No book except the Bible itself had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than Augustine's The City of God. And since medieval Europ...
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Jan 23, 2010
Joshua Nomen-Mutatio
rated it: 
Could not finish it. Don't care to. It's a rather lengthy and often times boring read. I got enough of the gist by making it about halfway through and then skipping around through the rest. His unsurprising righteous indignation about the truth and beauty of 4th century Christian doctrine and the falsity and demoralizing nature of "paganism" makes me want to run for the bathroom. But when I look upon it as a book written by a man whose mind would've been blown by the mere revelati
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Nov 18, 2008
Bud
rated it: 
ok, this is my one brag book. anybody who gets through this (unabridged only), gets to go to heaven, no questions asked.
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Feb 09, 2009
Chris
rated it:
One of the best books ever written. Augustine wrote this just as Rome was coming to an end. Part of the impetus was to show that the City of God was not confined to the Roman Empire, but would outlast any earthly empire. The amount of detail he poured into describing the pagan culture of his time was also amazing. Also, he offers some fascinating theological insights towards the end of the book.
If you want to understand Western Christendom, you really have to read this book from More...
If you want to understand Western Christendom, you really have to read this book from More...
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Jan 26, 2009
Augustine's epic masterpiece of theology. It covers a lot of topics, but its main theme is on the spiritual concepts of City of God and the City of Man, and how they have related through out the history of the world. It personally had a huge impact on my life. It's huge, but definitely worth reading, if only just parts of it.
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May 31, 2008
Considered by Augustine his magnum opus, this is an interesting book. Written as the Roman Empire was crumbling and doubts about why God would allow the christianized Rome to dissolve, Augustine went about showing where the real City of God exists. I wanted to read this book for several reasons: obviously it is classic and also I enjoy reading Augustine, but at the same time I am sometimes puzzled why we so earnestly labor to prove that America was the new Israel? I think that this book would
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Aug 06, 2011
Evolution was a religious Idea. Back in 410 Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa was the first to describe evolution by natural selection. "We see a constant succession, as some things pass away and others arise, as the weaker succumb to the stronger, and those that are overwhelmed change into the qualities of their conquerors; and thus we have a pattern of a world of continual transience."
This book is a tremendous work. At 1090 pages long it is a vast collection of religious mus More...
This book is a tremendous work. At 1090 pages long it is a vast collection of religious mus More...
Sep 22, 2011
Briana
rated it: 
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 plus two is four, etc." And you think, "Yeah. Okay. I get that." Then all of a sudden, while your mind wanders around, the teacher says, "So now that you've got that, let's talk about calculus." And then your brain explodes from the jump that it j More...
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 plus two is four, etc." And you think, "Yeah. Okay. I get that." Then all of a sudden, while your mind wanders around, the teacher says, "So now that you've got that, let's talk about calculus." And then your brain explodes from the jump that it j More...
Aug 02, 2011
Shawn
rated it:
I enjoyed this better than his "Confessions" work. The translation was better and it was a bit easier to read. But most of this book was hit or miss to me.
I liked much of his theological philosophy. Yet some of it was long-winded and far-fetched as well due to his obviously fundamentalist beliefs.
Quite often I found he did an excellent job in preaching the importance of moral and ethical values, yet at times he was too preachy when dealing with people who had opposing viewp More...
I liked much of his theological philosophy. Yet some of it was long-winded and far-fetched as well due to his obviously fundamentalist beliefs.
Quite often I found he did an excellent job in preaching the importance of moral and ethical values, yet at times he was too preachy when dealing with people who had opposing viewp More...
Sep 13, 2009
John
rated it: 
One of the great classics in all of Christian--no, check that--human history, The City of God presents two contrasting groups of people, or to use the imagery of the book, two contrasting cities: the earthly and the heavenly. Everyone in the world falls into either one city or the other, and Augustine painstakingly lays out their origins, their history, and their destiny.
This fifth century book was the classic Christian book throughout the church's history until the individualism of More...
This fifth century book was the classic Christian book throughout the church's history until the individualism of More...
Sep 04, 2009
Jeremy
rated it:
Okay, from what I read, which certainly wasn't the whole book, there are a few useful ideas here. Augustine does an excellent job (though unintentionally) of showing how religious doctrines do not come about by an organic, bottom up process, but are the products of artificial acts of committees and compilers. And he also shows how large institutions are necessary in order to keep a doctrine going once it gains a modicum of acceptance. But honestly, I found this work overall to be hopelessly reac
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May 09, 2009
Chantel
rated it:
"City of God" may turn a few people off just from the sheer size of the book although I would say it is well worth the investment of your time! It is a slow read as one must delve into the historical context of the era in which it was written but it is with no doubt a classic. Anyone reading it will find that they will focus on one or two bits of his argument which allows one to reread it in the future so that another bit of his reasoning will be illuminated. I found myself fascinated
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Aug 10, 2009
Michael
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This book is the greatest work of the greatest non-canonical theologian of all time. Augustine is brilliant and beyond erudite. The City of God is a book that everyone should read. It speaks out against the paganism of his time and contrasts that city of man with the glorious city of God that will endure forever. His knowledge of the ancient world is astounding. This book is packed full of incredible and brilliant explainations of theology and redemptive history. Augustine also is a great
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Feb 01, 2011
"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what l...ove is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being in love which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is lef
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Mar 19, 2009
I give up. I don't have the brain power for this one right now. I listened to 5 hours of this, and I just didn't get anything out of it. He's defending Christianity against the Romans, who's problem is "well we converted to Christianity and our lives still suck and our city is still falling." His defense is too specific to their arguments to mean anything to me. I'm not from a polytheistic society who thinks the gods care if I sneeze in the wrong direction and move us around like chess
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May 13, 2010
K
rated it:
Was assigned ~1/3 of this for a class. Will likely never go back to finishing it, since reading the excerpts that I did felt like eating somebody else's depression. According to Augustine, all the joys of this earthly existence -- children, friends, sex, physical prowess, the pursuit of wisdom and learning -- are fleeting and illusory and shallow, due to the inevitability of decay and death. Life on earth is like a prison sentence one must endure with eyes steadfastly fixed on Heaven. Hope and e
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Apr 18, 2009
Thomas
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A lot of fascinating ideas presented in a rather daunting tome. I didn't read this from beginning to end, but I was intrigued by the sharp distinctions Augustine makes between the body and the will, and his insistence on culpability for actions lying in the will. Concurrently, he also seems to provide some disturbing theological foundations for Calvinism. I have to applaud him on tackling the issue of how human free will can coexist with an omniscient God, but I nevertheless find his implication
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Feb 26, 2011
Eric
rated it:
City of God is a wonderful classic which gives a strong picture of the church around AD 400. Augustine takes great pains to address any and all philosophical objections to Christianity's beliefs, and fleshes out two cities - the Worldly City and the City of God. It is a good reminder that the times change and the issues that are important in one age may no longer seem relevant, but the core beliefs remain the same through the centuries.
City of God is not for every reader. Its chief val More...
City of God is not for every reader. Its chief val More...
Jan 20, 2011
Jan
rated it:
An amazing book in a lot of ways. The vocabulary and philosophy is beautiful. At times I had to read with a dictionary in hand to really get the meaning behind the words. It was refreshing to see that the thinking of Saint Augustine encompassed similar thoughts and concerns we find ourselves involved with today. He was obviously a well read/educated/thoughtful man. I did feel that I got more from the condensed foreword. The translation of the original writing was burdensome to read.
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May 01, 2009
Guy
rated it:
I read this every two years together with a dozen or so undergraduate students who join me for a seminar on it. So each time I revisit it, I have all those pairs of fresh eyes to see it with--and see them, as they alternately roll, glaze over, droop, then slowly get absorbed as they get deeper and deeper into this massive, sloppy, confusing book. For some of them this is the longest book they will ever read cover to cover--and that in itself is a kind of accomplishment. And when they think th
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May 29, 2011
Matt
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I stumbled across Augustine when I was teenager and I remember this being much more profound. Having just reread it cover to cover, I was wholly disappointed. Augustine writes in response to attacks on Christianity for which the decline of the Roman Empire is being increasingly blamed. The first half of the book criticizes, effectively, the irrationality of pagan belief. However, he fails to turn the same clear-eyed analysis to Christianity. In one of the more painfully oblivious passages,
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Dec 27, 2011
Nemo
rated it:
A Masterpiece of Christian Apologetics
St. Augustine started the book to address a pressing crisis and the practical problem of suffering, and then gradually rose to the height of Christian philosophy and theology that has rarely, if ever, been surpassed since. He gave a sweeping overview of ancient history, the history of the Jewish people intertwined with the history of the worldly empires (Roman and Assyrian), and revealed the main, though hidden, plot in the script of history, i.e., More...
St. Augustine started the book to address a pressing crisis and the practical problem of suffering, and then gradually rose to the height of Christian philosophy and theology that has rarely, if ever, been surpassed since. He gave a sweeping overview of ancient history, the history of the Jewish people intertwined with the history of the worldly empires (Roman and Assyrian), and revealed the main, though hidden, plot in the script of history, i.e., More...
Jul 23, 2011
Bryan
rated it:
This was totally worth the time it took to read it. Augustine's understanding of the gospel and remarkable rhetorical skills make for a compelling breakdown of the fall of Paganism, the rise of Christianity, and the eternal value of surrendering ourselves to our Heavenly Father in order to gain entrance into his city (after which the book was named).
I would heavily recommend reading it on audio first. This is because there are long sections of the book that, while germane anciently, ar More...
I would heavily recommend reading it on audio first. This is because there are long sections of the book that, while germane anciently, ar More...
Jul 15, 2011
Erik
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Ironically, I switched my major at Grinnell College from history to religion because of this book. We had just read Thucydides in the Historiography class, the last course required to complete the major, when Professor Kintner assigned De civitate Dei. That weekend, openig the tome and beginning to read, I decided it was simply too much. Augustine seemed to be psychotic polemics, not history. Being a junior and having accumulated a lot of religion credits almost by chance, I determined a swi
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Aug 28, 2009
Mary-Jane
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I read the abridged version, which is still quite long. I had to get used to the writing style of the time which tends to have repeat itself to make its point. The surprising thing I discovered is that many issues he was writing about (around 300 AD) are also contemporary ones. You could take an excerpt from his book, update the language a bit, and circulate it; people would think it came from a contemporary Christian magazine. One issue that comes to mind is the discussion of the age of the ear
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Apr 28, 2011
Yoon-ho
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 26, 2011
Deanna
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I did not read all of this book, which was not my intention. Much of it is a history of the Catholic Church. I did enjoy the chapters (books) discussing the Old Testament. I also enjoyed the chapters discussing the events of the Last Days. This book is a classic among Christians for its theological information. While I disagree on some of the theology matters it was helpful to see where current theological trends among Christianity come from. I hope to find a copy of his "Confessions.
Jul 25, 2011
Chris
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So far I've read 300 pages of how Rome was the best and worst place every but, its picking up unfortunately putting it down and reading something else for right now
(update)
Finished it and I would say skip the first 300 pages (unless you want a Ancient Roman history lesson) and dive right into the Diamond of Christian theology that this is. An amazing read and piercing right to the soul of matters STILL relevant to today.
(update)
Finished it and I would say skip the first 300 pages (unless you want a Ancient Roman history lesson) and dive right into the Diamond of Christian theology that this is. An amazing read and piercing right to the soul of matters STILL relevant to today.
Nov 21, 2008
Daren
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This is a book to be digested over time. I have not read this book from cover to cover, but in pieces, and not in sequential order. There are sections I found too strange to complete. Augustines logical prowess is undeniable, but the premises he bases his logic on I find are are flawed.
Sep 08, 2011
Saint Augustine is a polarizing figure in church history. Selectively quoted by Protestants when they seek some early church credibility. Unfairly blamed by some Orthodox for his seeming role in the Reformation. (The former explains the latter.) I thought I should read as much of his writings as I can, learn what he believed in the context in which he believed it, and try to understand what kind of a Christian he was.
I have 3 audio books scheduled:
-City of God
-Confessions
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I have 3 audio books scheduled:
-City of God
-Confessions
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Oct 19, 2009
Gary
rated it:
It's not that Augustine doesn't have a great mind--it's just that this one is of little interest to me. I don't need to be convinced that the Romans were superstitious and that adopting Christianity did not bring about the sacking of Rome.
