Book XVIII. The Parallel Histories of the Two Cities

[Nemo]

Just as in some great works of literature, there are parallel threads/storylines involving many characters, which the writers weave seamlessly into one fascinating narrative, so the Writer of human history has developed two main storylines in parallel, one of the City of God and the other of the City of Men. These two story lines intertwine with one another at points, through the courses of their development, which Augustine traces in Book XVIII.

[Nemo]

Book XVIII is the longest book in the City of God (and I wish it were much longer) for good reason: For those interested in the historicity of the OT narrative, this is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Augustine combines the history in the Old Testament with the histories in pagan writings, and by doing so, he makes both subject to independent examination: How much of the Old Testament is history? How does the history recorded in the Old Testament compare with histories recorded elsewhere?

It has been said that Christianity is a religion that is grounded in history, and it stands or falls on the verity of its historical claims, which have their ultimate root in the Old Testament. In other words, the truth of orthodox Christianity depends on the historical truth of the Old Testament. I think this is also why Augustine goes to great lengths to establish the latter.