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 the Enlightenment finally overpowered it in the twentieth century. But what Augustine does here is what the individualism of the modern world claims it wants so badly: to find an identity. He defines Christian identity by placing it within the Christian community (both historically and in the present day). Augustine's implication is clear: one who identifies himself with Christ knows that through being identified with His people, the church.

This is certainly a difficult book to read, primarily for its imposing length, but also because so much of the history is so far removed from our everyday experience. That said, the theological narrative is clear throughout, and the hope that drives the work toward its conclusion makes it one of the most important books ever written.