The City of God
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This article is about the work by Augustine. For the film, see City of God (movie)
CityOfGodManuscript.jpg
The City of God (Latin: De Civitate Dei, also known as De Civitate Dei contra Paganos: The City of God against the Pagans) was a Latin text written by Saint Augustine in the early 5th century which deals with issues concerning God, martyrdom, Jews, and other Christian philosophies.
Augustine wrote the treatise to explain Christianity's relationship with competing religions and philosophies, and to the Roman government with which it was increasingly intertwined. It was written at about the same time Rome was sacked by the Visigoths (410) which had left Romans in a deep state of shock. The title of the book was not by accident, Christianity according to Augustine found salvation in god in heaven and not in the city of earth.
Despite Christianity's designation as the official religion of the empire, Augustine declared its message to be spiritual rather than political. Christianity, he argued, should be concerned with the mystical, heavenly City of Jerusalem rather than with earthly politics. His theology supported the separation of Church and State that characterized Western European politics through the Middle Ages and beyond.
External links
Text of The City of God
- At "Christian Classics Ethereal Library": Full text (English) (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.html)
- At "New Advent": Full text (English) (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm)
- At "The Latin Library" Full text (Latin) (http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/august.html)
Texts on The City of God
- An introduction to The City of God by James J. O'Donnell (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine/civ.html)fr:La Cité de Dieu