Exploring The City of God

 

For in the ruin of the city it was stone and timber which fell to the ground; but in the lives of those Romans we saw the collapse not of material but of moral defences, not of material but of spiritual grandeur. The lust that burned in their hearts was more deadly than the flame which consumed their dwellings.

-City of God, Saint Augustine

Augustine started writing a mammoth work - City of God, in 413 AD, as the world was in a tumultuous time. Rome had fallen at the hands of the barbaric Goths (from the German north) and someone was to be blamed, the Christians. Christianity had been growing as the fall of Rome was unfolding. Augustine was a Bishop by that time in Northern Africa. He started writing this book as a response to the blame Christianity was receiving due to the reasoning that because they didn't worship the gods of Rome, it angered them.

Through a series of organized thoughts in books and chapters, Augustine places his argument and reasons using historical, theological, and philosophical means to build his case. In it, he contrasts the city of God with the city of man, starting with Adam who occupied the city of God. When sin entered the world, it thus began the city of man, leaving the rest of history to the present day intermingling the two cities.

The city of man represents the love of self (inward seeking only ones own selfish desires). And he explains with historical details how the fall of Rome was on a path long before the birth of Christ. The moral degeneration of the empire caused the collapse of the empire, not Christianity. The Roman world had once held high standards, but their demise was in the fact that they lost all that objective sense of morality. It came upon them not as any loss of a material deficit, but in a spiritual and moral collapse across the society. It became the norm to murder politicians and anyone you didn't agree with to gain power. The loss of respect of leadership and the human person degraded the values once held. Yet even as evil is done, human nature still has its own worth and the evil is evidence of God's existence, for evil presupposes good. But good doesn't presuppose evil.

In contrast, the city of God is founded on the love of God, dwelling in the virtues of love, humility, and charity. Augustine recognizes the importance of separation of church and state, noting that the church has a higher calling, that is, the salvation of souls. Further, the church should not seek power of the state to push its doctrine. 

Both of the cities pass along into our present time, intermingled, interwoven. But eventually the city of man will be judged and destroyed in final judgment, while the city of God will bloom fully being in the forever presence of God. Augustine covers topics such as creation, time, human freedom, forgiveness, sin, grace, happiness, and divine knowledge of the future. He brings 400,000 words into a developed argument that emphasize how the love of God is what is worth living for, and the earthly life is a small portion of our overall existence. Our purpose is fulfilled when we love God with all our hearth, soul, mind, and strength. But when we live through love of self, we lead lives that head to destruction due to glorifying earthly love and materials things. The lasting community which is rooted in faith and outward looking love is that which encourages spiritual growth and true understand of human connection and purpose.