Posted: July 14th, 2022

Augustine’s Philosophy: An Analysis of Utopia in The City of God

Augustine’s Philosophy: An Analysis of Utopia in The City of God
Augustine remains one of the greatest Christian Philosophers whose works had an enormous and lasting effect on Christianity. Among his many works, The City of God is arguably the first piece in history to have such a profound impact on Christian philosophy. The work covers various subjects about Christianity, including philosophy of creation, theodicy, escatology, philosophy of creation, among others. The work is a masterpiece of western culture and took Augustine approximately one decade to complete.
The City of God was a response to claims surrounding the attack and sack of Rome. When the Visigoths, led by Alaric, attacked and sacked Rome, the Romans who had dominated the Mediterranean region for many decades were utterly surprised and devastated. To them, the attack symbolized the beginning of the fall of Rome. The Romans, or at least many of them, claimed that the attack was punishment due to the abolition of pagan worship after the introduction of the Christian religion. Augustine’s The City of God sought to refute these claims. He strived to explain and emphasize that the God worshipped by Christians was not to be blamed and that he was their source of comfort and strength during calamities.
In the first five books of The City of God, Augustine directly attacks the pagans who attributed the sack of Rome by the Goths to Christians and the abandonment of the idol worshipping. He stressed that misfortunes happen to everyone, including the good and the bad. He also seeks to show that the attack of Rome was not an unusual event by pointing out that Romans had also suffered other calamities in the past, even when the traditional gods and goddesses were being worshipped, and their gods did not stop the calamities either. He insisted that it was the gods and internal moral decay among people that caused the destruction of Rome.
In the second part of his work, Augustine outlines his vision of the two cities. Rome is portrayed as “The City of Man,” which, like other cities, is destined to fall and eventually pass away. The second is “The City of God,” which is described as stable, eternal, and the source of solace to the Christians. The two cities symbolize the two spiritual powers, faith and unbelief, that have always opposed each other since the fall of the angels. According to Augustine, in the end, the City of God will triumph, and only the faithful will receive eternal happiness.

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