The City of God by Saint Augustine: Book Review

 "The earthly city glories in itself, the Heavenly City glories in the Lord." -Saint Augustine, "City of God."

Saint Augustine of Hippo was born in North Africa in the year 354 A.D. Although his mother, Saint Monica, was a devout Catholic who wanted nothing more than her son to be baptized, Augustine’s restless heart led him to explore other paths for his life.  From Manicheism, to philosophy, to professor of Rhetoric, to a Catholic, priest and then bishop of Hippo, Augustine made his mark on the world. Although he is probably most well-known for his autobiography, Confessions, it was really the City of God, that laid a foundation for Western theology.

The City of God, is a volume of twenty-two books, which were written as a response to some of the claims made by Augustine’s contemporaries; they put the blame on Christianity for the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire seemed to be invincible that when it fell, it sent shockwaves throughout the world, even to the Christian community. Saint Jerome once remarked, “If Rome has fallen, what could stand?”¹ Many questions arose from St. Augustine’s parishioners  and in the City of God, St. Augustine attempts to answer them. “Why did the Christians have to suffer with the pagans in the fall of the Empire?”² “Why does God extend mercy to the unjust?”³ Augustine answers all of these and much more in detail in his work. Augustine was knowledgeable on the myths by the Romans and the Greeks, as well as Plato, Virgil, and other philosophers of his day, and he often cites the myths or the philosophers to prove his point. If the City of God could be reduced to one point, it would be this: An earthly city, no matter how great and illustrious, is still an earthly city and is bound to pass away. The only city which will never pass away is the Heavenly City, the City of God.

The City of God can prove to be an intimidating book, and the task of reading it can be a daunting one. It is imperative to understand the turmoil and confusion during the  times with which Augustine lived and what inspired him to write this work. Before Rome fell, the Empire was divided, heresies such as Donatism and Pelagianism gained  a considerable following, and although Christianity was legalized, it was still a misunderstood religion.   Although he believed some things to be true which we know to be false today, i.e., that some souls are predestined to go to Hell, we must remember how he challenged the heretics of  his day and converted them, and how much a believer he was in the Divine Mercy and Divine Providence of God, and how he, in stark contrast to others, seemed to look beyond the horizons of this earthly city to the City of God which awaits us.

 [1]    Vidmar, John The Catholic Church through the Ages, a History  Paulist Press, New York, 2014. 68

²  Saint Augustine, The City of God, Book I, Chapter IX

³ The City of God, Book II, Chapter II