The City of God

City of God is a major fifth-century work of philosophy and theology by Augustine of Hippo, written in response to political and religious developments in the Roman Empire. Its original title is De civitate Dei contra paganos (“On the City of God Against the Pagans”), but it is conventionally referred to in English as City of God. The complete manuscript was first distributed in 426 CE, just four years before Augustine’s death, and it was quickly recognized as a seminal work in the Christian theological tradition. It reflects upon questions of good and evil, divine sovereignty and human free will, and the nature of true religion, all set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire’s transition from polytheistic paganism to Christianity. After the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 CE, some prominent voices in Roman society began asking whether the empire should return to its pagan roots, under which it was thought to have been stronger. Augustine’s City of God stands as a rebuttal to this line of thinking, demonstrating the fallacies inherent in Roman polytheism and arguing for the rational consistency and doctrinal beauty of the Christian tradition.