| City of God (Penguin Classics) |  | Author: Augustine of Hippo
Creator: Henry Bettenson
Brand: Penguin Group USA
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $6.09
as of 5/26/2012 03:27 EDT details
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New (66) Used (62) Collectible (1) from $4.32
Seller: Digbooks
Sales Rank: 63,640
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Pages: 1184
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 2.2
MPN: 9780140448948
ISBN: 0140448942
EAN: 9780140448948
ASIN: 0140448942
Publication Date: January 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, is one of the central figures in the history of Christianity, and City of God is one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquent defence of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldly politics and will last for eternity, City of God represents a dramatic turning point in the unfolding of Christian doctrine. The new introduction by Gill Evans examines the text in the light of contemporary Greek and Roman thought and political change. It demonstrates the importance of religious and literary influences on St. Augustine and his significance as a Christian thinker.
Amazon.com Review
Augustine's City of God, a monumental work of religious lore, philosophy, and history, was written as a kind of literary tombstone for Roman culture. After the sack of Rome, Augustine wrote this book to anatomize the corruption of Romans' pursuit of earthly pleasures: "grasping for praise, open-handed with their money; honest in the pursuit of wealth, they wanted to hoard glory." Augustine contrasts his condemnation of Rome with an exaltation of Christian culture. The glory that Rome failed to attain will only be realized by citizens of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem foreseen in Revelation. Because City of God was written for men of classical learning--custodians of the culture Augustine sought to condemn--it is thick with Ciceronian circumlocutions, and makes many stark contrasts between "Your Virgil" and "Our Scriptures." Even if Augustine's prose strikes modern ears as a bit bombastic, and if his polarized Christian/pagan world is more binary than the one we live in today, his arguments against utopianism and his defense of the richness of Christian culture remain useful and strong. City of God is, as its final words proclaim itself to be, "a giant of a book." --Michael Joseph Gross
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