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    The City of God (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
    Unavailable
    The City of God (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
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    The City of God (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
    Ebook1,908 pages28 hours

    The City of God (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

    By Saint Augustine and Kim Paffenroth

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    No book except the Bible itself had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than City of God. Since medieval Europe was the cradle of today’s Western civilization, this work by consequence is vital for understanding our world and how it came into being.
                Saint Augustine is often regardarded as the most influential Christian thinker after Saint Paul, and City of God is his materpiece, a cast synthesis of religious and secular knowledge. It began as a reply to the charge that Christian otherworldiness was causing the decline of the Roman Empire. Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then he proceeded to his larger theme, a cosmic interpretation of in terms of the struggle between good and evilL the City of God in conflict with the Earthly City or the City of the Devil. This, the first serious attempt at a philosophy of history, was to have incalculable influence in forming the Western mind on the relations of church and state, and on the Christian’s place in the temporal order.
                The original City of God contained twenty-two books and filles three regular-sized volumes. This edition has been skillfully abridged for the intelligent general reader by Vernon J. Bourke, author of Augustine’s Quest for Wisdom, making the heart of this monumental work available to a wide audience.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBarnes & Noble
    Release dateSep 1, 2009
    ISBN9781411429703
    Unavailable
    The City of God (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
    Author

    Saint Augustine

    Saint Augustine (354-430) was a Catholic theologian, philosopher, and writer. Born to a Catholic mother and pagan father—Berbers living in Numidia, Roman North Africa (modern day Algeria)—Augustine’s lifelong commitment to faith and deeply personal writings make him an important figure for religion, literature, and Western philosophy. He is considered influential for developing the Catholic doctrines of original sin and predestination, though he also made contributions to philosophy that extend beyond religion, including general ethics, just war theory, and the concept of free will. Augustine is also recognized today as an early and significant memoirist and autobiographer, adapting these literary forms in order to blend religious teaching with personal stories and anecdotes.

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    Reviews for The City of God (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

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    • 5/5
      This is one of my favorite works. Yeah, I know you're skeptical, but here me out. I've begun my quest to read the basic works of western man beginning with Gilgamesh and in sequence reading through to the present. It's a lifelong ambition. I've read most of the ancient works of some repute, including Roman histories from Greek and Roman historians. When I arrived at 411 AD, I picked up The City of God. Shortly after the first sack of Rome, Augustine wrote it not as an apology for the claim that Christianity was responsible for the decay of Rome, but as a defense against that allegation. He then summarizes the histories as recorded to show internal corruption, incompetence, immorality and the quest for wealth caused the decay - not Christianity. I read the same material he did! That's way cool! I knew exactly what he was saying and with what facts he prosecuted his claim. Then he projected that even if the City of Rome were to fall, Christians can look forward ultimately to their City of God. A great book.
    • 5/5
      Oh my word, this is a masterpiece. I had read his Confession years ago, but I wish I had read this first. I would have been more interesting in finding out about his life after reading this. It is rich in doctrine. After reading Greek/Roman Lives and all the conflict and stife, it was lovely to sit down with a man who knew God, the Word, and knew how superior God is to the Greek/Roman gods! It dovetailed so nicely with my time in the prophets this year too! So many things come from this book. If you want to understand Western Civilization, this book is a must read.
    • 5/5
      This whole series is excellent
    • 4/5
      a theological classic, a huge work. Best parts are where he discusses issues of predestination, the source of evil, the history and source of pagan religions and the reality of demonic powers. Also his discussion and interpretation of Revelation 20 and the millennium; and his extensive discussions on Genesis. In some places it might be alleged that he held views akin to Roman Catholicism in regard to purgatory and the sacramental and ecclesiastical system. However, this is not a major part of this work and much of it must be understood in the context of the 4th and 5th century, not in the context of Roman Catholicism from the 13th century onwards. The major weakness I feel in this work is his over-emphasis on the immortality of the soul, something which he admits is in line with Platonist philosophy. This is not established Biblically. He is morally conservative, in a liberalistic pagan society, this we need to take note of in the church today. Overall this is a great work to read, written by a great man, although let us remember he was still but a man. Very glad to have read it - worth the effort.
    • 2/5
      Zeer veel polemiek en tekstexegese. Vooral in het eerste deel herneming van thema’s uit de Belijdenissen, maar gebalder.Zoals voorheen : soms geniale inzichten (oa relatie God-tijd), maar soms ook de meest stompzinnige redeneringen (oa speculatie over verrijzenis in het vlees en hoe het er dan aan toe zal gaan).De these van de stad van God wordt toch niet echt systematisch uitgewerkt ; wel overheerst het hoofdinzicht dat die stad ook nu al op aarde doorwerkt (als in den vreemde vertoevend).Boeiende, maar taaie lectuur
    • 5/5
      So far I've read 300 pages of how Rome was the best and worst place every but, its picking up unfortunately putting it down and reading something else for right now(update)Finished it and I would say skip the first 300 pages (unless you want a Ancient Roman history lesson) and dive right into the Diamond of Christian theology that this is. An amazing read and piercing right to the soul of matters STILL relevant to today.
    • 2/5
      As a backlash against Christianity grew after the sack of Roman in 410 AD, Augustine of Hippo took up his pen to respond to pagans and philosophers as well as inform Christians about their priorities between heaven and earth. The City of God is one of the cornerstones of medieval Christianity and thought that even influences the world today.Augustine divides his work into 22 books divided into two parts. The first part was to refute the accusation by pagans that the sack of Rome in 410 AD was punishment for abandoning the gods of Rome for Christianity. Throughout the first ten books of his work, Augustine critiques the Roman religion and philosophy from the multitude of deities and the contradictory beliefs related to them as well as the conflicting philosophies that supported and opposed them. The second part, consisting of the last twelve books of the work, discussed the titular City of God and how it relates with the city of man—the present world.Augustine’s critique of pagan religion and philosophy in the first part of the book is honestly the highlight of the book. Not only did he defend Christianity but also exposed the contradictions within pagan religious beliefs a well as numerous schools of philosophies which defended or opposed those beliefs. If there was one downside within the first part, it would have been the troubling theological ideas that Augustine espoused that seemed more based on Plato than the Bible. However, it was in the second part of book that Augustine’s faulty theology truly became apparent so much so that I had to begin skimming through the text to prevent myself from contradicting Augustine in my head instead of reading. While not all of Augustine’s theology is wrong, God’s omniscience and human free will is an example, some of the defining examples I want to cover is the following: the immortality of the soul and eternal burning in hell connected to it, the claims that passages from the Old Testament are analogies for Christ and the church, that all of Psalms are prophecies written by David, the angels were created on the third day, and many more. It became too frustrating to stay focused and I admittedly might have skimmed over some of Augustine’s better theological arguments, but it was that or tossing the book.City of God is both the refutation of pagan Roman practices and the theological understanding of Augustine for Christian believers. It’s importance for medieval Christianity and thought cannot be underscored enough, however that does not mean that every reader should not look at it critically.
    • 1/5
      love yourself and avoid at all costs
    • 3/5
      I'm not going to pretend to have understood more than 10% of what I read/listened to.My recommendation to any layperson who is planning on reading this is - don't.If I could do it again, I would read it as part of a class or read something more accessible that summarized the essential and relevant points.
    • 5/5
      My goodness, what a difficult book. To some degree, it was a response to the fact that Rome was sacked by barbarians.