Augustine: The City of God Against the Pagans, Books 1-13

Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.)

Cambridge University Press, Sep 24, 1998 - History - 1243 pages

This is the first new rendition for a generation of The City of God, the first major intellectual achievement of Latin Christianity and one of the classic texts of Western civilisation. When he began to write The City of God in 413, St. Augustine's intention was to defend the Christian Church against the charge of having brought about the Sack of Rome in 410. Outgrowing this initial purpose, the work evolved into a detailed critique of the political and moral tradition of Rome and a synthesis of Platonism and Christianity which must stand as one of the most significant achievements in Western intellectual history. Apart from its intrinsic interest the Christian account of social and political relations which Augustine gives was to furnish one of the most fertile sources of material for the controversial literature of the middle ages. R. W. Dyson has produced a complete, accurate, authoritative and fluent translation of The City of God, edited together with full biographical notes, a concise introduction, bibliographical note and chronology of Augustine's life.

What people are saying

Review: The City of God against the Pagans (Texts in the History of Political Thought)

User Review  - Briana - Goodreads

Uh... I only had to read half of this for school. But it was still really long. Imagine you're in a math class. And the teacher says, "Now we're going to learn about numbers: one plus one is two, two ...

Contents

• Book I: 3
• Book II: 51
• Book III: 94
• Book IV: 143
• Book V: 187
• Book VI: 237
• Book VII: 267
• Book VIII: 312
• Book IX: 359
• Book X: 390
• Book XI: 449
• Book XII: 498
• Book XIII: 541
• Book XIV: 581
• Book XV: 634
• Book XVI: 694
• Book XVII: 765
• Book XVIII: 821
• Book XIX: 909
• Book XX: 965
• Book XXI: 1044
• Book XXII: 1107
• Biographical notes: 1183
• Index: 1233

About the author

Saint Augustine was born to a Catholic mother and a pagan father on November 13, 354, at Tagasta, near Algiers. He studied Latin literature and later taught rhetoric in Rome and Milan. He originally joined the Manicheans, a religious sect, but grew unhappy with some of their philosophies. He soon turned to Christianity and was baptized in 386. One of Augustine's major goals was a single, unified church. He was ordained a priest in 391 and appointed Bishop of Hippo, in Roman Africa, in 396, His writings and arguments with other sects include the Donatists and the Pelagians. On the Trinity, The City of God, and On Nature and Grace are some of his important writings. Confessions, which is considered his masterpiece, is an autobiographical work that recounts his restless youth and details the spiritual experiences that led him to Christianity. Many of Augustine's ideas, such as those concerning sin and predestination, became integral to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. Augustine died on August 28, 430.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Augustine: The City of God Against the Pagans, Books 1-13; Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought
• Author: Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.)
• Editor: R. W. Dyson
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998
• ISBN: 0521468434, 9780521468435
• Length: 1243 pages
• Subjects: History / Social History; Political Science / General; Political Science / History & Theory; Religion / Christian Theology / General