: on the one hand, "the grace of Christ" continues to bear fruit; on the other, many people are entirely concerned with securing earthly goods.
Augustine's concept of world history guided by Divine Providence in a universal war between God and the Devil forms part of the official doctrine of the Catholic Church, as stated in the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes:"The Church ... holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be found the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history ... all of human life, whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness ... The Lord is the goal of human history the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings."
English translations
The City of God. Translation by William Babcock, notes by Boniface Ramsey. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2012.
The City of God against the Pagans. Translation by R. W. Dyson. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-521-46475-7
The City of God. Translation by Henry Bettenson. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1972.
The City of God: Volumes XVI–XVIII Translation by Eva Matthews Sanford with William M. Green. Loeb Classical Library 415, 1965.
City of God. Translation by William M. Green. Cambridge University Press, 1963
The City of God. Translation by Gerald G. Walsh, S. J., et al. Introduction by Étienne Gilson. New York: Doubleday, Image Books, 1958.
The City of God. Translation by Marcus Dods. Introduction by Thomas Merton. New York: The Modern Library, a division of Random House, Inc., 1950. First published: 1871.
The City of God. Translation by John Healey. Introduction by Ernest Barker. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1945.
Of the Citie of God. Translation by John Healey. Notes by Juan Luis Vives. London: George Eld, 1610.