Everything about City Of God totally explained
The City of God (
Latin:
De Civitate Dei, also known as
De Civitate Dei contra Paganos, "The City of God against the
Pagans") is a book written in
Latin by
Augustine of Hippo in the early
5th century, dealing 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 soon after
Rome was sacked by the
Visigoths in
410. This event left Romans in a deep state of shock, and many saw it as punishment for abandoning their
Roman religion. It was in this atmosphere that Augustine set out to provide a consolation of Christianity, writing that it was the City of God that would ultimately triumph — symbolically, Augustine's eyes were fixed on
heaven, a theme repeated in many Late Antiquity Christian art forms.
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 (the
New Jerusalem) rather than with Earthly politics.
The book presents human
history as being a conflict between what Augustine calls the City of Man and the City of God (a conflict that's destined to end in victory of the latter). The City of God is marked by people who forgo earthly pleasure and dedicate themselves to the promotion of Christian values. The City of Man, on the other hand, consists of people who have strayed from the City of God. The two cities are not meant to represent any actual places or organizations, though Augustine clearly thought that the Christian Church was at the heart of the City of God.
While the book is framed by discussion of these themes, it's largely made up of various digressions on philosophical subjects and presentations of flaws in pagan religions upon which Augustine wished to comment.
