Aurelius Augustinius [St. Augustine]. The City of God. A.D. 410; Translation 1887; Edited by Philip Schaff, Translated by Marcus Dods, Monergism Books, 2021.
Sooner or later I had to read The City of God. Augustine is considered one of the greatest and certainly most influential Christian writers in history. This is often considered his magnum opus. Protestants and Catholics, Arminians, Calvinists, and Lutherans all claim him. Let us see what he has to offer.
One note about this translation: The editor and translator both spell his name as Augustin. I have told my students that when they get to college, the serious academics pronounce his name as uh-GUST-in with the accent on the second syllable. In English this distinguishes him from Augustine (AH-gus-teen), the first missionary to the English. This edition takes the obvious next step to spell his name closer to the way English speaking scholars pronounce it. Since his name in Latin in Augustinius, it makes little difference.
The overall theme of this long work is simply that among the people of the earth there are two spiritual kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World (e.g. Revelation 11:15). One is ruled by God, the Creator and Father of the Lord Jesus, the other by the devil, who took authority when Adam sinned.
Augustine notes the legality in the story of the Fall. Adam was given authority over the world (Genesis 1:27-28). When Adam yielded to the devil in the Garden, he yielded his authority or dominion to the devil. The earth has been a spiritual battleground ever since.
Augustine spends a lot of time analyzing the significance of the Fall, the nature of angels and demons, and the false religions and philosophies that many people believe in.
Typical of ancient works, The City of God is divided into books, and then each book is divided into chapters. Traditional reference notation includes three numbers representing book.chapter.paragraph.
The first ten of the twenty-two books deal with the polytheistic and philosophical schools of Augustine’s day. Anyone familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, especially as told by Vergil and Ovid, would have no problem understanding his writings on the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian polytheism of his day. He also deals with the writings of various philosophers, especially Varro, Porphyry, and Plato.
He challenges the consistency and contradictions in the polytheistic stories, and demonstrates logical problems in them. He takes an interesting and respectful approach. He treats the mythology as serious history and quotes frequently from them. Since many people still took the myths seriously at the time he was writing, this worked effectively. As I read this, I began saying to myself, Augustine really is a genius.
Modern readers who were unfamiliar with the ancient mythology might find this drawn out too much. However, millions, if not billions, today still subscribe to polytheistic religions, especially in south and east Asia. If someone were to do what Augustine did and apply his reasoning to Hinduism and Buddhism and their offshoots, it could be powerful. (I understand that the late Ravi Zacharias did this some in his Jesus Among Other Gods, but I have not read that book.)
Throughout the book, Augustine also notes various philosophical schools. He shows why of the schools, the Platonic school makes the most sense. It is also very close to Christianity or Judaism since it shows the necessity for a “prime mover” or Creator who also is a lawgiver. I had heard from several sources that the first chapter of the Gospel of John was written for Platonists (“In the beginning was the Word…All things were created by Him”). Augustine shows a connection, but also explains why Plato falls short in some of his beliefs. Parts reminded me of the comment repeated in Lewis’s The Last Battle: “It’s all in Plato. What are they teaching in schools these days?”
Augustine also notes various ancient writers, including ones from India, that believe in reincarnation of some kind or another (even Vergil). He demonstrates problems with this system as well. His basic premise, which is orthodox Jewish and Christian teaching, is simple, “The gods of the nations are idols” (cf. Psalm 96:5) and “Idols are demons” (cf. I Corinthians 10:20). Some translations, apparently including the Septuagint, which Augustine refers to, Psalm 96:5 says “The idols of the nations are demons” period. This represents the two kingdoms directly again.
The next ten books are a survey of Biblical history beginning with the rebellion of Satan. There are some interesting discussions of free will and the consequences of sin and rebellion against God. He attempts to answer many questions, especially those posed by philosophers who question Christianity. He then focuses on the history of redemption as recorded in the Bible, noting Adam, Noah, Abraham, and various judges, kings, and prophets.
He includes a detailed discussion on the origin of death, and what the Bible says and implies about what happens when we die. That, of course, involves the two kingdoms—whose kingdom do we acknowledge and follow? In doing so, Augustine takes us through the Book of Revelation and the nature of eternal punishment and eternal salvation. Augustine seems neutral on Purgatory: He notes a few verses that might suggest some sins can be purged after death, but how that happens is unclear. Like anyone writing about redemption, he does spend time quoting not only from Revelation, but from the Epistle to the Hebrews.
I can see why both Calvinists and Arminians claim him. He does discuss redemption in the light of predestination, which appeals to the Calvinists. However, he also warns about falling away, something more in line with Catholic, Arminian, and Lutheran teaching.
With all these discussions, Augustine’s approach is philosophical. For example, he discusses at some length the question of the salvation of the soul and the resurrection of the body. Some Gnostics and Platonists consider the resurrection of the body anathema since they see the body as what causes people to sin and is, therefore, not salvageable. He shows how Christ’s redemption includes the body since Jesus came in the flesh and redeemed us through the death of his body on the cross.
He also spends some time enumerating different miracles happening in the name of the Lord in his day. This would seem to challenge modern Cessationists and appeal to both traditional Catholics and modern Pentecostals and Charismatics.
Above all, Augustine wants his readers to think. And not only think, but think about what is true and what their eternal destiny might be. Fascinating and wide-ranging.
Whose kingdom do you belong to?