City of God

Editorial Reviews

• Product Description

  St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, is one of the central figures in the history of Christianity. City of Godis one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquentdefense of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brinkof collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, thearguments of the Greek philosophers and the revelations of the Bible.Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldlypolitics, it represents a dramatic turning point in the unfolding of Christian doctrine. The introduction by Gill Evans examines the text in the light ofcontemporary Greek and Roman thought and political change. Itdemonstrates the importance of religious and literary influences on St.Augustine and his significance as a Christian thinker. Author: Augustine of Hippo Translated by: Henry Bettenson Format: 1184 pages, paperback, 5.07 x 7.79 inches Publisher: Penguin Books ISBN: 9780140448948

• Amazon.com Review

  Augustine's City of God, a monumental work of religious lore, philosophy, and history, was written as a kind of literary tombstone for Roman culture. After the sack of Rome, Augustine wrote this book to anatomize the corruption of Romans' pursuit of earthly pleasures: "grasping for praise, open-handed with their money; honest in the pursuit of wealth, they wanted to hoard glory." Augustine contrasts his condemnation of Rome with an exaltation of Christian culture. The glory that Rome failed to attain will only be realized by citizens of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem foreseen in Revelation. Because City of God was written for men of classical learning--custodians of the culture Augustine sought to condemn--it is thick with Ciceronian circumlocutions, and makes many stark contrasts between "Your Virgil" and "Our Scriptures." Even if Augustine's prose strikes modern ears as a bit bombastic, and if his polarized Christian/pagan world is more binary than the one we live in today, his arguments against utopianism and his defense of the richness of Christian culture remain useful and strong. City of God is, as its final words proclaim itself to be, "a giant of a book." --Michael Joseph Gross