Page 19 - EuropeFlipBook1to14

Person Number Three – AUGUSTINE

The Christian theologian who defined Christendom

Why Augustine?
In 380 Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire. This was a
revolutionary change, carried out by the Emperor Theodosius I. More than any other
single event it determined the future history of Europe. Nearly 50 years later, in 427,
a book appeared written by a Christian bishop, Augustine, which defined what the
Christian Europe would look like. It is called “The City of God.” Christianity would

define European history. Augustine’s writings shaped how this would happen. For
centuries people would call Europe “Christendom” and Augustine’s “The City of God”
shaped how people thought about it.

Who was Augustine?
Augustine was a teacher, writer, Christian priest and bishop. He was the first great
Christian theologian and philosopher. His most influential books were “The

Confessions” and “The City of God”, He wrote 113 books, plus sermons and letters,
all in Latin.

St Agustine of Hippo (full name Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis) was born in 354 AD
in Thagaste, in what is now Algeria, then a province of the Roman empire. “Augustine
“derives from the same origin as the name “Augustus”, the first Roman emperor.
Augustine lived in Carthage, Rome and Milan and became bishop of Hippo Regius in
North Africa where he died in 430. In 1298 he was made a saint. The “City of God” is

his masterpiece.

What is Augustine’s “The City of God” about?
The clue is in the title. Augustine structures his book around a striking metaphor, not
of one, but “two cities”. These are the heavenly city (or “City of God” and the earthly
city (or “City of Man”). They are not physically separate. The heavenly city means the

Christian community and the church. The earthly city means the realm of
government and practical, everyday life. Broadly speaking the two cities correspond
to what we would call “the spiritual realm” and “the secular realm”. One is focused
on the spiritual life, the other on the practical, earthly concerns of this life. Augustine
defines and compares them and discusses how they relate to each other. This
division between the spiritual and secular realms, expressed by Augustine as two
cities, is unique to Europe, and, as we shall see in later sessions, explains its unique
history.

Why did Augustine write “The City of God”?