City of God
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Written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in 410 and completed around 426 AD, Saint Augustine’s City of God is one of the great works of Western thought. Against those who blamed Christianity for Rome’s decline, Augustine sets out a sweeping interpretation of history, contrasting the earthly city, shaped by pride and the pursuit of worldly power, with the City of God, founded on divine love. Moving from Roman religion and classical philosophy to providence, justice and the destiny of the human soul, he reconsiders the meaning of empire and the foundations of political life.
Vast in scope yet driven by urgent questions, City of God is at once a defence of Christianity, a meditation on human nature and an ambitious philosophy of history. Augustine draws on Scripture and the classical inheritance to challenge the belief that any earthly civilisation can offer lasting security or fulfilment. Its influence reaches through medieval theology and political thought into later debates about power, community and the purposes of history.
From the book
"Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self."
— Saint Augustine, City of God
On City of God
“The City of God is the most influential of Augustine’s works.”
— Gerard O’Daly, Augustine’s City of God: A Reader’s Guide, Oxford University Press