Augustine De Civitate Dei The City Of God Books Xv And Xvi

This volume continues P. G. Walsh's admired translation with commentary of Augustine's City of God. Books I-XIV which have been published in eight earlier volumes between 2003 and 2016, and this ninth volume in the collection looks at books XV and XVI. After completing the first ten books of De Civitate Dei, in which Augustine sought to refute the claim that pagan deities had ensured that Rome enjoyed unbroken success and prosperity in this life and guaranteed its citizens a blessed life after death, Augustine devoted the remaining twelve books to discuss the origins, development and destiny of the two cities of Babylon and Jerusalem, with the predominant emphasis on the city of God. This is the only edition of these books in English which provides not only a text but also a detailed commentary on one of the most influential documents in the history of western Christianity.

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After completing the first 10 books of De Civitate Dei, in which Augustine sought to refute the claim that pagan deities had ensured that Rome enjoyed unbroken success and prosperity in this life and guaranteed its citizens a blessed life after death, Augustine devoted the remaining 12 books to discuss the origins, development and destiny of the two cities of Babylon and Jerusalem, with the predominant emphasis on the city of God. In Books XIII and XIV he turned to the problem of death as punishment for the sin of disobedience, resumed his attack on the Platonists and pursued a range of topics which emerged from consideration of Adam's sin. Books XV and XVI are concerned with the development of the divine plan and its early maturity under Abraham. Book XV describes the fortunes of the two cities from the Fall to the Flood, when God repents of his beneficent creation and determines to destroy mankind. Abraham is the central figure of Book XVI, which extends from Noah's safe emergence from the flood to Joshua's successful leadership in Canaan. This is the only edition of these books in English which provides not only a text but also a detailed commentary on one of the most influential documents in the history of western Christianity.

After completing the first ten books of De Civitate Dei, in which Augustine sought to refute the claim that pagan deities had ensured that Rome enjoyed unbroken success and prosperity in this life and guaranteed its citizens a blessed life after death, Augustine devoted the remaining twelve books to discuss the origins, development and destiny of the two cities of Babylon and Jerusalem, with the predominant emphasis on the city of God. In this volume, the seventh in Peter Walsh's series, Augustine turns to the problem of death as punishment for the sin of disobedience, resumes his attack on the Platonists and pursues a range of topics which emerge from consideration of Adam's sin. This is the only edition of these books in English which provides not only a text but also a detailed commentary on one of the most influential documents in the history of western Christianity.

This authoritative English-language commentary discusses Books 1-5, in which Augustine argued that Rome suffered worse disasters before Christianity was known; that empire depends on injustice; and that everything depends on the will of the true God, not on the many gods of Roman tradition.

This volume addresses the complex and conflicted vision in Augustine's City of God, as a heavenly city on earthly pilgrimage.