The City of God

City of God by Augustine of Hippo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Augustine’s wide-ranging apologetic work, The City of God, thoroughly refutes the Roman worldview and sets forth the Christian perspective as more reasonable and rewarding. As the city of Rome was sacked and the barbarians invaded, Augustine’s timely work propelled readers already questioning the invincibility of the Roman empire, to consider another option – the city of God.

The City of God is more detailed than I expected. He begins by tearing down the plausibility of the Roman gods. Piece by piece, he shows the contradictions in various myths and legends about them, using their own authorities as his sources. He does the same in the field of Philosophy. Augustine’s knowledge of Greek and Roman culture was vast. Modern apologists wondering how to “engage the culture” would do well to take Augustine as an example. He then lays out the Biblical story from Genesis to Revelation, emphasizing creation and the final judgment. He ends with a beautiful description of the beatific vision, contrasted with the punishment of the wicked.

Augustine is not without his flaws. He allows for the possibility of purgatory, and assumes that baptism automatically washes away original sin. It isn’t hard to see the trajectory toward the Roman Catholic sacramental system as a result. He also places too much emphasis on present day miracles as a reason to believe in the truth of Christianity. That one was a surprise to me – don’t hear that talked about much in connection with Augustine, but it’s right there in book 22, chapter 8. And he goes on for several pages about it.

He doesn’t come out and say this, but implied in Augustine’s overall structure is this thesis: the Christian story of God’s city is a better story than that of Rome. Besides being true where Rome’s story is full of holes and superstitions and outright lies, the city of God really will last forever. And the happiness that it brings far surpasses the happiness the Roman philosophers set before us for this world.



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