City of God, Book 22: Eternal Felicity

Having devoted the entirety of Book 21 to eternal judgment, Augustine balances the end of his tome with a Book devoted entirely to the "eternal bliss of the City of God." It is called eternal because the kingdom will have no end, nor will any of its citizenry, obtaining to the immortality the angels have … Continue reading City of God, Book 22: Eternal Felicity

City of God, Book 21: Eternal Punishment

The entirety of Augustine's Book 21 is devoted to defending the reality and the justice of eternal punishment. This book roughly breaks down into two parts: the first part addresses the objections of unbelievers to the doctrine of eternal punishment (ch. 2-16) and the second part addresses errors of "compassionate Christians who refuse to believe … Continue reading City of God, Book 21: Eternal Punishment

City of God, Book 20: Final Judgment

Augustine sets out in Book 20 to instruct the reader on the day of God's final judgment from Scripture. In large part, the book is a series of expositions on relevant passages from both the New and Old Testaments. I will not, in the summary, rehash all of Augustine's exposition, simply highlight the main points … Continue reading City of God, Book 20: Final Judgment

City of God, Book 18: A Brief History of Nearly Everything

In Book 18, Augustine takes up a history of "the earthly city" with was growing alongside the heavenly city. This society of mortal men, though men share a common nature, is divided against itself as "one part of it oppresses another." In the providence of God, some nations have "been entrusted with empire, while others … Continue reading City of God, Book 18: A Brief History of Nearly Everything