Augustine’s Concept of the City of God

St. Augustine (354 A.D). He is a son of a pagan mother and Christian father, is known as the greatest of the father of the Latin Church. He is born in North Africa Under Roman emperor. He lived in one of the most critical periods, when of world history a period when civilization and catholic alike appeared to be doomed.

The City of God

The city of god is a table of two cities- Spiritual city and temporal city. Here, the spiritual city, Augustine called “Civita Dei” means “heavily city”, founded by pious able came to have its origin with the creation of Angels. He defined the temporal city as, “Civitas Ferrena” which means earthly. City found by the impious coin came into being with the fall of satan.

“Heavenly city” lives after the spirit and according to God. On the other hand “Earthly city” likes after the flesh and according to man. In this regard Augustine said that- “Two cities have been formed by two loves. “The earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God. The heavenly by the love of God, even to the Contempt of self. The former in a word, glories in itself and the latter in the lord”.

Features of City of God

St. Augustine tried to interpret mundane affairs including the sack of Rome, as a divine dispensation, calculated to pave the way for the establishment of a real “City of God”. It has some salient features that may be discussed under-----

1. Augustine extolled the virtues of city of God by comparing it with the earthly city or worldly city sate.
2. Augustine builds up his “Civita Dei” by mixing together the conception of state of Plato and Cicero and presenting in a setting of Christian theology.
3. The city of God is universal in time and space. 
4. It was not a kingdom in heaven but a divine kingdom of earth, based on Christian virtues. 
5. The heavenly city or city of God is found on the love of God, whereby the earthly city found on the self- love.
6. The city of God was for the promoting of God. The earthly city pushed evil.
7. The city of God aimed at Justice earthly city aimed at power.
8. The church in way, the concrete embodiment of  “The city of God” because it was in the church alone that virtues and goodness. The attribution of “City of God Prevailed.”
9. The state was the weapon of the Church for the promoting of good and therefore the two were independent.
10. Augustine’s conception of a true “City of God” was a Christianized church state form which non-believers were excluded ad in which supreme power lay with the leaders of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
11. Members of the city of God though coming from all parts of the world, form a society because of their common love and worship of God. They enjoy community with God and with one another in God.
12. The city of God of Augustine is closely connected with and identical to the Roman Catholic Church but not a conterminous with it.

Two Virtues of City of God:---

The city of God realizes two important virtues. One is justice and other is peace. Justice to St. Augustine is Conformity to order and respect for duties arising from this order.
 

Every society is based on a certain order and various units of the society are bound together is a certain order. A family is a part of society and an individual is just if he performs his duties to the family and conform it, its order. But family is the part of state and its order is the part of the order of the state. The state to Augustine is not final society. There is the Universal society with its universal order and justice.
 

To Augustine peace means a positive relationship in concord. Augustine promotes the idea of universal peace based on a universal order and the universal love of one another in God.
So this is the main features of Augustine’s city of God. Despite having some serious defect in the design and execution of this term, it is a great creation by St. Augustine for the latter human society.