St. Augustine's City of God and City of Man

Jayanta Kumar Roy February 26, 2021

 Biography of St. Augustine

  • Born in 354 and Died in 430
  • Born Rome in North Africa.
  • He was a great philosopher of Madieval period.
  • He was greatest of the fathers of  the Roman Church.
  • After St. Paul he described the history of the Roman Church.
  • He was born in a Pegan and His mother was a Christian Numidia.
  • Become a Neo-Platonist finally he was converted to Christianity.

St. Augustine's City of God and City of Man
St. Augustine's City of God and City of Man

St. Augustine set to himself the three fold task- 

  1. Explaining the fall of Roman Empire after it had embraced Christianity.
  2. Suppressing heresy and opposition of peganism.
  3. Strengthing the Church and depecting the ideal towards which it was to move.

The City of God:

  • The City of God is a Catholic treatise.
  • Believe in one God.
  • God is the architect of all creations.
  • God is infinite truth and goodness.
  • Men lives according to God's design or law.
  • Those who live after the spirit.
  • Love of God even to the contempt of self.
  • There is no human wisdom only Godliness.
  • Its members are humble lovers of God.
  • It is a society whose membership is open to all human beings.
  • Stoic society, a person does not becomes its members because of his being born a human being.
  • City of God is everlasting.

City of Man:

  • Men choose to live according to themeselves.
  • Those who live after the flesh.
  • Love of self even to the contempt of God.
  • Basis of Rule: The love of ruling.
  • Glories in human wisdom and strength.
  • City of Man is finite.

Augustine's Philosophy of History:

(i) Augustine said, his book "The City of God" that, the christianity was not responsible for fall of the Roman Empire.

(ii) He said, Roman Empire fall because of greed, power and domination on the part of the ruler.

(iii) Empires are destroyed by the passion of men.

(iv) Augustine said, Rome fell because of God so evilled it as a necessary preparation for the establishment of christianity.


Augustine on Justice and Peace:

(i) True justice and peace are the quality of the City of the God.

(ii) True justice can exist in the state that is founder by God.

(iii) The peace that the state strives is the means of eternal peace with God which is the ultimate end.

(iv) A way to get more and more people to believe the Jesus Christ and adopt the Christian way of life.

(v) He said, there could be no justice on pegan state which florished the appearance of Jesus Christ it is a christian state which can realise it.


Augustine's Forms of Government:

(i) Not merely to secure and preserve the mights.

(ii) It is to enforce order.

(iii) Thus a stable tyranny is better than disorderly democracy.

(iv) Equality, Freedom, Justice are goals to be attained only in the heavenly city.

(v) In the interest of maintaining order society is and must be based upon the authoritarian principle.