Concepts about City of God and City of Man, justice

1. ST. AUGUSTINE
“The City of God”
Kaur|Mercado|Pacheco
BSP – 301C

2. Rise of Christianity
• Collapse of the Roman Empire
• Christianity as the official
religion of the roman Empire.

3. Who is St. Agustine?
• Born: 13 November 354 A.D.
• Thagaste
• Father : Patricius
Mother: Monica
• He studied Latin grammar and Arithmetic,
Roman prose, philosophy and poetry
• He taught rhetoric in Milan

4. Who is St. Agustine?
• At the age of 32, he converted to
Christianity
• He became the Bishop of Hippo in
Algeria in 395 A.D.
• In 413 – 427 A.D., he wrote the City of
God
• He died in Algeria in 430 A.D.

5. THE CITY OF GODS
• To defend Christianity from it
critics
• The collapse of the roman
Empire and the triumph of
Christianity coincidentally
happened.

6. THE CITY OF GODS
• For the pagans, the practice of
monotheism and the otherworldly
principles of Christianity weakened
and cause the eventual decline of the
Roman empire.

7. THE CITY OF GODS
• The reversal of roles:
1. The Christians, ostracized and
punished under the rules of
Roman emperor, we now
increasing in number and
becoming more dominant.
2. The pagans had become
underdogs.

8. • Plato and Aristotle:
–The best rulers and the best form of
government
• St. Augustine:
–The love of God, righteousness, justice,
faith and salvation
THE CITY OF GODS

9. • His works was not political
• He gave emphasis on the following:
 love of God
 Righteousness
 Justice
 Faith
 Salvation
THE CITY OF GODS

10. The central idea of the city of God is
the distinction between the Heavenly
city (City of God) and the Earthly
City (City of Man)
THE CITY OF GODS

11. EARTHLY CITY HEAVENLY CITY
- Its not purely evil.
- It desires earthly
peace for the sake of
enjoying earthly
goods, and it makes
war in order attain
peace.
- The objective of this
city is to gather the
citizens of the world
into one society of
pilgrims.
- It is said to possess
peace by faith which
allows it to live
righteously.

12. The origin of the state
• Plato and Aristotle:
–End of state: attaining self-
sufficiency or the good life.
• St. Augustine:
–End of state: Peace and Justice

13. The origin of the state
• Why does state exist?
1)Secure and maintain peace
2)Expand God’s kingdom by
converting people to
Christianity

14. Good government vs. Evil
government
• Good Government
–God’s reward for people.
• Evil Government
–Interpreted as some form of divine
punishment for the people.

15. • Human society can be divided into two
cities depending on how men choose
to live.
City of Man: Living according to self.
City of God: Living according to God’s
design/laws.
TWO CITIES

16. TWO CITIES
CITY OF GOD CITY OF MAN
 Based on love of God,
even to the contempt of
self.
 The greatest glory is found
in and with God.
 God is the source of its
strength.
 Consists of those who live
according to God.
 Based on love of self even
to the contempt of God.
 Seeks glory from men.
 Delights in its own strength
as represented in the
person of its rulers.
 Consists of those who live
according to man.

17. TWO CITIES
CITY OF GOD CITY OF MAN
 Predestined to reign
eternally with god.
 Its princes and
subjects serve on
another in love.
 Its end is eternal life in
peace or peace in
eternal life.
 Predestined to suffer
eternal punishment with
the devil.
 Its princes and nations
are ruled by the love of
ruling.
 Its end is earthly peace.

18. ON THE TWO CITIES
 Both desires PEACE.
 City of Man: Peace to enjoy earthly goods.
 City of God: achieve eternal peace
 Both use earthly resources to attain their
respective peace.
 City of Man: waging of war
 City of God: the use of temporal things aids in
the attainment of eternal peace.

19. • According to St. Augustine:
oCity of man:
- sinful, impious, worldly.
oCity of God:
- saintly elect, the angel and godly,
among others.
TWO CITIES

20. “Two cities are entangled
together in this world and
intermixed until the last judgment
effect their separation”
- St. Augustine

21. “Earthly city desires earthly
peace for the sake of enjoying
earthly goods, and it makes war
in order to attain… this peace”
- St. Augustine

22. • According to Plato:
–Justice exists in the state when
there is order among its different
elements.
JUSTICE AND PEACE

23. • According to St. Augustine:
–Conceives justice in terms of the proper
relations between God, and man on the
one hand, and among men on the other.
–True justice can only exist in the state
that is founder by God.
JUSTICE AND PEACE

24. • The peace that the state strives is the
means of eternal peace with God,
which is the ultimate end.
• A way to get more and more people
to believe in Jesus Christ and adopt
the Christian way of life.
JUSTICE AND PEACE

25. • State’s existence is man’s social
nature or the natural social condition
of humanity.
JUSTICE AND PEACE