This is one of my favorite works. Yeah, I know you're skeptical, but here me out. I've begun my quest to read the basic works of western man beginning with Gilgamesh and in sequence reading through to the present. It's a lifelong ambition. I've read most of the ancient works of some repute, including Roman histories from Greek and Roman historians. When I arrived at 411 AD, I picked up The City of God. Shortly after the first sack of Rome, Augustine wrote it not as an apology for the claim that Christianity was responsible for the decay of Rome, but as a defense against that allegation. He then summarizes the histories as recorded to show internal corruption, incompetence, immorality and the quest for wealth caused the decay - not Christianity. I read the same material he did! That's way cool! I knew exactly what he was saying and with what facts he prosecuted his claim. Then he projected that even if the City of Rome were to fall, Christians can look forward ultimately to their City of God. A great book.

Doubtful whether I'll finish it before the Civitas Dei is made fully manifest at the eschaton, but might as well try!

Took almost a year to read, but worth it.

This is simply an initial reaction book review. Further and deeper thoughts will follow on a blog somewhere...

I have finished reading City of God. It is a massive book. It took me a year plus a few months to achieve this, albeit sometimes going weeks without peaking inside. This is one of the largest works from antiquity, and it's basically an education in a volume -- history, the theory of history, theology, biblical scholarship, pagan religion, philosophy, political philosophy, moral philosophy, Christian apologetics, and more, are all treated in this one, giant, compelling (at times, admittedly, dry) volume.

Augustine ostensibly sets out in this book, On the City of God Against the Pagans, to demonstrate the falsehood of polytheistic traditionalists' arguing that Christianity was the cause of Rome's sack at the hands of Alaric in 410; at least, that's what we always say Augustine sets out in this book. If it is, he clearly decided that the only way to do it was to set forth the 'two cities' -- the City of Man and the City of God, describing each, its origins, and its history, as well as dealing with the polytheist detractors head-on with his reading of Livy that observes that Rome had many disasters when she observed the pax deorum, and that many bad men prosper, so Christianity can't be to blame for 410.

Augustine's discussion of Roman history is a joy to read, for it presents us with an alternative reading -- God allowed Rome to prosper for his own designs, not due to anything Rome had done. This runs counter to the vision of history abroad amidst many both of the pagans and of the Christians who imagined history as 'good men prosper while bad men fail.'

This book will also throw you headlong into the Christian reading of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, as Augustine sets forth the parallel histories, from Adam to the reward of the saints in glory at the bodily resurrection. Here you are immersed in the story of Scripture but also always surrounded by how Augustine's keen intellect read and interpreted the text, seeking out its meaning meticulously. Modern scholars may disagree with Augustine's conclusions at times, but his keenness in seeking out the truth and working through difficult bits of the Bible will be eternally laudable.

City of God is not for the faint of heart. It is, as I say, large. It is also, figuratively speaking, heavy. You will have to think your way through this book. You will probably forget some of it as you move on to later parts. But its contribution to so much western theology and philosophy makes it worth the effort. If you want to think hard about history, theology, philosophy, if you want to exercise your brain and consider why the world is as it is, if you want to enter into the world of one of antiquity's greatest minds, if you want to see what an ancient tour-de-force in philosophy looks like, if you want to understand the fourth and fifth centuries -- you should read this book.

Denna bok är beryktad, och säger i många punkter emot de positioner den tar enligt ryktena. Den är överkänslosam, pratig, och tendensiös; förklenande mot motståndare, utan att kunna försvara den egna positionen med mer än petimeter-logik. Jag känner igen Luthers värsta sidor i texten, vilket naturligtvis inte kan läggas Augustinus till last, men ändå är talande kring varför den stryker en någorlunda sansad tänkare mothårs.

Nej, denna är nog en bok som bättre beundras i kulturell vördnad och faktisk okunskap, än den läses. Jag rekommenderar de som känner impulsen att motstå den.

"Daar zullen wij rusten en zien, zullen wij zien en liefhebben, zullen wij liefhebben en lofprijzen. Dat is wat er op het einde zonder einde zal zijn. Want welk ander einde is er voor ons dan het bereiken van dat koninkrijk, dat nooit een einde vindt?" (XXII.30)

Not an easy book, translated from the original Latin, to read. Augustine (354-430) discusses, in 22 books, two main themes. In the first half of the work (books I-X), he details the development of Roman paganism, refutes the famous philosophers of his day, and explains why the Greek and Roman gods, being demons, should not have been worshiped. In the second half (books XI-XXII) , he pours on the theology in tracing the parallel development of the earthly city (Rome) and the Heavenly City (the New Jerusalem). Those who worship the one true God go to heaven while those who don't go to hell.

Definitely a must read for every Christian!

I did like this book it's just that there were some parts that were harder than others for me to wrap my head around. I leave it to each individual to form their own opinions.

Free download available at Vol. I - Project Gutenberg.

Free download available at Vol. II - Project Gutenberg.

This is St. Augustine's magnum opus, written in the wake of the city of Rome's being captured and sacked by the Goths in the year 410. The remaining pagans blamed the event on the Romans having abandoned their traditional worship of the pagan gods for Christianity. This work is Augustine's refutation of that claim, among other things. The major theme is that on this earth there are 2 "cities" - the City of Man and the City of God, which coexist until the end of the world when Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. Throughout the work, Augustine continually digresses to discuss all kinds of side issues and concerns, historical, philosophical, theological, etc. The book presents a synthesis of Christianity with classical philosophy and culture which had an enormous influence in the subsequent Middle Ages and into modern times. Christian theology to this day has its roots in St. Augustine, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, for which reason some Eastern Orthodox have described the RC's and Protestants as being 2 sides of the same Augustinian coin (over against the Orthodox).

Ironically, I switched my major at Grinnell College from history to religion because of this book. We had just read Thucydides in the Historiography class, the last course required to complete the major, when Professor Kintner assigned 'De civitate Dei'. That weekend, opening the tome and beginning to read, I decided it was simply too much. Augustine's approach seemed to be psychotic polemics, not history. Being a junior and having accumulated a lot of religion credits almost by chance, I determined a switch was doable in the time remaining and that I'd learn more of the history I was interested in by making the switch.

Years later, working part-time for Ares Press, a publisher of books about the classics and ancient history, and seeking employment at a great books college which included 'De civitate Dei' in its reading list, I picked up the book again and this time read through the thing.

It wasn't fun, nor was it particularly interesting, but it did make a lot more sense that it would have when I was twenty. The Grinnell religion degree, the subsequent M.Div. and graduate program in philosophy all helped to prepare me for the thought-world of Augustine.