One of the hardest books I have ever read, and also one of the most meaningful, the unabridged City of God is Saint Augustine’s answer to the charge that Christianity was leading to the Fall of the Empire. (Gibbon’s libel against Christianity was very much in the mouths of the pagans of Saint Augustine’s time.) 912 dense pages in a modern edition, Saint Augustine reveals that he had mastered the history and the culture of the Roman Empire, perhaps more so than any other man, as he skillfully refutes the charge that Christianity was the cause of the current plight of the Empire. He breaks free of the cyclical concept that had dominated much of the historical thought of the Greek and Romans, and views history as a linear progression with Christ’s Return as the goal of all history. In the second half of the work he details the City of Man and the City of God, their histories and their destinies. I found making my way through this vast tome, a few pages each day, one of the more beneficial intellectual and spiritual experiences that have fallen to me. I highly recommend it, but it is not for the faint of heart or of mind.
City of God
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Thanks for the inspiration. I studied the usual tiny extracts in my political philosophy classes and always toyed with reading the entire book. Good summer project to get it started. 👍
This is on my bucket list of great literature. Right now I’m reading Confessions, which is astonishingly relevant. I’m also using Peter Kreeft’s companion to that. I’ve always loved Augustine since I had a patristics scholar, an old-school Jesuit, for an undergraduate theology course. My husband and I named our firstborn son Augustine. He and our daughter have been estranged from us for years, we lost them to woke ideology. We miss them. Our youngest son still speaks to us, thankfully.
Some folks will scoff at me for this, but there is a rather good reading of City of God available on librevox.org read by Darren Slider.
I have been listening to that during gardening and repairs for the better part of a year. (There doesn’t appear to be much time at home *after* the days activities for reading.)
There is much relatable stuff in there, even if there is a lot of Roman history that seems obscure – even to a guy who took classics electives in college. Much more relatable than I expected. Almost like the Church Fathers wrote their books to be read and understood, instead of for scoring points with other academics. 🤔
This is assigned in our homeschool curriculum, and our youngest is wrapping it up now. The entire work isn’t assigned, just parts. Nonetheless, not bad for high schoolers.
I just finished reading Polybius, who crystallized the cyclical view (“anacyclosis”), and noted it could be guarded against by a mixed government and virtuous people (using Lycurgus’ Sparta as an example). Alas: original sin defeats all human efforts without grace.
St. Augustine’s son became a bishop. Thomas Meron’s son is nowhere to be found. I am not fond of men who abandon their children.