The city of God

by Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo.

Other authorsMarcus Dods
Paper Book, 2009

Father Stubna's Recommendations - test note

Contains index.

Status

Available

Call number

BR65 .A64 E5 2013

Publication

Peabody, Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, [2009]

Physical description

xix, 804 p.; 23 cm

Barcode

3000002858

User reviews

LibraryThing member Carolfoasia
Oh my word, this is a masterpiece. I had read his Confession years ago, but I wish I had read this first. I would have been more interesting in finding out about his life after reading this. It is rich in doctrine. After reading Greek/Roman Lives and all the conflict and stife, it was lovely to sit
Show More
down with a man who knew God, the Word, and knew how superior God is to the Greek/Roman gods! It dovetailed so nicely with my time in the prophets this year too! So many things come from this book. If you want to understand Western Civilization, this book is a must read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
I must be wierd. I liked City of God and read it straight through, but couldn't finish 'Confessions'.
LibraryThing member heidip
A monumental book that took me 5 1/2 months to finish. In this book Augustine refutes each of the Roman gods and beliefs with wit and sarcasm. Then, he traces the City of God through the line of Adam and Seth down to his present day. He also traces the City of Man through Cain up to the Ancient
Show More
Romans. Along the way he debates the topics of creation, original sin, Christ the mediator and sacrifice, grace, suffering, judgment, a literal hell with literal fire, the bodily resurrection of our physical bodies into spiritual bodies (not spirits), true happiness, true peace, heaven and a New Jerusalem. He spends lots of time refuting the Platonist philosophers. You'd think he lived centuries later than he did since he refutes reincarnation. He discusses free will and God's foreknowledge along with the idea of various ages in the history of the City of God. The seventh age is our Sabbath rest. Probably the most difficult book I've ever read just because of the sheer size and scope of the book-- not to mention the difficulty of the topics.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ostrom
My goodness, what a difficult book. To some degree, it was a response to the fact that Rome was sacked by barbarians.
LibraryThing member a1abwriter
So far I've read 300 pages of how Rome was the best and worst place every but, its picking up unfortunately putting it down and reading something else for right now(update)Finished it and I would say skip the first 300 pages (unless you want a Ancient Roman history lesson) and dive right into the
Show More
Diamond of Christian theology that this is. An amazing read and piercing right to the soul of matters STILL relevant to today.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Balnaves
In the dying days of the Roman Empire, a bishop from Numidia (present-day Algeria) sat down to write a manifesto for Christianity. The result was City of God, a cornerstone of Christian philosophy and one of the most influential religious works ever written.

Just three years after the sack of Rome
Show More
by the Goths, Augustine refuted the claim that Christianity was to blame for this act, and wrote an eloquent and influential defence of his faith. He saw history as an age-old struggle between good and evil, symbolised by the pagan, earthly city of human desires and the City of God. Where then should Christians live and how should they live together? The answer, for Augustine, was not a utopia or a theocracy. No society on earth can ever be perfect; the true home for Christians is heaven, the City of God. ‘There shall we rest and see, see and love, love and praise … For what other end do we propose to ourselves than to attain to the kingdom of which there is no end?’

Written in lucid, beautiful prose, and touching on matters ranging from Plato’s philosophy to the Last Judgment, this extraordinary work bears witness to a seminal period of Christianity. Our edition has been designed to enhance the reading experience in every way. It uses the late 19th-century translation by the Reverend Marcus Dods, widely considered to be definitive. We have commissioned two new introductions from leading prelates of Britain’s Catholic and Anglican Churches. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, explains the work’s abiding theological influence while Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, shows how Augustine pioneered a new concept of history, which has shaped our view of time ever since. A structural synopsis provides a detailed breakdown of the matter of each book, and there is a comprehensive 36-page index. The illustrations have been selected from illuminated manuscripts of the work, notably from the late 15th-century copy in the Bibliothèque de Mâcon.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JVioland
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,
Show More
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.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Scarchin
I'm not going to pretend to have understood more than 10% of what I read/listened to.

My recommendation to any layperson who is planning on reading this is - don't.

If I could do it again, I would read it as part of a class or read something more accessible that summarized the essential and relevant
Show More
points.
Show Less
LibraryThing member matthewgray
a theological classic, a huge work. Best parts are where he discusses issues of predestination, the source of evil, the history and source of pagan religions and the reality of demonic powers. Also his discussion and interpretation of Revelation 20 and the millennium; and his extensive discussions
Show More
on Genesis. In some places it might be alleged that he held views akin to Roman Catholicism in regard to purgatory and the sacramental and ecclesiastical system. However, this is not a major part of this work and much of it must be understood in the context of the 4th and 5th century, not in the context of Roman Catholicism from the 13th century onwards. The major weakness I feel in this work is his over-emphasis on the immortality of the soul, something which he admits is in line with Platonist philosophy. This is not established Biblically. He is morally conservative, in a liberalistic pagan society, this we need to take note of in the church today. Overall this is a great work to read, written by a great man, although let us remember he was still but a man. Very glad to have read it - worth the effort.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mattries37315
As a backlash against Christianity grew after the sack of Roman in 410 AD, Augustine of Hippo took up his pen to respond to pagans and philosophers as well as inform Christians about their priorities between heaven and earth. The City of God is one of the cornerstones of medieval Christianity and
Show More
thought that even influences the world today.

Augustine divides his work into 22 books divided into two parts. The first part was to refute the accusation by pagans that the sack of Rome in 410 AD was punishment for abandoning the gods of Rome for Christianity. Throughout the first ten books of his work, Augustine critiques the Roman religion and philosophy from the multitude of deities and the contradictory beliefs related to them as well as the conflicting philosophies that supported and opposed them. The second part, consisting of the last twelve books of the work, discussed the titular City of God and how it relates with the city of man—the present world.

Augustine’s critique of pagan religion and philosophy in the first part of the book is honestly the highlight of the book. Not only did he defend Christianity but also exposed the contradictions within pagan religious beliefs a well as numerous schools of philosophies which defended or opposed those beliefs. If there was one downside within the first part, it would have been the troubling theological ideas that Augustine espoused that seemed more based on Plato than the Bible. However, it was in the second part of book that Augustine’s faulty theology truly became apparent so much so that I had to begin skimming through the text to prevent myself from contradicting Augustine in my head instead of reading. While not all of Augustine’s theology is wrong, God’s omniscience and human free will is an example, some of the defining examples I want to cover is the following: the immortality of the soul and eternal burning in hell connected to it, the claims that passages from the Old Testament are analogies for Christ and the church, that all of Psalms are prophecies written by David, the angels were created on the third day, and many more. It became too frustrating to stay focused and I admittedly might have skimmed over some of Augustine’s better theological arguments, but it was that or tossing the book.

City of God is both the refutation of pagan Roman practices and the theological understanding of Augustine for Christian believers. It’s importance for medieval Christianity and thought cannot be underscored enough, however that does not mean that every reader should not look at it critically.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ireneattolia
love yourself and avoid at all costs
LibraryThing member abvm
This whole series is excellent
LibraryThing member stillatim
Any star rating is entirely meaningless. This is a ludicrous book, astonishing in scope, and in desperate need of an editor to make sense of it. I simply can't; it's overwhelming. Arid stretches of rhetoric suddenly cough up a fascinating philosophical argument, which then itself belches forth more
Show More
arid rhetoric, and so on. Augustine takes the ancient pagan beliefs to pieces by showing that they simply can't be rationalized--then immediately forgets the obvious lesson and tries to rationalize Christianity in order to defend it. Who the hell am I to criticize, though?

That said, I'd much rather read about this book than read it again. Never before have I felt the ancient's wisdom so strongly: this is not a book, this is 22 books, and trying to read it as one is the definition of hubris.
Show Less

Original publication date

426

Original language

Latin
Page: 0.2276 seconds