City of God
A theological and philosophical classic that explores suffering, virtue, God's providence, and the contrast between the earthly city and the City of God.
Themes that emerged
Date
- Cerca 426-427 AD
Summary
Written after the Sack of Rome in AD 410, City of God begins by defending Christianity against the claim that it caused the empire’s downfall. Augustine argues that God remains sovereign even amid suffering and that earthly disasters should lead us to repentance rather than despair. Throughout Book I, he explores the purpose of suffering, the right use of wealth, the importance of virtue, and the truth that a person’s holiness is rooted in the soul and the will rather than in outward circumstances.
Highlights & Reflections
Book I
Into Juno’s temple were gathered the spoils rescued from burning temples and seized from the gods, not to be returned to the defeated, but divided among the victors. Into the Christian churches, by contrast, everything belonging to them was carefully and reverently returned, even when found far from its original place.
why did God’s compassion extend even to the ungodly and ungrateful? The answer is simply that this is the nature of His mercy, since He daily “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Related Scripture
- Matthew 5:45
- Romans 2:4
- 2 Peter 3:9
- Wisdom 11
Yet even now, in the way temporal things are distributed, God makes His involvement plainly visible. If every sin were met with immediate, obvious punishment, nothing would appear to be held in reserve for the final judgment; but if no sin ever received a clearly divine consequence, people would conclude that divine providence doesn’t exist at all. The same logic applies to life’s good things: if God did not visible bestow them on at least some of those who ask, we would say these blessings were not His to give; and if He gave them to everyone who sought them, we would assume they were the only rewards of serving Him, which would make us not devout, but merely greedy and self-interested.
Related Scripture
- Ecclesiastes 8:11
- Psalm 73
- Luke 16
- Romans 2
while good and bad people suffer alike, we shouldn’t conclude that there’s no difference between them simply because what they suffer looks the same.
My thoughts
How often do we wonder why bad things happen to good or innocent people? Why does it feel like that bad people have no qualms? St Augustine mentions later in the text an interesting analogy: “The same fire makes gold shine brilliantly while reducing chaff to smoke” I guess the point that St. Augustine is trying to make is that suffering exists, but suffering in the right people (good) may reveal what already exists in that person.
Related Scripture
- James 1
- 1 Peter 1
- Romans 5
This is why, under identical suffering the wicked curse God and blaspheme, while the good pray and give thanks. What matters enormously is not what hardships are endured, but what kind of person endures them.
My thoughts
To pick up on the previous quote, this is exactly what I was trying to say without being smart enough to say it properly.
Related Scripture
- James 1
- Romans 5
- 1 Peter 4
First, they must humbly acknowledge the very sins that provoked God to fill the world with such terrible disasters. Even if they were far removed from the excesses of wicked, immoral, and godless people, they couldn’t honestly claim to be so free of fault that they deserved to escape even these temporary sufferings.
My thoughts
This is a hard one to grasp. Applied broadly to adults, I can see Augustine’s point that none of us are completely without sin before God. But reading this also raises another question for me: why do children, and others who seem undeserving of such suffering, experience terrible hardships? While meditating on this passage I was reminded of Ezekiel 18, where God teaches that each person is responsible for their own sin rather than bearing the guilt of another. That seems to challenge the idea that suffering is always a direct consequence of personal wrongdoing. Jesus also addresses this in John 9 and Luke 13, pointing away from simple cause-and-effect explanations and toward a deeper trust in God’s providence.
Related Scripture
- Ezekiel 18
- John 9
- Luke 13
Too often, we deliberately blind ourselves to opportunities for teaching, warning, or even rebuking them, either because we dread the effort, fear offending them, or worry about losing valuable friendships that might help our careers or protect our worldly interests, which our greed wants to gain or our weakness fears to lose.
My thoughts
The context of this passage is about God striking the earth due to sin - pride, indulgence, green, cursed wickedness… The reason why this passage made me stop, is because often I decide to not say something because I don’t want to ‘bother’ the other person’s freedom. But Augustine mentions that we should point out when someone is committing wrong. But there’s also the risk of becoming self-righteous, so we should rebuke but with humility, gently and with patience.
Related Scripture
- Galatians 6:1
- 2 Timothy 2
- Ephesians 4:15
Wealth
When the apostle says, “They that will be rich fall into temptation,” and so on, what he condemns is not the possession of wealth but the craving for it. Elsewhere he says, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to share; laying up in store for them a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life”
My thoughts
I have seen this topic appear in the past on other books, as well Scriptures. The danger of having a lot is to be blind by greed. Where is the wrong in having a lot if we give freely and don’t see it as a loss? The story of Zacheus comes to mind, he had a lot as he was a tax collector but he gave all he had and was a changed man after the encounter with Jesus when He called him from the tree.
As it says in the passage above, the issue is the temptation and craving of it, but if wealth produces good works, all the better. Although, I think - and this is subjective - that those that are wealthy have a higher responsibility to be even more charitable - after all, all we have is given by God.
Related Scripture
- Matthew 25
- James 5
- 2 Corinthians 8-9
- Acts 2
- Acts 4
Sanctity of the body and soul
The virtue that makes a life good is seated in the soul, and from there it governs the body’s members, which becomes holy through the holiness of the will. So long as the will remains firm and unbroken, nothing that another person does to the body, or with the body, counts as any fault of the one who suffers it, provided that person cannot escape without sinning.
My thoughts
This made me wonder, thinking about sin, the issue is not what others may do to us - which may cause us to break some sort of vow or purity due to their actions - but what we do with our free will. The context of this passage was how some Christians got defiled, from my understanding it seems that Augustine is saying that if after such horrible situation we decide to break our vows and fall into sin of our own volition after, then that is on us. Obviously, I am saying this in a black and white way and not considering any psychological impact that such act may have done.
Related Scripture
- Matthew 15
- Mark 7
- Romans 8
when the soul’s sanctity remains unbroken, the body’s sanctity is not lost even if the body is violated; and equally, when the soul’s sanctity is destroyed, the body’s sanctity is lost even if the body itself remains physically untouched.
My thoughts
With the context of the previous quote, and my own thoughts, it feels that this is what I was saying. No matter what happen to us, our communion with God cannot be destroyed by what others do to us, though it can be wounded by our own free choices.
Related Scripture
- 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
- 2 Corinthians 4:16–18
- Psalm 51:10
a soul guided by God and His wisdom rather than by bodily desire will never consent to the craving aroused in its own flesh.
Related Scripture
- Galatians 5
- Romans 8
- Colossians 3