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to pay lip service to the primacy of the Church, in practice secular rulers bristled at

the more extreme claims of ambitious Popes like Boniface, for example their claim to
the right to depose rulers. “Two swords” sounds as much like an invitation to fight as
to cooperate, and so it transpired.

Summing up, Augustine’s legacy was divisive for Europe. Although it was not his
intention, he bequeathed a Christendom that was, from the beginning, divided
against itself. In theory the two authorities, religious and secular, were supposed to
work together for the good of Christendom. For much of the time they did. But the

ambiguity of their precise relationship meant the underlying tension was never
resolved and this generated perpetual conflict throughout the Middle Ages. On
occasions it broke out into open warfare, but it always there below the surface.

The duality of Christendom was a profound source of underlying contradiction and
restlessness and, as we will discover, would eventually result in the emergence of
modern secular Europe. The irony is that in asserting the City of God Augustine

helped ensure the eventual victory of the City of Man. Augustine’s Christendom, as
we shall see, contained the seeds of its own transformation.

Postscript
One fact about Augustine is sometimes overlooked. As a young man he had been a
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Manichean. This religion, founded by Mani in the 3 century Persian (or Sassanid)
Empire, viewed the world as titanic struggle between good and evil. It grew very
quickly especially in the east and was for a time the main rival to Christianity.

Augustine was a Manichean for nearly 10 years, converting to Christianity in 387. The
word “Manichean” has entered the language to mean someone who sees the world
in rather simplistic, dualistic, black-and-white terms. Augustine became a strong critic
of the Manichean religion after his conversion, but it is not difficult to see its
influence on his dualistic thinking in the “City of God”, which in turn was to have such
a big impact on Europe.

Extracts from Augustine’s “City of God”
This is not an easy read, as I’m sure many Group members would agree! I have
highlighted some of the key passages in red to help the reader through Augustine’s
sometimes difficult writing.

Book 4 Chap.1
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies
themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a
prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on.
If, by the admittance of abandoned men, this evil increases to such a degree that it holds places,