St.
Augustine
The rise of Christianity vs. The fall of Rome
- Rome was known as the “Eternal City” (for it
seemed eternal, universal and imperishable)
until 410 AD when the Visigoths came (under
the command of Alaric) and sacked the said
city.
- “its destruction was more than a political
revolution”
- military helplessness was not the cause
- Romans chose monarchical imperialism
over republicanism
- too much wealth but there was loss of
faith
- materialism and worldly power
- unwillingness and inability to solve social
conflicts (poverty and slavery)
* ”The lesson of the fifth century is that an empire
can be razed from the earth, and humanity
barbarized and dehumanized.”
- When Rome was sacked…
1. Pagans believed that it was the fault of Christians.
*Romans sought to wipe out Christianity in the
second half of the third century not as a religion
but because they thought that it was an
attempt to build a state within a state. (but it
still prevailed)
*Christianity had been celebrated in the state
from 313 AD and after 80 years, it became the
official religion.
*paganism and polytheism was prohibited
* Christians were known for their “un-Roman
disloyalty” (the disregarded loyalty to Rome as
the first loyalty
* “From the traditional, pagan, upper-class
Roman viewpoint, the Christian qualities of
otherworldliness, meekness, pacifism, disregard
for public affairs, and contempt for revered
national deities had been persistently sapping
the strength of Rome”
2. Political-minded Romans (who did not take
religion much seriously) believed that there would
not be any discord and conflict if everyone showed
respect to the ultimate authority of
Rome/personified imperial divinity.
3. Christians (esp the newly-converted ones) began
to question whether the official alliance of the
church and state was an advantage after all.
* “If Rome was not strong enough to safeguard its
own existence against heathen tribes, how could it
be the source of worldly power that the Church
needed in spreading Christianity?”
Life of St. Augustine
- Born in Souk Ahras, Numidia (now Algeria) in
354 AD
*Numidia (although situated in North Africa) was
considered a Roman province
- His mother (St. Monica) was a devout Christian
and had a strong influence on Augustine in his
early years
- His father was a pagan (but later converted to
Christianity on his deathbed)
- When he got older, he subscribed to the
paganism of his father, later on to
Manicheanism and approached a hedonistic
life.
- When he returned to Italy, he listened to the
sermons of St. Ambrose and decided to get back
to Christianity. He made a formal conversion in
387 AD
- He became the Bishop of Hippo in 395 (and
stayed there until his death in 430)
- The pagan claims that ascribed the fall of Rome
to the rise of Christianity inspired him to write
the City of God.
City of God (De Civitate Dei)
- written in 413-426 AD
- consisted of 22 books
- set out to answer two main questions:
- the rebuttal of paganism (pagan
qualities: contempt for spiritual values,
smugness, pride, injustice)
- Augustine’s vision of the heavenly city
and the earthly city (civitas terrena)
* his use of the word civitas should not be
interpreted in a political sense for he was a
theologian and rather interested in God,
Faith and Salvation (ways of life >
organization of life)
- the heavenly city is not the church; the earthly
city is not the state.
 THE CONFLICT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
- According to St. Augustine, the struggle between
good and evil in the world is the reflection of the
conflicts within the individual human being.
> Plato – idea of the complex structure of the human
soul: reason, courage, appetite (representing 3 types
of men and 3 ways of living)
- Justice – main concept of Plato’s Republic: “an
individual is just if the elements of his soul are
rightly ordered, he will also act justly in his relations
 with others by staying in his own station, by living
the kind of life he was meant to live.”
- St. Augustine transformed that meaning into a
religious one: the essence of “justice is the relation
between man and God”, from which the relation
between man and man will follow.
 JUSTICE – THE FOUNDATION OF THE STATE
- “Justice being taken away, what are kingdoms but
great robberies? For what are robberies themselves but
kingdoms?”
- ruled by an authority
- held together by the pact of confederacy
- take possession of cities
- subdue people
*seized pirate to Alexander the Great: “What thou
meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it
with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who
dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.”
- between kingdoms and robbers, the difference is
qualitative not quantitative
*without justice, there can be no peace
 THE TRUE HAPPINESS OF THE RULER
- comforts of the sorrowful life in the earthly city: being
able to rule for a long time, dying from a peaceful
death, being able to subdue enemies and hostile
citizens rising against them
-true happiness of the ruler: “if they can make their
power the handmaid of His majesty by using it for the
possible extension of His worship”
- rule JUSTLY
- not lifted up by the praises of those who worship them
and remember that they are men
- slow to punish, ready to pardon
- do all these “not through ardent desire of empty glory,
but through love of eternal felicity, not neglecting to
offer to true God for their sins, the sacrifices of humility,
contrition and prayer.”
 CONFLICT AND PEACE IN THE EARTHLY CITY
 THE TWO CITIES & THE TWO TYPES OF MAN
>Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (The visible (world of
shadows) & invisible world (world of forms)) =
Augustine’s De Civitate Dei (The Earthly & Heavenly
City)
1. The City of God – foundation of order
- the heavenly city – a way of life dedicated to the
service of God
-formed by the love of God, even to the contempt of
self
- predestined to reign eternally with God
- includes those who live according to God, the angels
preceding the creation of man and the saintly elect
(communion sanctorum)
- “church” – (“mystical” - symbolic) serves as the
agency for men who are worthy of entry in heaven
- part of heavenly city that “sojourns on
earth and lives by faith, lives like a captive
and stranger in the earthly city”
- “while it sojourns on earth, calls citizen out
of all nations, and gathers together a society
of pilgrims in all languages, not scrupling
about diversities in the manners, laws and
institutions whereby earthly peace is secured
and maintained.”
- Invisible Church of God’s Elect (those who
are yet to be converted) ???
- Visible Church – true believers
2. The City of Man
- the earthly city – community of the unrighteous
- the lust for power predominates, incarnation of sin
-formed by the love of men
- predestined to suffer eternal punishment with the
devil
-“society of the impious” (societas imporium) which
includes the fallen angels and human beings who “live
after the flesh”, sinful members of the church,
excluding the righteous citizen of the state.
*earthly city – antithesis of any value
*state – has a positive value
*mankind = original sin from Adam and Eve
*Cain – belonged to the city of man; being the first-
born, practically built the city of man, slew his own
brother
*Abel – belonged to the city of God; being the
“sojourner”, built none, and the city of the saints is
above
- earthly city – not everlasting, often divided by
litigations, wars and quarrels, leading to
victories that could either be life-destroying or
short-lived
- the act of wars is just/righteous = “But the
things which this city desires cannot justly be
said to be evil, for it is itself, in its own kind,
better than all other human good. It desires
earthly peace for the sake of enjoying earthly
goods, it makes wars in order to attain peace.”
 THE LUST FOR POWER IN THE EARTHLY CITY
* Rome - “the first walls were stained with a
brother’s blood; Remus was slain by his brother
Romulus
*there is no difference between the foundation
of Rome and the foundation of the earthly city.
*except that both Remus and Romulus
belonged to the earthly city, both desired to
have the glory of founding the Roman republic.
*Cain belonged to the earthly city, Abel
belonged to the city of God
*”The wicked war with the wicked, the good
war with the wicked, but with the good, good
men cannot war.”
 LIMITATIONS OF SOCIAL LIFE
- “the life of the wise men must be social”
- human life is full of slights, suspicions, quarrels,
war – evil.
- these things are present in relationships –
family and friendships
- Cicero “there are no snares more dangerous
than those who lurk under the guise of duty or
the name of the relationship.”
- “ a man’s foes are those of his own household”
 SHORTCOMINGS OF HUMAN JUSTICE
- “What shall I say of these judgments which men
pronounce on men… Melancholy and
lamentable judgments they are, since the
judges are men who cannot discern the
consciences of those at their bar…”
- “…compelled to put innocent witnesses to
torture to ascertain the truth regarding the
crimes of other men.”
- Ignorance of the judge frequently involves an
innocent person in suffering.
- The accused is put to torture, and though
innocent, makes false confessions about oneself
- Judge doesn’t have any intentions to harm; but
ignorance compels him, and society claims him
as a judge (office/role)
 THE MISERY OF WAR
- Wage war because of other’s wrongdoings
- "This wrongdoing, even though it gave no rise to
war, would still be a matter of grief to man
because it is man’s wrongdoing.”
 Circles of Human Society
1. House
2. City
3. World
- Larger; full of dangers
- Man is separated from man by different of
languages
- “For their common nature is no help to
friendliness when they are prevented by
diversity of language…”
-
 THE OBJECTIVE OF WAR: PEACE
- “If there is no man who does not wish to be
joyful, neither is there any one who does not
wish to have peace.”
- Peace- end sought for by war
- No man seeks war by making peace
- Peace is interrupted not because of hatred of
peace but only to change it to a kind of peace
that suits them better (ex: robbers)
- At home, there is peace with wife and children
because of their obedience—this is a source of
pleasure to him
- Peace cannot be maintained at home unless all
members are subjected to one head
- “All men desire to have peace with their own
circle whom they wish to govern…”; then impose
on them his own laws of peace
- Pride- impose rule on its own, abhors peace of
God, loves own peace
- Peace of unjust men is not worthy to be called
peace, in comparison with the peace of the just
- Follow order so that everything has peace
Ex:
body hanging downwards -> disturbs
peace of body -> painful
dead -> doesn’t go through embalming
process -> hurts senses
- If laws of God are observed, then peace will be
administered
 THE TRANQUILITY OF ORDER IN THE UNIVERSE
1. Peace of body- consists in duly proportioned
arrangement of its parts
2. Peace of irrational soul- harmonious repose of
appetites
3. Peace of rational soul- harmony of knowledge
and action
4. Peace of body and soul- well-ordered and
harmonious life and health of the living creature
5. Peace between man and God- well-ordered
obedience of faith to eternal law
 6. Peace between man and man- well-ordered
concord
7. Domestic peace- well-ordered concord between
the ruler and those who obey
8. Civil peace- similar concord among citizens
9. Peace of celestial city- perfectly ordered and
harmonious enjoyment of God, and of one
another in God
- Peace of all things is the tranquility of order
- Order- distribution which allots things equal and
unequal, each to its own place
- “There may be life without pain, while there
cannot be pain without some kind of life…”
- “There may be peace without war, but there
cannot be war without some kind of peace,
because war supposes the existence of some
natures to wage it, and these natures cannot
exist without peace of one kind or another.”
- “There cannot be a nature in which there is no
good.” (ex: devil- not really evil by nature; made
evil by being perverted)
- Punish the evil act, not the person; find the good
in people
- During the final punishment, it is just/reasonable
for the wicked and the godless to bewail the loss
of the natural advantages they enjoyed
- God gave everything we need; earth as greatest
ornament
*all who made good use of it -> will
receive more- peace of immortality and
glory and honor in an endless life
*those who used it badly -> lose and not
receive anything
 RULERS AS SERVANTS OF THE RULED
>Two Precepts of the Divine Master
1. Love of God
2. Love of neighbor
- Man must love God, himself, and his neighbor
- He who loves God himself -> follows that he
must endeavor to get his neighbor to love God as
well
- Well-ordered concord
1. Man must injure no one
2. Do good to everyone he can reach
- “Those who rule serve those whom they seem to
command…”
 LIBERTY AND SLAVERY
- Slavery- the result of sin
- “Everyone who doeth sin is the servant of sin.”
- If slaves cannot be freed by their masters, they
can make themselves free by serving not in
crafty fear, but faithful love until all
unrighteousness pass away, and all principality
every human power be brought to nothing, and
God be all in all
 EQUITABLE RULE
- Father/ pater familias
- Head of the household; in
accordance with natural order
- Ought to frame his domestic rule in
accordance with the law of the city
- True father should punish sin in the
household so that it can be
corrected right away; restrains the
sinner to commit it again
- House ought to be the beginning or
the element of the city; domestic
peace has a relation to civic peace
-
 SUPRANATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE HEAVENLY
CITY ON EARTH
- Families that do not live by faith -> seek
their peace in the earthly advantages of this
life
- Families which live by faith -> look for those
eternal blessing which are promised
- Both families use earthly things but widely
different when it comes to their aims in
using them
1. Earthly city – invite different gods
2. Heavenly city- only one God; “latreia or
Him alone”
- “When we shall have reached that peace,
this mortal life shall give place to one that is
eternal…”
- “Our body shall be no more this animal
body…”